Group to check new Libya chemical weapons

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- The organization that oversees the global ban on chemical weapons said Friday it will work with Libya's new rulers to "verify and destroy" possible chemical weapons hidden from international inspectors by Moammar Gadhafi's regime.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said in a statement that Libyan authorities informed it earlier this week of suspected chemical weapons caches beyond the stockpiles earlier declared by Gadhafi.

The organization also said it has sent a team of inspectors to Libya for the first time since February and they reported that none of Gadhafi's known chemical arsenal was plundered during the civil war that toppled the former dictator.

"The inspectors also took further measures to ensure the integrity of the stockpiles until destruction operations can resume," the organization said. It's not yet clear when that will happen.

Libya declared in 2004 it had 25 metric tons of sulfur mustard and 1,400 metric tons of precursor chemicals used to make chemical weapons. It also declared more than 3,500 unfilled aerial bombs for chemical warfare use, and three chemical weapons production facilities.

At that time, Gadhafi was trying to shed his image as an international outcast and restore relations with Western governments, pledging to dismantle his chemical weapons program. -- AP