Libya On Dec 19, 2003, Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi made a surprise confession and a stunning concession. His country, he admitted publicly for the first time, had been trying to develop a nuclear and chemical weapons programme.

Since he seized control of Libya in 1969, the country had been illicitly building up its nuclear capabilities, despite signing the international treaty banning nuclear weapons in 1975. For decades, it deceived inspectors visiting the country by hiding its facilities to produce nuclear fuel.