Gaddafi left enriched uranium on the runway in 'fit of pique' after he felt snubbed during U.S. visit

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:34 AM on 4th December 2010

• Nuclear fuel casks left on runway in diplomatic dispute
• Incident kept secret, fear of theft of nuclear material
  

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi caused a month-long nuclear scare in 2009 when he delayed the return to Russia of radioactive material in an apparent fit of diplomatic pique, leaked U.S. embassy cables have revealed.

The incident was kept secret by U.S. diplomats who feared 'shoddy' security at Libya's Tajoura nuclear facility, near Tripoli, risked the theft of 11.5lbs of highly enriched uranium, according to documents released by the website WikiLeaks.

The seven casks of spent nuclear fuel were due to be flown to Russia for disposal on a specialised transport plane in November 2009 as part of Gaddafi's promise to abandon Libya's programme of weapons of mass destruction.

But instead Libya refused permission and the Russian plane took off without its cargo, leaving the casks on the runway tarmac at Tajoura overseen by a solitary guard.

Fit of pique: Muammar Gaddafi at the UN in New York in 2009. He was angry after not being allowed to pitch his Bedouin tent there

The reason for the sudden change of plan appeared to be that Gaddafi had taken offence at his treatment during his visit to New York to address the United Nations two months earlier.

Gaddafi had felt 'humiliated' after being barred from pitching his large Bedouin tent in New York and from visiting the Ground Zero site of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, his son Saif al-Islam told Gene Cretz, the U.S. ambassador to Tripoli.