Tripoli, Aug 24 (ANI): British Foreign Secretary William Hague has said that desperate members of the Gaddafi regime, which is in its "death throes", could try to unleash Libya's stocks of chemical weapons.
"You can't anticipate everything the Gaddafi regime will do. They are a vicious regime. hey are in their death throes. There are people still out there. That's why we can't rule out any of those things," The Telegraph quoted Hague, as saying.
"These are still difficult and dangerous times in Libya. There are many weapons out there," he added.
The Pentagon also said that US armed forces are monitoring Gaddafi's chemical weapons sites.
According to intelligence sources, the dictator still has up to 240 Scud B missiles that could be fired on civilians in a last attempt to retain his lost glory.
At least one Scud missile has already been launched from the Gaddafi stronghold in Sirte on the opposition held town of Misurata but fell off target, possibly into the sea, NATO officials said.
"The use of such Scud-type missiles presents a threat to civilians. They are a weapon of terror, it is utterly irresponsible," a NATO spokesman said.
Reports suggest that despite giving up most of his chemical and biological weapons programmes after 2003, Gaddafi had retained stocks of the chemicals required to make mustard gas.
The components were understood to be at desert sites closely monitored by Western spy satellites, the paper said.
The rebels have reportedly seized Gaddafi's Tripoli compound, while the dictator remains untraced as of now. (ANI)
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