Germany firm destroys Libya's chemical weapons

Germany's Foreign and Defense ministries announced that some 500 tons of chemicals stemming from former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's chemical weapons program had been destroyed "successfully and in an environmentally sustainable manner."

A German government-owned specialty firm, GEKA, destroyed the chemicals at facilities in Munster, Germany, the ministries said.

Read more: Germany set to destroy Libya's last chemical arms components

One less worry

The international community had long feared that the remnants of Gadhafi's extensive chemical weapons program could fall into the hands of extremist groups or rogue states after he was deposed in 2011 and the country spiraled into chaos. Last year Libya asked the UN-backed Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for help in destroying a large cache of so-called "dual-use" chemicals, which can be used for civilian as well as military purposes.

Read more:UN authorizes offshore disposal of Libya's chemical weapons

But others remain

The costs of destroying the chemicals were covered by Germany and the United States. Germany has also declared its willingness to aid the OPCW in its quest to destroy Syrian chemical weapons. The OPCW administers the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which forbids the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons and their precursors. The OPCW was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its work in 2013.

js/rc (AP, epd)