Gaddafi’s uranium drums accidentally stolen, says warlord

A LIBYAN warlord yesterday claimed to have found more than two tons of missing uranium in the Sahara Desert.

Gen Khaled al-mahjoub said on his Facebook page that the containers of Gaddafi-era uranium had been recovered “barely five kilometres” from where they had been stored in Sabha.

He suggested the 18 barrels of unenriched uranium had been stolen and then abandoned by “a Chadian faction who thought they were weapons or ammunition”.

“The situation is under control. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been informed,” Gen Mahjoub said.

The IAEA in Vienna said it was trying to verify the information after issuing an alert about the missing uranium to member states on Wednesday, stating that it “may present a radiological risk”.