'Libya had devices for uranium-enrichment, chemical weapons'

The visits came after Libyan officials contacted US and British officials in March, initiating nine months of secret talks that culminated Friday with Libya's pledge to renounce weapons of mass destruction, the sources said.

US and British officials saw chemical weapons and signs of a relatively advanced nuclear program in more than ten site visits in October and December, according to a senior White House official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.

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A CIA report to Congress released in November said that Libya had made its greatest strides with chemical weapons but had made little progress on its longstanding goal of acquiring or developing a nuclear weapon. The site visits contradicted the latter assessment, however.

"On the nuclear side, my understanding is that they did have a much further advanced program, including centrifuges," devices used to enrich uranium for use in nuclear weapons, the official said.

Building a centrifuge "is the long pole in the tent. Once you can do that, you can build a bomb," another administration official said, also speaking privately. "They told us that they had this program that was ultimately intended to produce a bomb."