"Libya's decision was not a concession or the result of what happened in Iraq but was a decision by the Popular Congress (parliament). It was voluntary," Shalgam told AFP in an interview.

Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi surprised the world with his declaration on December 19 that Tripoli was giving up the search for chemical, biological and nuclear arms.

That pledge was followed up by Libya's announcement that it would cooperate fully with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and allow tougher inspections of its nuclear sites.

"Possessing the atomic bomb doesn't always lead to victory," Shalgam said, citing the US defeat in Vietnam despite being a nuclear power.

The developments were the fruit of nine months of secret negotiations between Libya and Britain and the United States, with some suggestions that Tripoli feared it could be Washington's next target after the invasion of Iraq and the toppling of Saddam Hussein.

Libya's move also came after Iran -- dubbed part of an "axis of evil" by Washington along with North Korea and the former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein -- agreed to sign up to a additional protocol of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty allowing snap inspections of its atomic facilities.

Tripoli was under international sanctions for years over the December 1988 bombing of a US airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie that killed 270 people.

The United Nations lifted its embargo in September after Tripoli agreed to pay 2.7 billion dollars (2.2 billion euros) in compensation and accept responsibility for the bombing but denied guilt. US sanctions remain in place.

On Wednesday, the United States said it had led an operation to seize uranium enrichment components from a German freighter headed for Libya that may have sealed Tripoli's weapons move.

But the United States is still refusing to ease diplomatic pressure on Libya, warning its long-time foe there was a long way to go before it could expect normal relations with the United States.

"We're looking to Libya to get out of the terrorism game and get out of the WMD game," State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said on Monday.

Shalgam brushed off the US hard line.

"The favourable reception from the American president (George W. Bush)Secretary of State Colin) Powell and (British Prime Minister Tony) Blair to the initiative undertaken voluntarily by Libya is enough for us," he said.

Shalgam also welcomed a call last week by Egypt and Syria for a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction as a "positive plan that the Arabs must encourage."

The leaders of Egypt and Syria referred explicitly only to Israel's undeclared nuclear arsenal, without mentioning the chemical weapons and germ warfare programme that the United States accuses Syria of maintaining.

Shalgam also said the IAEA missions in Libya were not inspection teams but were committees of experts helping Tripoli transform its weapons programmes to peaceful civilian use.

Libya, a member of the IAEA since 1963, signed the NPT six years later and in 1980 it reached an agreement with the agency to put its nuclear facilities under international control.

WAR.WIRE