A transport plane carrying some 55,000 pounds of documents and equipment, including centrifuge parts used to enrich uranium and missile guidance sets, landed in Tennessee at 8:37 a.m. Monday, said spokesman Scott McClellan.

"The shipment is now at a secure facility in Tennessee," said the spokesman, who added that "the most sensitive" documents ties to Libya's nuclear weapons program had been aboard a similar flight last week.

He noted that destruction of Libya's unfilled chemical munitions had also begun and heralded Tripoli's steps towards fulfilling its surprise pledge to abandon weapons of mass destruction.

"While these shipments are only the beginning of the elimination of Libya's weapons, the shipments, as well as the close cooperation on the ground in Libya, reflect real progress in Libya meetings its commitments," he said.

Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi agreed in December 2003, after nine months of secret talks with Britain and the United States, to end Tripoli's quest for unconventional arms.

"Colonel Kadhafi made a courageous decision to give up his weapons. And through this transparent process, the world can see that Colonel Kadhafi is keeping his commitment," said McClellan.

The spokesman said now was not the time to discuss lifting US sanctions on Libya, but declared: "They're moving in the right direction. This reflects real progress, but there is more to do as well."

"As the Libyan government takes these essential steps and demonstrates its seriousness, its good faith will be returned. Libya can regain a secure and respected place among the nations and over time achieve far better relations with the United States," said McClellan.

Diplomatic ties were severed in 1981 and the United States imposed an embargo in 1986 still in force even though the United Nations lifted sanctions last year after Tripoli agreed to a compensation deal over the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

Lavishing praise on Tripoli, McClellan added that "As Libya becomes a more peaceful nation, it can be a source of stability in Africa and the Middle East."

Inspectors from the United States, Britain and the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, have already begun working in Libya to oversee the dismantling of the country's programs to develop weapons of mass destruction.

The nuclear components were expected to be stored at the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which was established in 1943 as part of the secret Manhattan project to build the atomic bomb.

The news came after US lawmakers on a landmark mission to Libya pledging to "forget the past" as they emerged from a meeting with Kadhafi in the tent the Libyan leader erected after a US bombing raid 18 years ago destroyed his home.

Representative Tom Lantos, the top Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, predicted that relations would be normal and embassies reopen in the two countries by next year.

Libyan Prime Minister Shoukri Ghanem said after meeting the Americans on Sunday that he expected the return of US oil firms to Libya "within a year".

WAR.WIRE