The team was headed by the secretary general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Rogelio Pfirter, who was received by Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Shalgham, the official JANA news agency reported.

Pfirter said his agency would provide "technical assistance in the elimination of all Libyan material that might be used in the production of banned weaponry," JANA said.

Under the international convention which the OPCW oversees, Libya is obliged to give a comprehensive declaration of any chemical weapons it possesses and any attempts it made to acquire or develop them.

"Initially the OPCW teams will provide technical support, but inspections will begin as soon as we receive Libya's initial declaration," OPCW spokesman Peter Kaiser said in The Hague.

After nine months of secret talks with Britain and the United States, Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi agreed in December to end Tripoli's quest for nonconventional weapons.

A team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency is already in Libya to verify Tripoli's dismantling of its nuclear facilities.

WAR.WIRE