Gaddafi says Libya came close to building bomb

TRIPOLI, July 24 (Reuters) Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, whose country abandoned weapons of mass destruction programmes in 2003, said at one stage Libya had come close to building a nuclear bomb, the Libyan news agency reported today.

''It is true that Libya came close to building a nuclear bomb.

This is no longer a secret.... as everything was laid bare by the International Atomic (Energy) Agency for everyone to see,'' the agency quoted Gaddafi as saying yesterday in a speech.

REUTERS MQA ND2324