Portable anti-aircraft missiles possibly smuggled outside Libya

PanARMENIAN.Net - Portable anti-aircraft missiles may have already been smuggled outside Libya's borders even as the United States races to help account for thousands of the weapons stockpiled by the regime of Moammar Gadhafi, U.S. officials say.

"We have reports that they may have in fact crossed borders," Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said.

Rogers said al-Qaeda would like to get its hands on the weapons, which fit in the trunk of a car and can take down a commercial jet.

Missiles like those have been used in attacks on 40 aircraft, causing 28 crashes and more than 800 deaths since 1975. Under Gadhafi, Libya had stockpiled about 20,000 of the missiles, called Man Portable Air Defense Systems or MANPADS.

Not all are missing, says the State Department, which is working with Libya's transitional government to account for the missiles. "We believe that thousands of MANPADS were destroyed during NATO operations because weapons bunkers were a major target," said Andrew Shapiro, assistant secretary of State for political-military affairs.

Many missiles are also under the control of forces loyal to the transitional government there, and others are too old to work, the State Department said.

Shapiro cautioned the government doesn't have "firm reporting" that the missiles have crossed Libya's border but intends to "ramp up" the effort to account for the missiles. "It's certainly something that we're very concerned about," he said.

Rogers said the administration's pledge to not deploy troops in Libya made the government hesitant to deploy Americans to track the missiles until recently. "I have some concerns that we may be a little bit late," he said, USA Today reported.