Was China selling arms to Gaddafi only weeks ago?

China has denied that it sold weapons and ammunition to Libya, in contravention of the UN arms embargo, as recently as mid-July. The denial was issued by the Chinese foreign ministry today following the discovery of documents in Tripoli detailing a recent shopping trip to Beijing by Col Gaddafi's men.

The documents, found in a bin in the Libyan capital, suggest China has been guilty of duplicity in Libya, voting in favour of the embargo but, behind the scenes, offering to sell Gaddafi's followers some pretty sophisticated equipment, including shoulder-launched missiles capable of bringing down a Nato helicopter.

The documents, seen by Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper, include no confirmation that the weapons were ever delivered. But the paperwork would explain why rebels claim to have encountered Gaddafi loyalists in recent weeks bearing brand new weapons.

"I'm almost certain that these guns arrived and were used against our people," said Omar Hariri, chief of the transitional council's military committee.

The Globe and Mail documents refer to a trip made by Gaddafi's men to Beijing on July 16 this year. The Chinese foreign ministry admits the men visited Beijing but says they were sold no weapons.

The documents tell a different story. They suggest that over a number of days the Gaddafi party met officials from the three state-controlled weapons manufacturers - China North Industries Corp (Norinco), the China National Precision Machinery Import & Export Corp (CPMIC) and China XinXing Import & Export Corp.

According to the Globe and Mail documents, the Chinese could hardly have been more accommodating. They offered "the entire contents of their stockpiles for sale, and promised to manufacture more supplies if necessary".

Even more helpfully, the Chinese noted that some of the items Gaddafi's men wanted were already held in military arsenals by their neighbours, Algeria. This meant Libya might be able to get the weapons quickly direct from the Algerians; the Chinese could then replenish Algeria's stocks later.

Again, there was no confirmation in the documents that the Algerians had okayed such an arrangement.

What next?
If the documents have any validity, China faces some awkward questions at the UN. And, as the Globe and Mail reports, China, Algeria and South Africa "may now suffer a disadvantage as Libya's new rulers divide the spoils from their vast energy resources, and select foreign firms for the country's reconstruction". ·