SIRTE, Feb 28: Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Qadhafi on Saturday suggested his decision late last year to abandon all weapons of mass destruction was motivated by self-preservation.

"Any national state that adopts this policy (of weapons of mass destruction) cannot protect itself, instead it would expose itself to danger," he said at the closing ceremony of a summit meeting of the African Union (AU).

It was the first time that the Libyan leader had spoken about his December decision in such a public international gathering.

"The nuclear arms race is a crazy and destructive policy for the economy and for life. We would like to have a better economy and a better life," he told the meeting in Arabic, with an accompanying English translation.

"We have found out it is not the responsibility of any national state" to possess such weapons, but rather that of multinational bodies such as the AU, which groups 53 African states.-AFP