WASHINGTON, Dec 31: The United States on Wednesday said it had led an operation to seize uranium enrichment components from a German freighter headed for Libya that may have sealed Tripoli's decision to publicly renounce weapons of mass destruction this month.

"A ship was diverted based on intelligence it was carrying centrifuge parts in early October," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters, calling it "a significant and important development".

He declined to discuss specifics - details of which were first reported in The Wall Street Journal - but said the operation showed the value of the US-led Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI).

"What this incident shows is that the PSI is robust, producing results, fulfilling the mission for which it was intended," Mr Ereli said. PSI was launched by President George Bush in early 2003 to prevent the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

Sixteen countries have now signed on to the program, which envisions seizing weapons of mass destruction, their components and delivery systems while in transit on the high seas, in international airspace or overland.

Mr Ereli would not comment on whether the October seizure of thousands of centrifuge parts from the freighter had been the main impetus in convincing Libyan leader Moamer Qadhafi to give up weapons of mass destruction.

He noted that the seizure had occurred months after Mr Qadhafi initiated secret talks with the United States and Britain on giving up such arms. But he also pointed out that, shortly after the seizure, Libya had agreed to allow US and British experts to inspect its weapons facilities.

"After this diversion, there were certain actions that took place," Ereli said. "Was there a causality? I think one could argue that, but coming to a definitive conclusion about it is hard."

His comments mirrored what appears to be a division within the Bush administration about how much the seizure influenced Mr Qadhafi in the run-up to his surprise Dec 19 announcement that Libya would give up its nuclear, biological and chemical weapons programs.

One senior US official said the confiscation of the components appeared to have sped up secret negotiations between the United States, Britain and Libya. According to officials, US and British intelligence discovered in September that the ship carrying the centrifuge parts destined for Libya would be leaving from a port in a Gulf nation.

German authorities were then notified and shortly after the BBC China cleared the Suez Canal, they informed the shipowner, which then instructed the captain to change course for Italy, the officials said.

A US naval vessel shadowed the freighter as it passed through the Mediterranean Sea to an Italian port, where it was boarded and searched, yielding the centrifuge parts, the officials said. -AFP