TRIPOLI: Libya has shipped the last of its chemical weapons stocks out of the country, officials said Tuesday, under a UN-backed plan to ensure the arsenal could not fall into the wrong hands. The move will ease fears that extremists like the Islamic State group could gain access to the weapons in Libya, which has been wracked by chaos since the 2011 overthrow of Muoamer Gaddafi. A senior security official told AFP the stocks, including 23 tanks of chemicals, were shipped out on a Danish vessel on Saturday from the port of Misrata, under the supervision of the United Nations, and were destined for Germany. The stocks had been stored in the central Jafa area, about 200 kilometres (125 miles) south of Sirte where Libyan pro-government forces are battling IS jihadists, he said. “We as Libyans did not want these weapons, especially during the current security situation and with the presence of IS in the region,” the security official said. The deputy prime minister of Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA), Mussa el-Koni, confirmed the operation.