Government says country has been rid of arsenal from Gaddafi era in process hailed by monitors as example for Syria

Libya has destroyed the chemical arsenal it inherited from Muammar Gaddafi, 10 years after the dictator signed the UN chemical weapons convention, the country's foreign minister has announced.

The completion of the disarmament process, begun under the ousted regime but interrupted by the Nato-backed uprising that overthrew it, comes as the much bigger operation under way in Syria is seriously behind schedule.

"Libya has become totally free of usable chemical weapons that might present a potential threat to the security of local communities, the environment and neighbouring areas," said Mohamed Abdelaziz, the foreign minister.

"This achievement would not have been possible in such a short time without concerted efforts within an international partnership, or without the logistical support and the technical assistance from Canada, Germany and the USA, which provided the opportunity to use very advanced, safe and reliable technology."

Abdelaziz was speaking at a ceremony to mark the milestone that was attended by Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) chief Ahmet Uzumcu, who hailed international support for the disarmament operation – "a good example of international co-operation now emulated in Syria on a larger scale".

Uzumcu said he had visited the city of al-Raogha about 435 miles south of the capital, Tripoli, earlier in the day to inspect the warehouse where Libya's largest outstanding stockpile of mustard gas had been housed before its destruction.

The OPCW chief said Libya still held stocks of low-grade precursor chemicals but that a programme had been put in place to destroy them by the end of 2016.

The watchdog's work only covers Gaddafi's chemical weapons programme and has not addressed the stocks of concentrated uranium, or yellowcake, that it acquired in its bid for a nuclear weapon.

At the end of 2011, in the aftermath of the revolution, a large stock of yellowcake was discovered at an arms depot in the main southern city of Sebha. The stockpile has since been secured in collaboration with International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors.

The Centre for Strategic Studies in Tripoli has asked the Libyan authorities to ensure the concentrated uranium is used for the benefit of Libyans, in "industrial and agricultural development and in the production of clean energy".

Gaddafi signed the chemical weapons convention and joined the OPCW in 2004 as part of an ultimately abortive efforts to shake off pariah status and mend relations with the west.

Libya had 13 tonnes of mustard gas when it signed the treaty but Gaddafi claimed to have destroyed the munitions needed to deliver it. Gaddafi's regime destroyed about 54% of its mustard gas stocks and about 40% of the chemicals used to manufacture the substance, besides 3,500 bombs intended to deliver deadly chemicals.

The process, supervised by OPCW experts, resumed in 2012. It intensified in September 2013 with the signing of a deal with Washington, which was increasingly concerned that the stockpiles might fall into the hands of ex-rebel militias that the post-Gaddafi government has struggled to contain.

The Syrian disarmament operation, agreed to by Damascus in 2013 under threat of western military action, is running behind schedule, sparking mounting concern in Washington. Syria has declared around 700 tonnes of the most dangerous chemicals and they were supposed to have been shipped out by 31 December. Another 500 tonnes of less dangerous precursor chemicals are supposed to be shipped out by Wednesday.

But so far just two small shipments have left the Syrian port of Latakia, accounting for less than 4% of the country's declared arsenal of most dangerous chemicals and none of the precursors. John Kerry, the US secretary of state, has warned President Bashar al-Assad of Syria that he could face consequences if he fails to meet his obligations on giving up the weapons.

