BERLIN: Germany said it has completed the destruction of components from the chemicals weapons program of deposed Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi.

The international community had feared the 500 tons of chemicals could fall into the hands of extremist groups or rogue states after Qaddafi was deposed in 2011 and the country fell into chaos.

Germany’s Foreign and Defense Ministries said Friday that the chemicals were destroyed “successfully and in an environmentally sustainable manner” by a state-owned specialist firm, GEKA, which is based in Munster, south of Hamburg.

Libya made a formal request to the UN-backed Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons last year for international assistance to have the chemical weapons removed.

The cost of destroying the chemicals was shared by Germany and the US.