Sarkozy hosts Kadhafi, Nuke deal signed

Kadhafi arrived earlier on Monday in Paris on his highest-profile foreign trip since his return to international respectability four years ago, which has drawn protests from French rights groups and the government's own rights minister.

Travelling with a delegation of several hundred people Kadhafi -- who last visited the French capital in 1973 -- was driven in a white limousine from the airport straight to a meeting with Sarkozy.

Later at the Elysee Palace, the two countries announced the nuclear cooperation accord and some USD 4.7 billion of contracts for European planemaker Airbus -- for 21 aircraft purchased by Libyan Airlines and Afriqiyah Airways.

Paris and Tripoli agreed to work together to develop the "peaceful use of nuclear energy", including "the supply of one or more nuclear reactors for the desalinisation of sea water" and uranium exploration and exploitation.

The accord follows a memorandum signed in Tripoli in July during a visit by Sarkozy, immediately after Libya agreed to release six Bulgarian medics jailed on charges of infecting children with HIV/AIDS.

It is the second nuclear cooperation deal between France and an Arab country, following an accord struck by Sarkozy in Algiers last week.

A similar agreement is in the pipeline with Morocco.

Since his election, Sarkozy has aggressively promoted French nuclear know-how abroad, saying that Paris is "ready to help any country" develop civilian atomic power. - DDNEWS