France to help Libyan's nuclear programme

According to an official Libyan source, France informed Tripoli on Monday that it is prepared to help it develop its civilian nuclear energy programme. France's Ambassador to Tripoli, Jean-Luc Sibiude, handed the Libyan Foreign Minister Abdelrahman Shalgham an official note announcing France's readiness to cooperate with Tripoli on its nuclear power projects, the Jana news agency reported. A French delegation is expected in the North African nation soon to work out the details of this cooperation. In Paris, a diplomatic source said France had "examined a request from Libya. We are going to enter into some form of cooperation with this country," adding that France's favourable response to Tripoli's proposal was indeed communicated to the Libyan authorities by the French ambassador. During a visit by President Jacques Chirac last November, Libyan leader Muamer Qaddafi told the French head of state that his nation had renounced weapons of mass destruction and hoped that the transfer of technology would permit the oil-rich nation to develop a nuclear programme for peaceful means. On that occasion Chirac vowed to forge a "true partnership" with Libya. Chirac's visit was the first by a French head of state since Libyan independence from Italy in 1951. In the past year Libya has undergone a dramatic diplomatic reversal since agreeing to stop developing weapons of mass destruction and acknowledging responsibility for the Lockerbie and French UTA plane bombings in the 1980s.

< Prev		Next >