France and Libya on Wednesday inked a deal on the building of a nuclear reactor for water desalination during talks between Libyan leader Muammer Qaddafi and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, a day after the release of six foreign medics.
Sarkozy had touted his visit of less than 24 hours as a "political trip" to help Libya's reintegration into the international community after decades of sanctions and isolation.
Soon after his late afternoon arrival in Tripoli, Sarkozy and his delegation including French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner were accorded an official welcome at Qaddafi's Bab Azizia palace.
PHOTO: AFP
Qaddafi and Sarkozy then went into talks while Kouchner and his Libyan counterpart, Abdel Rahman Shalgham, signed a raft of agreements, including a memorandum of understanding to build a Libyan nuclear reactor for water desalination.
The agreement "aims to furnish Libya with a nuclear reactor that makes it possible to meet one of its important needs -- a supply of drinking water," French presidential aide Claude Gueant told reporters at the signing ceremony.
"Drinking water is rare in Libya, so the aim is to allow the desalination of sea water" using nuclear energy, Gueant added.
The two ministers also signed accords relating to military-industrial cooperation, cultural, scientific and technical assistance and cooperation in the field of research, officials said.
The deals came a day after Tripoli's release of six foreign medics held in Libya since 1999 and whose death sentence for infecting children with the AIDS virus was commuted.
Asked if the deals had been linked to the release of the the five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian-born doctor, Gueant replied, "No, not at all."
Gueant, along with Sarkozy's wife Cecilia, joined EU officials in Tripoli earlier in the week to press Libya to release the medics, held since 1999.
The medics were flown to Sofia on Tuesday aboard a French government jet after being released by the Libyan authorities. They were then granted a pardon by Bulgarian President Georgy Parvanov, ending an eight-year ordeal.
The pardons were angrily condemned by the Libyan government, which on Wednesday delivered a formal protest to senior Bulgarian diplomat in Tripoli complaining of what it said was Sofia's non-compliance with an extradition treaty signed between the two countries in 1984.
Some observers saw Sarkozy's determination to see the medics released as evidence he wants to boost ties with oil-rich Libya.
He and his wife, however, were accused in the European press of stealing the credit after EU negotiator Benita Ferrero-Waldner had done much of the hard bargaining.
Britain's Times newspaper pointed out that the release of the medics was likely to lead to "lucrative contracts for French companies with the oil-rich African state."
Many papers slammed EU negotiators for folding to "blackmail" and paying "blood money."
Australia has announced an agreement with the tiny Pacific nation Nauru enabling it to send hundreds of immigrants to the barren island. The deal affects more than 220 immigrants in Australia, including some convicted of serious crimes. Australian Minister of Home Affairs Tony Burke signed the memorandum of understanding on a visit to Nauru, the government said in a statement on Friday. “It contains undertakings for the proper treatment and long-term residence of people who have no legal right to stay in Australia, to be received in Nauru,” it said. “Australia will provide funding to underpin this arrangement and support Nauru’s long-term economic
‘NEO-NAZIS’: A minister described the rally as ‘spreading hate’ and ‘dividing our communities,’ adding that it had been organized and promoted by far-right groups Thousands of Australians joined anti-immigration rallies across the country yesterday that the center-left government condemned, saying they sought to spread hate and were linked to neo-Nazis. “March for Australia” rallies against immigration were held in Sydney, and other state capitals and regional centers, according to the group’s Web site. “Mass migration has torn at the bonds that held our communities together,” the Web site said. The group posted on X on Saturday that the rallies aimed to do “what the mainstream politicians never have the courage to do: demand an end to mass immigration.” The group also said it was concerned about culture,
ANGER: Unrest worsened after a taxi driver was killed by a police vehicle on Thursday, as protesters set alight government buildings across the nation Protests worsened overnight across major cities of Indonesia, far beyond the capital, Jakarta, as demonstrators defied Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s call for calm. The most serious unrest was seen in the eastern city of Makassar, while protests also unfolded in Bandung, Surabaya, Solo and Yogyakarta. By yesterday morning, crowds had dispersed in Jakarta. Troops patrolled the streets with tactical vehicles and helped civilians clear trash, although smoke was still rising in various protest sites. Three people died and five were injured in Makassar when protesters set fire to the regional parliament building during a plenary session on Friday evening, according to
CRACKDOWN: The Indonesian president vowed to clamp down on ‘treason and terrorism,’ while acceding to some protest demands to revoke lawmaker benefits Protests in Indonesia over rising living costs and inequality intensified overnight, prompting Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to cancel a planned trip to China, while demonstrators reportedly targeted the homes of the finance minister and several lawmakers. Rioters entered Indonesian Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati’s residence near Jakarta early yesterday, but were repelled by armed forces personnel, Kompas reported. Items were taken from the homes of lawmaker Ahmad Sahroni and two others, according to Detik.com. The reports of looting could not be independently verified, and the finance ministry has not responded to requests for comment. The protests were sparked by outrage over
RSS