13 January 2008International Herald Tribune
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France will sign a nuclear cooperation accord with the United Arab Emirates during his visit to the Middle East, he told the pan-Arab daily newspaper Al Hayat in an interview published Sunday at the start of the trip.
The accord for cooperation in civilian nuclear activities, a first step toward building a nuclear reactor, would be the third France has signed recently with Muslim nations, after Libya and Algeria.
Starting his third trip to the region in three weeks, Sarkozy was visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
"I have often said that the Muslim world is no less reasonable than the rest of the world" in seeking civilian nuclear power "in full conformity with international security obligations," Sarkozy told Al Hayat, which is based in London.
During a December visit to Egypt, Sarkozy expressed France's willingness to assist Egypt in the nuclear field.
Building nuclear reactors for civilian use for these countries would mean lucrative contracts for France, which generates most of its own electricity from nuclear power. But such contracts also would send a message to Iran that rewards await nations that respect international rules and norms.
The Iranian nuclear dispute with the international community was among the topics on Sarkozy's agenda during his three-day trip. The threat of terrorism and the war in Iraq also were to be among topics, Sarkozy's office said. The president reiterated in the Al Hayat interview France's offer to hold an inter-Iraqi conference with all parties represented, on the model of the July meeting in France of Lebanese politicians.
Energy, though not a nuclear accord, was on the agenda in Riyadh, Sarkozy's first stop. King Abdullah greeted Sarkozy at the airport. The two were holding talks and having dinner before the signing of four bilateral accords.
Sarkozy planned to tell his hosts that "the interest of oil producers, like consumers, is to lower" the price of oil, a French diplomat said. He was not authorized to discuss the matter and spoke on condition that he not be identified by name. Oil prices reached $100 a barrel this month.
The French president was to take on another delicate subject, the role of religion, in an address Monday to Saudi Arabia's Consultative Council. The Majlis al-Shura, an all-male group that proposes laws in the kingdom, follows a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam.
Sarkozy was to travel to Doha, Qatar before heading to Abu Dhabi. Military cooperation was on the agenda in both capitals.
