LIBYA'S COL GADDAFI VISITS FRANCE !
Colonel Gaddafi is expected to sign a number of trade deals with France. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has begun his first visit to France since 1973.
He will meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and is expected to sign a series of trade and military deals worth billions of dollars.
Col Gaddafi's five-day visit has drawn criticism from France's opposition socialists, as well as President Sarkozy's own human rights minister.
He was invited after Libya released medics who had been condemned to death, a case in which France mediated.
The five Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian doctor were accompanied home by Mr Sarkozy's ex-wife Cecilia in July.
Since then, the two countries have strengthened economic ties, and are thought likely to sign further deals.
Our country is not a doormat on which a leader can wipe off the blood of his crimes
Rama YadeFrench human rights ministerThese are expected to include Libya's purchase of Airbus planes, as well as a contract for France to build a nuclear reactor for civil use in Libya.
Mr Gaddafi also said that negotiations are under way for the purchase of Rafale fighter jets.
A series of arms and civilian nuclear deals were signed during a trip President Sarkozy made to Libya five months ago.
The French oil company Total has significant investments in the oil-rich North African country.
However, the visit has been strongly criticised by the French opposition.
Socialist leader Francois Hollande said Mr Sarkozy had invited "a head of state who justifies international terrorism".
Mr Sarkozy's then-wife brought foreign medics back from Libya.
Centrist politician Francois Bayrou said the visit was "shocking".
And Mr Sarkozy's junior minister for human rights, Rama Yade, said: "Col Gaddafi must understand that our country is not a doormat on which a leader - whether terrorist or not - can wipe off the blood of his crimes."
Libya ended decades of international isolation four years ago, when it gave up its pursuit of nuclear arms and pledged to renounce terrorism.
Libyan-French relations have overcome a few stumbling blocks in the past three decades, including the 1989 downing of a French airliner over Niger.
Libya accepted responsibility for that bombing and offered a compensation deal to the victims of the crash.
Col Gaddafi will travel with an entourage of 400 officials and is due to stay in a Bedouin tent in the grounds of the presidential palace in central Paris.
He will meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and is expected to sign a series of trade and military deals worth billions of dollars.
Col Gaddafi's five-day visit has drawn criticism from France's opposition socialists, as well as President Sarkozy's own human rights minister.
He was invited after Libya released medics who had been condemned to death, a case in which France mediated.
The five Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian doctor were accompanied home by Mr Sarkozy's ex-wife Cecilia in July.
Since then, the two countries have strengthened economic ties, and are thought likely to sign further deals.
Our country is not a doormat on which a leader can wipe off the blood of his crimes
Rama YadeFrench human rights ministerThese are expected to include Libya's purchase of Airbus planes, as well as a contract for France to build a nuclear reactor for civil use in Libya.
Mr Gaddafi also said that negotiations are under way for the purchase of Rafale fighter jets.
A series of arms and civilian nuclear deals were signed during a trip President Sarkozy made to Libya five months ago.
The French oil company Total has significant investments in the oil-rich North African country.
However, the visit has been strongly criticised by the French opposition.
Socialist leader Francois Hollande said Mr Sarkozy had invited "a head of state who justifies international terrorism".
Mr Sarkozy's then-wife brought foreign medics back from Libya.
Centrist politician Francois Bayrou said the visit was "shocking".
And Mr Sarkozy's junior minister for human rights, Rama Yade, said: "Col Gaddafi must understand that our country is not a doormat on which a leader - whether terrorist or not - can wipe off the blood of his crimes."
Libya ended decades of international isolation four years ago, when it gave up its pursuit of nuclear arms and pledged to renounce terrorism.
Libyan-French relations have overcome a few stumbling blocks in the past three decades, including the 1989 downing of a French airliner over Niger.
Libya accepted responsibility for that bombing and offered a compensation deal to the victims of the crash.
Col Gaddafi will travel with an entourage of 400 officials and is due to stay in a Bedouin tent in the grounds of the presidential palace in central Paris.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
posted by jackaranda at 3:07 pm
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