TRIPOLI: The United States is to help Libya to build a first nuclear power plant under an agreement to be signed soon, the official JANA news agency reported on Monday. The Libyan parliament or General People s Committee (GPC) gave its approval on Sunday for the foreign ministry to sign the deal, JANA said. The GPC authorized on Sunday the GPC for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation to sign the agreement related (to) the Libyan-American cooperation in peaceful use of nuclear energy offered by the United States, it said in an English-language dispatch. The agreement aims at establishing a nuclear station in Libya to produce electricity, desalting water, and developing the radiochemistry performance at energy researches centre.
There was no immediate confirmation from Washington of the proposed deal. The draft agreement approved by MPs on Sunday provides for Libyan students to receive training in nuclear technology in the United States and for the establishment in Libya of a regional centre for nuclear medicine, the news agency said. Libya was long accused by Western governments of seeking to acquire weapons of mass destruction. But in late 2003 Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi renounced all attempts to develop a non-conventional arsenal, clearing the way for the restoration of diplomatic relations with the United States in May last year. The proposed agreement between the United States and its longtime enemy Libya comes as Washington intensifies its campaign against the nuclear program of its arch-foe Iran. Iran s program, which the Islamic republic insists is entirely peaceful, has prompted a number of Arab states to announce plans to work on civil nuclear energy, including pro-Western Egypt and the six oil-rich Gulf states.
