President Francois Mitterrand told Iraq that France was willing to replace the nuclear reactor destroyed by Israel in an air attack last June, French officials said yesterday.
The officials indicated that Mitterrand told Iraqi special envoy Tareq Aziz that if replaced, France would impose tighter restrictions to prevent the use of the reactor for military purposes. Mitterrand believes that Iraq should not be denied materials and technology which are provided to other countries, one official said.
“But we want to make sure that under no circumstance would such supplies lead to a proliferation of nuclear weapons,” the official said. “France is opposed to nuclear proliferation.”
Aziz told reporters after the hour-long meeting with Mitterrand that the talks were “friendly” and “characterized by the profound understanding and cooperation between our two countries.” Israel charged for some time before the attack on the reactor outside of Baghdad, that Iraq was using the reactor for atomic weapons manufacturing purposes.
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