Venezuela, France eye nuclear energy cooperation

PARIS: France is willing to help Venezuela develop a civilian nuclear power program, the foreign ministers of both countries said on Thursday.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner also said that France would like to use Venezuela _ a staunch critic of the United States _ as a go-between with Iran in discussions about the Middle Eastern nation's disputed nuclear program, but that Iranian officials have so far proved unreceptive to the approach.

He said his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro, agreed on the need to check the Iranian nuclear program, as officials there have not answered ``the very pertinent questions posed by the International Atomic Energy Agency,'' the U.N.'s Vienna-based nuclear watchdog.

Venezuela has pursued close relations with Iran and has defended the country against allegations that it is secretly seeking nuclear weapons. Iran also denies the charges, insisting its nuclear program is purely civilian.

France, which along with the United States is among the toughest opponents of the Iranian nuclear program, would like to discuss the matter through Venezuela, but the ``Iranians don't respond. It's too bad,'' Kouchner said.

Venezuela, a major petroleum producer, is looking to secure its future energy supply by investing in alternative energy sources and nuclear power, Maduro told a news conference in Paris marking the start of two days of high-level talks between the two countries. Maduro added that humanity's future depends, in part, on going nuclear.

Kouchner said France is ``ready to work with our Venezuelan friends'' to develop a civilian nuclear power program. He emphasized that such a program would have to have exclusively peaceful goals.