Venezuela, France talk nuclear cooperation

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

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner also said 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.

French energy companies, including Paris-based oil giant Total, have extensive investments in Venezuela's crude-rich Orinoco River basin.

Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chávez last week said he had accepted an offer from Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for assistance in building a nuclear reactor. The move, which came during Chávez's visit to Moscow Sunday, is likely to raise U.S. concerns over increasingly close cooperation between Caracas and Moscow.

France has recently signed accords for cooperation on civilian nuclear technology with a host of nations including India and such Muslim nations as Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.