Chirac: true partnership with Libya ahead

French President Jacques Chirac, currently on a visit to Libya, said Wednesday that the turbulent times between the two countries were over and a true partnership was ahead, said reports reaching here from Tripoli.

"We have seen strong turbulence, but the difficult period is happily behind us. Now we have entered a dynamic and positive phase with the prospect to rebuild a strong dialogue and establish a true partnership," said Chirac.

To underscore Paris' commitment to the new relationship, Chirac pledged to build a new French embassy in Tripoli.

Talks between Libyan leader Muammar Ghaddafi and Chirac on Wednesday night tackled issues of mutual concern and means to enhance cooperation between the African Union and the European Union, according to the Libyan television.

"Libya has made decisive choices to assume its responsibility and remove the obstacles that have hindered its return to the world arena," Chirac said after talks with Ghaddafi.

Chirac's visit to Libya marks the first of its kind by a French head of state since Libya won independence from Italy in 1951.

The French president brought a delegation of business leaders, aimed at concluding engineering, exploration and sales accords with the oil-rich African country.

French trade with Libya now stands at a yearly 2.5 billion US dollars, including an annual 2 billion dollars of Libyan oil exports.

Chirac was the fourth European leader to visit Libya this year, following British Prime Minister Tony Blair, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Ties between Paris and Tripoli strained when a French passenger jet was downed in 1989 that killed 170 people, including 54 French.

Libya's recent agreement to pay compensation to the victims kindled hopes for the normalization of the relationship between the two countries.

Ghaddafi began to change his international image last December when he agreed to stop developing weapons of mass destruction, denounced terrorism and acknowledged responsibility for the Lockerbie and UTA plane bombings in the 1980s.

Numerous sanctions against Libya were lifted this year.