A senior French official on Sunday expressed France's support to Egypt's right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes in accordance with international conventions, Egyptian official MENA news agency reported.
Jean-Marie Bockel, French Secretary of State for Foreign Cooperation and Francophonie Affairs, was quoted as saying that French President Nicolas Sarkozy supports Arab countries' right to possess nuclear energy for peaceful purpose.
Bockel attended the EU-Africa-Mideast conference on energy held on Thursday in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
During his five-day visit in Egypt, Bockel met Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit and other officials on regional issues and Mideast peace efforts.
On Monday, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced that Egypt will start a program to set up several power-generating nuclear stations, reasserting Egypt's resolve to go through with the nuclear energy project.
Mubarak declared in September 2006 that his country will continue its scientific research to develop peaceful nuclear technology.
Egypt had started very limited research in nuclear technologies since 1957, but its nuclear program was frozen in 1986 in the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine in the same year.
Egypt signed the international nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1968 and officially supports the elimination of nuclear weapons in the region.
Source: Xinhua
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