PARIS - Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi is planning to sign contracts in France next week to buy a nuclear reactor and Airbus planes worth over three billion euros, it was reported Saturday. Le Figaro newspaper quoted Gaddafi’s son Seif Al Islam Gaddafi as saying there were also plans to buy military equipment during the visit starting Monday - his first to Paris for 34 years.The reported purchasing plans of Gaddafi - now restored to broad international acceptance - has raised eyebrows, with former presidential candidate Francois Bayrou of the Democratic Movement saying ‘I’d never have thought it would get this far.’
Gaddafi and French President Nicolas Sarkozy already signed a series of contracts last July on delivery of French nuclear technology and military equipment. The subsequent agreement in which France is to supply Libya with a nuclear reactor for the desalination of sea water sparked criticism from both parties in GermanyÂ’s ruling coalition, although government sources claimed it had not caused a rift in bilateral relations.