Yahoo NewsMARRAKECH, Morocco (AFP) - France will in coming weeks sign an accord with Morocco to provide the country with civil nuclear power technology, an official travelling with President Nicolas Sarkozy said Wednesday. Representatives of the French leader and of King Mohammed VI will begin talks "as of next week" on negotiating the cooperation deal and assessing suitable sites for power plants to provide electricity, the official told AFP.
Such plants could also serve for desalination of sea water.
In a speech Tuesday to Morocco's parliament, Sarkozy pledged help in setting up a civilian nuclear subsidiary, in the wake of reports that France's nuclear industry could cut a deal to build a reactor to furnish electric power to the industrial town of Safi on the Atlantic coast.
"Future energy sources should not be the exclusive domain of more developed countries as long as international conventions are respected everywhere," he said.
Unlike neighbouring Algeria, Morocco has no gas reserves, but does have phosphates, which contain some uranium. The official said that in France's view, nuclear power would help Morocco develop, and "if Morocco develops, it can fight against (Islamist) extremism."
Morocco's king has introduced economic and social reforms since he succeeded his late father Hassan II in 1999, but the security forces keep a tight rein on the kind of fundamentalist movements that emerged in neighbouring Algeria due to poverty and joblessness.
Sarkozy arrived in Morocco on Monday for a three-day state visit, and has already officiated over the signing of more than two billion euros (2.8 billion dollars) in business deals.
