Iraq's Minister of Electricity Karim Wahid has announced his desire to enter into negotiations with France to help his country build a nuclear-generated power plant.

Iraq had entered into agreement with France in 1976 to build a nuclear reactor, and construction had begun in 1979, but it was destroyed by Israel in June 1981 amid accusations that Saddam Hussein was seeking to develop nuclear weapons.

During his visit to Iraq early this month, French President Nicolas Sarkozy declared: "I have come to tell the French companies that the time is right to come and invest."

Source: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London, February 23, 2009