Paris: Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, who has proved an awkward guest for Nicolas Sarkozy, described his visit to France as "historic" and condemned terrorism after a second meeting with the president.

Despite the French opposition describing his visit as a "farce" because of Libya's human rights record, Kadhafi told France 24 television in an interview he saw it as "an opening to have relations with Europe. It's historic".

The Paris trip, his first in 34 years, is his most high-profile foreign visit since he began to rebuild bridges with the United States and Europe four years ago.

The Libyan leader had earlier had a second one-on-one meeting with Sarkozy, who welcomed him on the steps of the Elysee Palace. They discussed Sarkozy's proposal for a union of Mediterranean countries as well as discussing civil nuclear energy and armaments, Elysee spokesman David Martinon said.

On France 24, Kadhafi condemned terrorism and said he did not believe that al-Qaeda would achieve its objective of "extending its empire". But condemning terrorism was not enough, he added. "It is necessary to find the causes of terrorism".

Kadhafi repeated his condemnation of Tuesday's twin car bombings in Algiers which killed dozens as "an aimless criminal act".

He earlier told a conference that they were "reprehensible acts" and said al-Qaeda members blamed for them were "criminals".

Speaking in Arabic, translated into French, after his second meeting with Sarkozy, Kadhafi said, "the relations are very good, very friendly, we agree on everything".
Source : PTI