Despite France not being involved in the talks, de Villepin said on radio France-Inter that "cooperation between France, Britain and the United States and other countries on the threat of terrorism and proliferation is extremely active and fruitful."

Libya took the world by surprise on Friday by announcing, after nine months of secret negotiations with London and Washington, that it would renounce its weapons of mass destruction programs.

De Villepin also said he had "big hopes" on reaching an agreement with Tripoli in the next few weeks on additional compensation for relatives of those who died in the explosion of a DC-10 aircraft belonging to the French company UTA. The plane exploded over the west African state of Niger in September 1989 that killed all 170 people on board.

Libya agreed in priniciple in September to additional compensation after relatives of the UTA victims demanded a pay-out comparable to the 2.7 billion dollars (2.2 billion euros) Tripoli paid to the kin of those killed in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland.

WAR.WIRE