Sortir du Nucleaire (Get Out of Nuclear) said the official reason for the reactor was a "deception" as the civilian and military uses of nuclear technology were "indissociable."

"Delivering civilian nuclear energy to Libya would amount to helping the country, sooner or later, to acquire nuclear weapons," it said.

Rich in oil and gas, Libya is "very amply self-sufficient in energy," the group argued. "If it wishes to diversify, it should logically give priority to solar energy: the country enjoys remarkable levels of sunshine all year long."

A memorandum on building the new reactor was signed on Wednesday as French President Nicolas Sarkozy held talks with Libyan leader Kadhafi, a day after Tripoli's release of six foreign medics.

Greenpeace France said the deal "poses an enormous problem in terms of nuclear proliferation" and branded it as "in keeping with the French policy of irresponsible export of nuclear technology."

Greenpeace pointed out that previous French presidents had signed nuclear deals with the former shah of Iran, ex-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and with South Africa during the apartheid era.

"Officially, the reactor being sold to Libya is to desalinate sea water to help the country's supplies of drinking water. Who are they kidding?" asked Frederic Marillier, in charge of Greenpeace's energy campaign.

Other recipients of French nuclear technology have been China and Israel.

Sources in Paris said on Thursday that France would sign an accord in Beijing in Tuesday for the building of two third-generation civilian nuclear reactors, adding to major contracts netted in this sector by French industry in the 1980s and 1990s.

In the 1960s, French help enabled Israel to build a reactor at Dimona, in the Negev desert, through which it reputedly gained access to nuclear weapons.

France played a key role, along with senior EU negotiators, in securing the releases of the six medics by Tripoli.

But Sarkozy denied this had anything to do with France entering into the new accords with Libya. He also emphasised that Libya still held uranium stocks of 1,600 tonnes dating from a nuclear weapons programme that it abandoned in 2003.

One of his aides, Claude Gueant, said the visit was "a strong political signal which signifies that countries which comply with international regulations on nuclear energy, such as Libya, can acquire equipment they need for civilian purposes."

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