Friday, Nov 20, 2009

LA PAZ (AFP)--Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit Bolivia Tuesday to reinforce cooperation between the energy-rich allies as Tehran seeks growing influence in the region, Bolivian officials said.

After a working lunch, Ahmadinejad and his Bolivian counterpart Evo Morales will travel to El Alto, a city just outside the capital La Paz, where they will unveil a worksite funded by Iran, according to a foreign ministry statement.

The official agenda of the eight-hour visit also includes a private meeting between the leaders, who will sign bilateral agreements and hold a press conference.

The Iranian leader will arrive in Bolivia, which sits on South America's second largest gas reserves, as part of a Latin American tour that also includes stops in Brazil and Venezuela.

La Paz and Tehran established relations in September 2007 when Ahmadinejad made an official trip to Bolivia to sign trade and energy accords, including one to support the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes "within the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty" (NPT).

Their growing ties have raised concerns in Washington and Israel.

The Jewish state suspects that the leftist governments in Bolivia and Venezuela are supplying uranium for Iran's controversial nuclear program, a charge Tehran denies.

The Morales administration, which broke its diplomatic ties with Israel in January over its military offensive into the Gaza Strip, says it doesn't currently mine uranium.

The U.S. and its European allies fear that Iran is seeking to obtain nuclear weapons under cover of its civilian nuclear energy program.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

20-11-09 1454GMT