A French Polynesian nuclear test veterans' organisation says it is pulling out of the project to build a memorial in Tahiti marking the legacy of the French weapon tests.
Group on Mangareva opposed to shipment of building material from Hao Photo: Facebook Association 193
Last year France offered the former Navy command centre in Papeete as the proposed commemoration site and the French Polynesian government commissioned historians to contribute.
However, the head of the Association 193 Father Auguste Uebe-Carlson said his group will officially resign from the planning process next week.
"This memorial site is a good thing in itself but with the philosophy of the current French government we no longer agree, and we fear that the memorial will become a propaganda centre for purportedly clean nuclear tests."
Father Uebe-Carlson said his association will quit the project on 2 July when his members will join a march to commemorate the 53rd anniversary of the first of France's 193 tests.
The marchers will protest about the latest compensation law amendment which tightens compensation criteria.
