UPDATE 1-France says Gaddafi gave guarantees on rights

(Recasts with Yade comments, Socialist reaction)

By Crispian Balmer

PARIS Dec 13 (Reuters) - The French government said on Thursday it had obtained guarantees from Muammar Gaddafi about human rights in his country, but the comments failed to quell a widespread controversy about the Libyan leader's lengthy visit.

Gaddafi is in France for the first time in 34 years, pitching his Bedouin tent in the gardens of the presidential guest residence and stretching out his stay over six days.

Opposition leaders and even some government officials have accused French President Nicolas Sarkozy of turning a blind eye to human rights violations in Libya in his haste to wrap up business deals with the energy-rich north African state.

The government member who first sounded the alarm at the start of the week moved to defuse the row, saying that talking to Gaddafi had yielded results on human rights.

"The president pushed constantly and successfully for guarantees from the Libyan head of state in this area," junior minister for human rights Rama Yade told the upper house of parliament. She did not say what guarantees had been obtained.

Yade sparked controversy on Monday by saying France was not a "doormat" on which Gaddafi could wipe off the blood of his crimes, and that if Paris did business with him it should demand guarantees on rights in his country.

Looking to calm the furore, a French presidential source said Sarkozy had asked Gaddafi on Wednesday to condemn the twin car bombings in Algeria earlier this week that killed dozens.

Gaddafi duly obliged and denounced al Qaeda, which has claimed responsibility for the Algeria attack.

"What explains such an act? Can you say it is Islam? Islam would never think that. It is a criminal act that has no aim," he told France 24 in an interview late on Wednesday.

His comments provided some relief to the presidential palace, which is still smarting from Gaddafi's denial earlier this week that Sarkozy had raised the issue of human rights during their first meeting on Monday.

HUMILIATION

"I have the impression that France has been humiliated," senior Socialist Manuel Valls said on Thursday. Party leader Francois Hollande added: "Contracts have become our values."

The Le Parisien newspaper said Gaddafi's week-long stay had become "a nightmare" for Sarkozy, who promised to put human rights first when he took power in May.

France was the first Western country to invite Gaddafi for an official visit since he renounced his nuclear weapons programme and support for terrorism in 2003.

Looking to justify the trip, Sarkozy has said it generated 10 billion euros ($14.7 billion) of contracts for French firms.

Critics say many of the contracts were agreed on months ago, and the Elysee admitted on Thursday the United States could still veto the most eye-catching deal -- the potential sale of 14 high-tech Rafale fighter jets -- by penalising companies for providing high-tech components used in the aircraft to third parties such as Libya.

In another move aimed at silencing his critics, Sarkozy was due to meet on Thursday the relatives of those killed in the 1989 bombing of a French airliner over Africa -- an attack that was blamed on Tripoli and for which Libya paid compensation. (Additional reporting by Gerard Bon, Francois Murphy and Jean-Baptiste Vey; Editing by Caroline Drees)