French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva discussed on Tuesday the cooperation between the two countries on the search operation and investigation following the June 1 air crash of Air France Flight 447 en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.

"There is a black hole. This is not normal," Sarkozy said at a joint news conference with Lula.

Sarkozy said Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Cooperation Minister Alain Joyandet were headed to Senegal to see "how we can avoid this black hole, this void in communications."

The June 1 crash of the Air France flight killed all 228 people on board when the plane crashed into the Atlantic. The cause of the disaster remains unknown.

French investigators reported last week that the Air France Flight 447 failed to contact with flight controllers in Dakar after leaving Brazil's airspace and they were slow to realize that the plane was missing.

"French, Brazilian and Senegalese experts are going to see what can be done so that we no longer go through this black hole," Sarkozy said, praising Brazilian authorities and the army for their "fantastic work."

Lula rejected French claims that they were denied access to the autopsies. "There is nothing to hide," he said.

Sarkozy and Lula also called for "a more democratic world order, one founded in greater solidarity and justice," to give emerging economies more say in international finance and justice.

Lula insisted that now be the right time for a South American country to host its first Olympics.

(Xinhua News Agency July 8, 2009)