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(HERALD) ‘Gaddafi poured millions into Sarkozy campaign’

‘Gaddafi poured millions into Sarkozy campaign’
Wednesday, 14 March 2012 00:00

FRENCH president Nicolas Sarkozy received up to £42 million from the late Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to fund his election bid in 2007, it was claimed on Monday. The report comes six weeks before the first round of France’s presidential election on April 22.

The funding however, did not stop Sarkozy from being at the forefront of the military campaign that ousted Gaddafi. Evidence made public in Paris is said to prove that the two men had an illegal financial arrangement that helped Sarkozy to power in 2007.

A governmental briefing note published by Mediapart, an investigative website, points to numerous visits to Libya by Sarkozy and his colleagues that were aimed at securing funding.

One meeting referred to in the note as having taken place on October 6, 2005, led to “campaign finance to NS (Nicolas Sarkozy)” being “totally solved”.

At the time Sarkozy was an ambitious interior minister raising money for his presidential election campaign.

Taking cash would have broken French political financing laws.

Mediapart claims that 50 million euros referred to in the note was laundered through bank accounts in Panama and Switzerland.


The Swiss account was opened in the name of the sister of Jean-Francois Cope, the leader of Sarkozy’s UMP party, and the president’s right-hand-man.

The money was then allegedly distributed through an arms dealer called Ziad Takieddine, who acted as a middleman between Arab leaders and French politicians.

In March 2011, as France and Britain spearheaded air strikes against Libya, Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam told Euronews TV that Libya had financed Sarkozy’s 2007 election campaign, which Sarkozy’s office also denied at the time.

Saif, who was arrested after the fall of his father’s government said, “Sarkozy must first give back the money he took from Libya to finance his electoral campaign. We funded it.

“We have all the details and are ready to reveal everything. The first thing we want this clown to do is to give the money back to the Libyan people. He was given the assistance so he could help them, but he has disappointed us. Give us back our money.”
In December 2007, eyebrows were raised when Col Gaddafi was honoured with a state visit to Paris.

He was referred to as the “Brother Leader” by the French, and allowed to pitch his Bedouin tent next to the Elysee Palace.

Addressing the Peace and Security Commission meeting at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the end of January President Mugabe said: “I saw a picture yesterday of Gaddafi shaking hands with Sarkozy in France after they invited him there, but those hands that Gaddafi was shaking were the hands that were going to kill him a few months later.

“How far then do we go in associating with such people?”

The incriminating evidence came after a thorough investigation of Takieddine’s activities.

His doctor, Didier Grosskopf, told judges in Paris that he went on many of the trips to Libya and witnessed negotiations about political funding.

The discussions involved Brice Hortefeux, one of Sarkozy’s closest allies, who has confirmed to Mediapart the meetings took place, but would not comment further, beyond denying any wrongdoing.

The incriminating note, which is in the hands of the French police, was leaked to Mediapart along with other documents.

These include at least three letters sent from Sarkozy and his colleagues to the Libyan leader in 2005 and details of “one-on-one negotiations” between Sarkozy and Gaddafi.

Meanwhile, Sarkozy has denied claims he received money from Gaddafi to fund his first presidential bid in 2007.

“If he (Gaddafi) had financed it, then I haven’t been very grateful,” Sarkozy said when a journalist asked about the report on TF1 television.

Sarkozy lashed out at the journalist who asked him about the report and Saif’s claim, accusing her of sympathising with Saif.

“I am sorry for you that you are the spokeswoman for Gaddafi’s son,” Sarkozy said, visibly angered by the question.

“Gaddafi (Saif), who is known for talking nonsense, even said that there were cheques. Well then the son should just go ahead and produce them then,” he said.

Yves Thibier a political analyst said if the allegations are proved those involved face prison sentences. He added, “There are frequent funding scandals involving domestic donors, but a Gaddafi funding scandal is something else”.

— dailymail.co.uk/ The Herald/Reuters.

Labels: ELECTIONS, MUAMMAR AL-GADDAFI, SARKOZY

posted by MrK @ 10:42 PM