Sarkozy denies Gadhafi fund reports
Source: Agencies |
April 30, 2012, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy dismissed a report that deposed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi sought to fund his 2007 campaign as a ploy by opponents to distract from the weakness of their candidate in the weekend's presidential election.
A week ahead of the decisive second round vote on May 6, investigative website Mediapart said it had uncovered a document from Libya's former secret services showing that Gadhafi's government had decided to finance Sarkozy's run at the presidency when he was interior minister.
Sarkozy, whose government had played a key role in the ouster of Gadhafi last year, has repeatedly denied receiving any money from the former Libyan leader, who was captured and killed by fighters from the Libyan National Liberation Army last year.
Sarkozy said in a newspaper interview that the Socialists were using the report as an attempt to avert scrutiny of their presidential candidate, Francois Hollande, who leads in opinion polls by around 10 percentage points.
"You see that this is an attempt to create a distraction ... which will backfire on the Socialists," Sarkozy told Le Parisien-Dimanche newspaper.
Mediapart, staffed by a number of veteran French journalists, said it had a 2006 document signed by Gadhafi's former intelligence chief Moussa Koussa which stated that his government would pay 50 million euros (US$66.25 million) for Sarkozy's campaign.
A week ahead of the decisive second round vote on May 6, investigative website Mediapart said it had uncovered a document from Libya's former secret services showing that Gadhafi's government had decided to finance Sarkozy's run at the presidency when he was interior minister.
Sarkozy, whose government had played a key role in the ouster of Gadhafi last year, has repeatedly denied receiving any money from the former Libyan leader, who was captured and killed by fighters from the Libyan National Liberation Army last year.
Sarkozy said in a newspaper interview that the Socialists were using the report as an attempt to avert scrutiny of their presidential candidate, Francois Hollande, who leads in opinion polls by around 10 percentage points.
"You see that this is an attempt to create a distraction ... which will backfire on the Socialists," Sarkozy told Le Parisien-Dimanche newspaper.
Mediapart, staffed by a number of veteran French journalists, said it had a 2006 document signed by Gadhafi's former intelligence chief Moussa Koussa which stated that his government would pay 50 million euros (US$66.25 million) for Sarkozy's campaign.
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