Gaddafi ‘funded’ 2007 Sarkozy campaign

Days before France’s presidential vote, French website publishes documents it says prove campaign funding violations

The government of the late Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi agreed to fund French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s 2007 election campaign to the tune of $50.2m, a news website has reported.

The Paris-based investigative website Mediapart on Saturday published what it said was documentary evidence of the illegal campaign funding.

Sarkozy strongly denied the allegations when questioned by French journalists in March and April. The case is currently under investigation by a French judge.

France has strict campaign financing laws, banning politicians from taking funding from foreign states.

The 2006 document, written in Arabic, was signed by Gaddafi’s intelligence chief Moussa Kussa.

The document referred to an “agreement in principle to support the campaign for the candidate for the presidential elections, Nicolas Sarkozy, for a sum equivalent to 50 million euros [$50.2m].”

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