Kadhafi interpreter says Libya funded Sarkozy election campaign

Moamer Kadhafi’s former interpreter has validated claims that the former Libyan leader made financial donations to his campaign, in the latest string of allegations made against Sarkozy’s successful 2007 bid for president.

Former president Nicolas Sarkozy Reuters

In a video posted on the investigative news site Mediapart, which aired last night on France 2 TV, Moftah Missouri said Kadhafi personally told him that he donated 20 million dollars.

Missouri also said that an official Libyan document released by Mediapart in April 2012 was authentic.

It refers to a contribution from Tripoli of 50 million euros for Sarkozy’s campaign. The ex-president has previously slammed the documents as fakes and is pursuing a defamation suit.

“This document is a pledge financially to support president Sarkozy’s campaign. We ask you to pay 50 million euros, it’s written there. Yes, it’s an official document,” said Missouri in the video interview.

Kadhafi’s first son, Saif al-Islam, currently under investigation by both Libyan and French officials, asked for alleged donations to Sarkozy's election campaign be returned during the Nato-led air strikes on Libya in 2011.

Campaign funding scandals have long mired the former president, who stepped away from the political scene last year. In April 2013 French prosecutors opened a probe into fraudulent funding from the Libyan regime for Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign.

The inquiry stems from allegations made by Franco-Libyan businessman Ziad Takieddine in December 2012. He claimed he had proof of funding amounting to at least 50 million euros.

Sarkozy has previously denied any wrongdoing but he has not publicly reacted to Missouri's claims.