French President Nicolas Sarkozy has denied that former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi gave his 2007 presidential campaign $65 million, the Financial Times reported.
The French investigative site Mediapart reported Monday that it found a document showing that after Sarkozy connected with Gadhafi through a notorious Libyan businessman, he received transfers from Swiss and Panamanian bank accounts. Mediapart was co-founded in 2008 by one of France’s most well-known investigative reporters.
Last year, Gadhafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, made a similar allegation during an interview with the Euronews TV Channel, the Guardian reported. Al-Islam, frustrated that Sarkozy supported the opposition to his father's regime, threatened to divulge the details of bank transfers to Sarkozy's campaign.
The Financial Times reported that the document had not been proven to be authentic.
Sarkozy’s opponent in this race, François Hollande, has demanded that Sarkozy explain the document, the Guardian reported.
“Well then the son should just go ahead and produce them,” Sarkozy said on French television, according to the Financial Times.
The businessman, Ziad Takieedine, also denied the allegations.
“There was not one bit of any finance from Libya to France or from Gadhafi to Sarkozy. Nothing,” Takieedine said.
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