Tripoli, 4 May:
NTC Chief Mustafa Abdul Jalil has branded as fake a 2006 letter from the Qaddafi regime offering multi-million dollar . . .[restrict]funding to Nicolas Sarkozy for his 2007 presidential election bid.
Last month French website, Mediapart published what it claimed was a letter from Mussa Kussa, then Qaddafi’s intelligence chief in which Sarkozy was offered €50 million for his campaign. Sarkozy’s immediate response was that the letter was a crude forgery, designed to damage his bid for a second term in the Elysée Palace. He labelled the accusation “grotesque”. He added that since France had played such a pivotal role in the NATO air campaign that helped the rebels defeat Qaddafi’s forces, had the allegations been true, he would have shown remarkable ingratitude.
He has since announced he will sue Mediapart.
Mediapart’s claims have been backed by former premier Baghdadi Mahmoudi, jailed in Tunisia and fighting extradition to Libya. His lawyer, Bechir Essid said his client confirmed the document was genuine and that the funds had been transferred to Sarkozy’s campaign.
However Mussa Kussa himself has denied every signing the letter. Speaking from his exile in the Qatari capital Doha, Kussa said the document was a fake.
French voters will decide on Sunday between Sarkozy and his socialist challenger François Hollande, who opinion polls place well in the lead.
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