PARIS – Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was arrested by the police in connection with alleged campaign funding for 2007 elections from late Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
Mr Sarkozy was placed under arrest on Tuesday after being summoned for questioning by French police detectives in Nanterre, outside Paris.
The former French ruler is alleged to have accepted €50m from Muammar Gaddafi’s regime – claims repeated by the late Libyan dictator’s son and French businessman Ziad Takieddine.
Brice Hortefeux, who served as Mr Sarkozy’s interior minister, was also grilled over the allegations, however, he was not placed under arrest.
Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine while bolstering his claims said he had made three trips from Tripoli to Paris in late 2006 and early 2007 with cash for Sarkozy’s campaign.
On the other hand, Sarkozy has dismissed the allegations claiming that the Libyan regime members were furious over his (Sarkozy’s) participation in the US-led military intervention that put an end to the Gadafi’s rule.
