A document appears to confirm Gaddafi’s financing of Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign

This document, translated from its original Arabic by the Mediapart website, carries the signature of Musa Kusa, the exiled former head of the Libyan overseas intelligence services. It states the existence of an "agreement in principle" to "subsidize the campaign of presidential candidate, Nicolas Sarkozy, with an amount valued at fifty million euros". On 12 March the presidential candidate described any allegation of funding of his 2007 presidential campaign by Muammar Gaddafi as «grotesque».

In this green-bordered document, Musa Kusa confirms an "agreement in principle" according to "instructions - issued by the liaison office of the General People’s Committee – approving supporting the campaign of presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy, with a donation valued at fifty million euros ". Musa Kusa was the Foreign Minister of Muammar Qaddafi, before his defection and departure for Europe. He added that this agreement was a consequence of the "Minutes of the meeting held on 6/10/2006, which was attended on our side by the Director of Libyan intelligence (Abdallah Senussi) and President of Libyan African investment fund (Bashir Saleh), and - on the French side - Brice Hortefeux and Ziad Takieddine ". The lawyer for Ziad Takieddine, quoted by Mediapart, said his client "was not present at the meeting indicated in the document" but that "it believes that this document is credible, given the date and the individuals involved, that appear there".

The suspicion of Libyan involvement in the financing of Nicolas Sarkozy had been fueled by dramatic statements by Muammar Gaddafi and his son, Saif al-Islam. The latter told the Euronews channel, two days before Western military intervention in March 2011: "It is necessary that Sarkozy return the money he accepted from Libya to finance his electoral campaign. We financed his campaign, and we can prove it. We are ready to reveal everything".

Bernard Cazeneuve, a spokesman for Francois Hollande, asked Nicolas Sarkozy on Saturday to "explain himself to the French people" with regard to information on an agreement by Libya to finance his campaign in 2007. "Several times in recent weeks, precise information was communicated through the press, regarding relations that France may have had with the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in recent years," wrote Bernard Cazeneuve in a statement.