Nicolas Sarkozy to sue French website Mediapart over Col Gaddafi claims

“There’s a section of the press, of the media, and notably the site in
question whose name I refuse to mention, that is prepared to fake documents,
shame on those who have exploited them,” Mr Sarkozy said.

Claims that Gaddafi financed Mr Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign are not new, but
Mediapart’s document bearing the signature of Libya’s former foreign
intelligence chief Moussa Koussa is.

The letter was addressed to Bashir Saleh, Gaddafi’s former chief of staff and
head of Libya’s 40-billion-dollar sovereign wealth fund, who is currently
resident in France.

But Mr Saleh’s lawyer said he had “grave reservations” about the
document while Koussa, who now lives in Qatar, said: “All these
allegations are false.”

Mediapart, in an announcement on their website, said
they refused to withdraw the story
.

Mr Hollande said that it was up to judges to decide on the veracity of the
Libyan allegations.

The Socialist’s team meanwhile sought to play down the re-emergence of
one-time presidential hopeful Mr Strauss-Kahn into the race, after he
attended a Socialist politician’s birthday party in Paris.

MP Julien Dray on Saturday invited senior members of his party to his birthday
drinks party at a popular disco bar on the notorious Rue St Denis, a street
which has historically been associated with prostitution.

But Mr Dray did not warn his guests he had invited Mr Strauss-Kahn, who became
a toxic figure last year when he was accused of sexual assault in New York
and is now under investigation in France over alleged ties to a vice ring.

“He no longer has a role in political life and thus should not be part of
a campaign nor in any images that could potentially lead people to believe
he’s coming back,” Mr Hollande said on Sunday.

An Ipsos poll published Monday said that Mr Hollande would win Sunday’s
run-off 53 per cent to 47 per cent, after the Socialist dropped a percentage
point to Mr Sarkozy compared to the last poll on April 22.

Nevertheless, 22 per cent of those questioned said they would go and vote but
declined to say for who.

The Ipsos poll said that 54 per cent of far-right candidate Le Pen’s voters
would go for Sarkozy in the run-off, while 14 per cent of them would vote
for Hollande.

Both candidates have a number of major rallies planned for the final week of
campaigning, and will face each other on Wednesday in a televised debate
that could prove to be Sarkozy’s last chance for a breakthrough.

Source: AFP

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Leave a Reply

Powered by WordPress | Designed by: Premium WordPress Themes | Thanks to Themes Gallery, Bromoney and Wordpress Themes