AA French television programme is set to reveal a potentially damming audio recording in which the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi claims he helped bankroll former French president Nicolas Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential campaign, reports FRANCE 24.
In the recorded interview, which France 3 TV said it would broadcast on Wednesday, Gaddafi insults Sarkozy and says the decision to fund a French presidential election was part of his political strategy.
Asked whether he feels betrayed by France’s president, Gaddafi reportedly answers: “Sarkozy is mentally deficient… It’s thanks to me that he became president… We gave him the funds that allowed him to win.”
The interview by French journalist Delphine Minoui took place on March 16, 2011, a few days after Paris officially recognised the Libyan opposition. France would go on to provide military support that was instrumental in toppling the Libyan autocrat.
Gaddafi says Sarkozy came to ask him for financial support when he was France’s interior minister, but offers no details about the amount allegedly given or about financial transactions.
Read more of this report from FRANCE 24. Read Mediapart's exclusive revelations about Gaddafi's funding of Sarkozy here and here.
