According to confidential documents obtained by Mediapart, in the autumn of 2009, French oil giant Total paid Ziad Takkiedine 9.8 million dollars (6.9 million euros) on the sidelines of a gas contract agreed with the Libyan regime of Colonol Muammar Gaddafi. The payment was made in the utmost secrecy and under the supervision of Total's CEO Christophe de Margerie.
Claude Guéant, then-President Nicolas Sarkozy's chief-of-staff (as secretary-general of the Elysée Palace, the French presidential office), and who is now French interior minister, actively helped to secure the gas contract.
The money was paid into a bank account belonging to the North Global Oil & Gas Company Ltd, whose financial beneficiary is Ziad Takieddine. This offshore company is domiciled in the British Virgin Islands, while its management is based in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.
Enlargement : Illustration 1
Mediapart has discovered that North Global Oil & Gas Company had been promised by Total a payment of up to 140 million dollars for its services. Contacted by Mediapart, Total confirmed it had paid the company 9.8 million dollars.
Internal sources at Total, who cannot be named, said that the group now considers the sum it paid was "lost" because the full terms of the contract were never met, raising questions over Guéant's use of Takieddine's parallel networks.
As Mediapart revealed in an earlier report, Takieddine had already obtained secret commission payments in a business deal with Libya, between December 2007 and October 2008, for the sale to Tripoli of French equipment to encrypt Libyan communications transmissions, notably by the military, in order to protect them from Western eavesdropping systems.
That contract bid was supported by Nicolas Sarkozy, then interior minister, and his then principal private secretary, Claude Guéant. Takieddine was paid 4.5 million euros by the manufacturers of the equipment, a company called i2e, a subsidiary of the IT group Bull, whose current Chairman and CEO, Philippe Vanier, supervised the deal.
In a presentation for the Libyan buyers, an i2e document guaranteed the safekeeping of the Gaddafi regime's communications against the US-led electronic surveillance network known as Echelon: "Our procedures are totally unique and offer an inviolable solution to the Anglo-American espionage system [...] It therefore behoves us to assist you in carrying out an in-depth investigation on the nature of the information at risk of being obtained by Echelon," it read.
Mediapart's very detailed revelations about the nature and extent of his activities and relations with the staff of President Sarkozy can be found by clicking on the links at the top of this page, or at the end of this article.
Takieddine, 61, is cited as a key witness in ongoing investigations led by Paris-based examining magistrates Renaud Van Ruymbeke and Roger Le Loire into suspected illegal political financing in France from the sale of three French Agosta class submarines to Pakistan in the 1990s. The magistrates' enquiry was launched after suspicions that the significant sums officially destined as commissions - or bribes - to Pakistani officials ended up returning, illegally, to France to fund political activities. Suspicion centres on former prime minister Edouard Balladur's political movement and unsuccessful 1995 presidential election campaign, for which his budget minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, also served as official campaign spokesman.
Several witnesses questioned by the magistrates have designated Takieddine as a key intermediary in the 1994 contract who was imposed on the deal by Balladur's government shortly before it was concluded. Balladur, Sarkozy and Takieddine have firmly denied knowledge of illegal political funding via the commissions.
Written and photographic documents exclusively obtained by Mediapart and published in the seven preceding reports in this series have demonstrated the very close and longstanding links, both professional and social, between Takieddine and Nicolas Sarkozy's immediate entourage. Mediapart has revealed how Paris-based Takieddine surprisingly pays no income nor wealth tax in France, his fiscal domicile and where, according to documents signed by him, his personal fortune has an estimated value of more than 40 million euros.
Mediapart has further disclosed how in 2003 Takieddine was destined to receive 350 million euros in secret commissions from another arms contract, this time with Saudi Arabia, negotiated on behalf of Nicolas Sarkozy's aides via a company run by the French interior ministry when it was headed by Sarkozy. Mediapart has also disclosed how the arms dealer, while negotiating that contract, was saved by Sarkozy's entourage after an alleged assassination attempt on the exclusive Caribbean island of Mustique. In its last report, Mediapart detailed how Takieddine was mandated by Nicolas Sarkozy's staff, before and after he became French president, to negotiate major weapons and security contracts with the Libyan regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
Mediapart has also detailed how Takieddine played a central role in establishing close ties between France and Syria in the period between 2007 and 2009, including the introduction of French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. In return,
Takieddine took part in negotiations led by French oil giant Total for contracts in Syria. According to internal notes and documents from Total, exclusively obtained by Mediapart, President Sarkozy leant political support to Takieddine's involvement in the discussions.
But the events revealed here concern Takieddine's involvement in oil and natural gas contract negotiations with the Libyan regime of Colonel Gaddafi. Personally overseeing the operation was Total CEO Christophe de Margerie. He is due to stand trial next year in France for "aiding and abetting the misappropriation of corporate assets" in the oil-for-food affair, in which it is alleged that Total bribed Saddam Hussein's regime in sanctions-hit Iraq. De Margerie was also investigated in 2007, in his capacity as the French group's Middle East chief at the time, for "bribing foreign officials" following the discovery of payments made by Total to the son of ex-Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
The events revealed here by Mediapart had their origins in the soaring oil prices that prompted Libya, along with other oil-exporting countries, to insist on renegotiating the terms of its contracts with Total.
Profitable parallel diplomacy
In 2007, at a time of rapprochement between Paris and Tripoli in the wake of reciprocal state visits by President Sarkozy and Colonel Gaddafi, Total entered into negotiations with the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) for a natural gas concession in the Ghadames basin, which lies in the middle of the desert on the western edge of the country.
The first exchanges between Total and NOC date from June 2008, as evidenced by the abundant correspondence that Mediapart has obtained (see email in Scribd box immediately below). De Margerie paved the way for those talks in a letter dated June 25th 2008 to the head of NOC, Shokri Ghanem, frequently referred to as "the doctor" in Ziad Takieddine's notes. Before posting that missive, Total's CEO e-mailed a draft to Takieddine for the latter's approval. The objectives included exploration in the Murzuq district in southern Libya, gas projects in the west, and development of the Azzawiya oil refinery.
Soon after, in July, Total elaborated a more detailed working document (see Scribd box immediately below), in which the coveted field is referred to as "block NC-7". Total's geologists suspected substantial deposits of natural gas there, an energy source in which the French multinational saw great potential.
Total document outlining the gas project.
Total's staff kept Takieddine abreast of the Libyan demands. In September, Jean-François Arrighi de Casanova, in charge of Total's business in North Africa and vice-president of the aggressively enterprising Franco-Libyan chamber of commerce in Paris, e-mailed him a "letter from NOC asking us for $30 million!". This was for a Libyan fund to "compensate victims of past sanctions" targeting the regime. Total responded by proposing a meeting to discuss the matter.
The business really got going on December 3rd 2008 when Christophe de Margerie received a letter from a company called North Global Oil & Gas Company Ltd, domiciled in Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein, offering to help Total procure exploration and production rights to the gas field called ‘block NC-7'. The letter (see Scribd box immediately below) was signed by a certain Louis Oehri, managing director of the North Global company, which was bankrolled by Takieddine. North Global said it held an option on the "acreage" in question, but offered to "withdraw" in return for a 20% "participation interest" in any future exploration and production sharing agreement (EPSA) secured by Total.
North Global Oil & Gas Company letter dated December 3rd 2008.
On December 11th, the talks between Total and NOC were productive. NOC agreed to renew the licences to other blocks, numbered as 17 and 137, in exchange for the payment of standard "bonuses" - 50 million dollars per block - and to allow the exploration and development of block NC-7.
In a confidential document (see below), Takieddine stressed that the Libyan National Oil Corporation should not be officially in the know about the deals between Total and North Global Oil, suggesting the agreement to purchase the option from North Global should even be "destroyed". In an e-mail, Takieddine explained that this arrangement was designed to "avoid any connotation" of commission-based consultancy deals.
Takieddine's notes
Risky practice
On December 19th, Total sent an official letter of confirmation to NOC (see Scribd box immediately below). Meanwhile, Total Exploration & Production sent a "confidential" letter to North Global Oil, in which Total Exploration & Production division chief Patrick Pouyanné acknowledged receipt of the document proving the Vaduz-based company's rights to block NC-7, and states that, after having made "contact with the Libyan authorities", Total was now in a position to make a new and far more substantial offer. The French oil giant would buy all the rights in question, for which Pouyanné proposes "a one-off payment of $140 million to your company". North Global accepted.
Total letter to NOC dated December 19th 2008.
On January 20th 2009, Total announced that its board of directors had approved this deal, as laid out in the following document:
Meanwhile, North Global was making preparatory arrangements for redistribution of the funds. On January 22nd, Takieddine's account managers at Ahli International Bank informed a company based in the British Virgin Islands of an upcoming transfer of $70 million to its account (PIA 1184) at the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, in Geneva.
Thus everything was established for Total to pay the commissions. A confidential document (see box immediately below) obtained by Mediapart indicates that "CdM" - clearly referring to Christophe de Margerie - was to meet with the CEO of NOC, and the agreements were to be signed on May 24th 2009. The transfer of a first $70 million instalment was due as of June 2nd.
But this initial scheme soon proved abortive. In several vengeful e-mails, Ziad Takieddine blamed the miscarriage of the plan on "the Gang of Three", namely three sons of Libyan dignitaries, and on "the doctor". According to Takieddine, all of them wanted "more money", and they were putting "Total, the doctor and themselves in danger" through their "lies" and, above all, their direct contacts with "Christophe" (de Margerie).
However, the negotiations were soon to be resumed and brought to a successful conclusion, thanks to the political intervention by President Sarkozy's chief of staff Claude Guéant. In a document dated August 7th 2009 (see box immediately below), Ziad Takieddine lays out the complications encumbering the discussions between Total and the Libyan ‘people's committee' in charge of approving the exploration and production contract (EPSA IV). Claude Guéant's initials make a surprise appearance in that document: "CG will call CdM on Thursday for the signing of the revised EPSA IV contract (Mabruk and Al Jorf) and the Memorandum for the new EPSA IV".
Ziad Takieddine's confidential note of August 7th 2009.
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was indeed signed on August 29th (see box immediately below), from which it may be inferred that Claude Guéant managed to convince Christophe de Margerie or had given him the green light he had been waiting for.
August 29th 2009 MOU.
As early as September 17th 2009, the managing director of Takieddine's company demanded an initial 20% instalment payment for the rights acquired by Total. Patrick Pouyanné, head of Total's Exploration & Production division, replied on September 30th that an MOU was not equivalent to a contract. But Total obligingly offered to make a down payment to North Global Oil of 7%, or $9.8 million (6.9m euros), to be transferred in euros to Ziad Takieddine's account.
NGOGC September 17th 2009 letter demanding 20% payment, and Total's reply.
Total officials have told Mediapart that the company "had no choice". An official spokesman for the group said there was "a letter proving the rights acquired by North Global Oil", adding: "Total opted to work with them, and every decision-making body in the oil group approved the operation. There was no bribery."
Total's attempts to land a natural gas contract ultimately ended in failure in early 2010.
Documents in our possession show that the group's senior management had placed their hopes in Takieddine's services not only for his contacts within Libya, but above all because of the backing he received from Claude Guéant. In paying close to $10 million (of the pledged $140m package) to the Sarkozy clan's emissary, the Total group ran the risk of prompting yet another investigation for "bribing a foreign official", a punishable offence since June 2000. But it also ran the risk of arousing suspicion, as Elf-Aquitaine did 15 years earlier (1), of its involvement in payment of kickbacks that found their way illegally back in France.
1: French oil company that merged with TotalFina to form the giant TotalFinaElf in 2000, which became Total in 2003
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On Friday August 19th, soon after publication of the original French version of this article, Total sent Mediapart the following clarification:
"As Total has already informed Mediapart, Total was, for several years, interested in a new gas exploration-production project in Libya, to which the North Global Oil & Gas Company (NGOGC) possessed a part of the rights. Rather than envisaging a long-term partnership with this company, Total intended to by the rights belonging to NGOGC, in the event that a global project was launched. This was the object of contract discussions. Before these discussions, Libya's national company had officially certified the veracity of the rights claimed by NGOGC.
It is within this context, when technical studies were reaching a conclusive end, that Total negotiated an agreement with NGOGC, for which Total credited NGOGC with an advance of 9.8 million dollars, to be included in the eventual purchase of all its rights.
This operation, which guaranteed the possibility for Total to buy up all of NGOGC's rights, is a regular practice in mining activities and was in no way carried out in secret."
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English version by Eric Rosencrantz and Graham Tearse.
(Editing by Graham Tearse)