Investigators claimed that the French-Lebanese mediator, Ziad Taqi Al-Din retracted his accusations against former French President, Nicolas Sarkozy of receiving campaign funds from late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
The Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted a source close to the investigation as saying that Al-Din received over $600,000 as hush money. The information was also confirmed by the Mediapart website.
Sarkozy has been accused of receiving funds for his 2007 Presidential campaign from Libya.
A judicial investigation was opened on the grounds of suspicions of paying sums of money to Al-Din, believed to have been approved by Sarkozy.
However, the French-Lebanese citizen, who has been accusing Sarkozy since 2012, withdrew his accusations in November 2020, during an interview with the French weekly magazine “Paris Match” and the “BFMTV” network. However, he retracted his statements two months later.
Nine people were charged with “influencing witnesses”, “belonging to a gang of evil people” and “organized fraud”.
In January 2023, Muammer Gaddafi’s Special Envoy said that he supported Nicolas Sarkozy in his 2007 Presidential campaign, and paid him large sums of money.
In an interview with Russia’s Sputnik news agency, former Libyan Ambassador Mohamed Said Al-Qashat claimed that France “deliberately destroyed” Libya for several reasons.
“After Sarkozy won the elections, he was seeking to get rid of Gaddafi for fear that he would talk about the financial support he gave him. He incited the West and NATO, and took advantage of some Arab countries to destroy Libya,” Al-Qashat said.
In December 2022, a Libyan diplomat linked to the French secret services has been indicted for “corruption of foreign judicial personnel,” according to MediaPart.
Sources said that a former Libyan intelligence agent and protocol officer at the Libyan Embassy in Paris, Hamadi Matog, 63, was indicted on 16 September by investigating judge, Vincent Lemonier.
Matog reportedly admitted to having served as an intermediary to try to obtain the release of one of Muammar Gaddafi’s sons. In order to serve the interests of Sarkozy.