Less than a month after having withdrawn his accusations against Nicolas Sarkozy in the case of the Libyan financing of his presidential campaign of 2007, Ziad Takieddine is overtaken by this file which earned him to be arrested, Friday, December 4, in Lebanon.    

"The national security forces have placed Takieddine in detention, on the basis of an Interpol arrest warrant addressed to the public prosecutor because he is wanted by the French authorities for his involvement in a case of corruption and financing of the campaign "by Nicolas Sarkozy, said this source.

In 2016, he told the French news site Mediapart that he had personally handed over, in 2006 and 2007, five million euros in cash from Libya to finance Nicolas Sarkozy's presidential campaign.

On November 11, in a spectacular about-face, he withdrew his accusations in an interview with the weekly Paris Match and the BFMTV channel.

Ziad Takieddine, 70, fled to Beirut after being sentenced in June in France in the Karachi case on kickbacks related to arms contracts with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

He spent two weeks in prison in Lebanon - from October 26 to November 10 - in a dispute with his former lawyer, Hani Mourad, before being released under judicial supervision.

This complaint, of which AFP has obtained a copy, evokes "threats, blackmail, defamation, fraud, breach of trust" and non-payment of fees.

With AFP

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