Ziad Takieddine in Paris, December 7, 2020. -

Remy de la Mauviniere / AP / SIPA

Ziad Takieddine, a versatile intermediary who in November withdrew his accusations against Nicolas Sarkozy over an alleged Libyan financing of his 2007 presidential campaign, again incriminated the former president on January 14 before the judges who are investigating these suspicions.

“I am not for the absolution of Nicolas Sarkozy.

I am his worst enemy (...).

I cannot confirm that there was no funding.

This could have been done by other means than by me, which is certainly the case, "assured the businessman before the French judges, during an interrogation which AFP was aware of on Tuesday.

Statements to be clarified

They went to Beirut where the Franco-Lebanese septuagenarian fled last summer, after his conviction in June in the financial aspect of the Karachi affair.

The hearing was intended in particular to clarify the reasons why the former intermediary, indicted in this investigation entrusted to judges since 2013, had declared in interviews broadcast on November 11 by

Paris Match

and BFM TV: “Mr. .

Sarkozy did not have Libyan funding for the presidential campaign, nor Mr. Gaddafi could do it because he never did ”.

The former head of state, indicted in this case since March 2018 for "concealment of embezzlement of public funds", "passive corruption" and "illegal financing of electoral campaign", and since mid-October for "association of evildoers ”, had triumphed:“ The truth is finally breaking out ”.

But the about-face was short-lived: while confirming the verbatim from the rushes of the videos, Ziad Takieddine claimed in January before the magistrates that his comments in November had been "distorted" by

Paris Match

...

Takieddine has since returned to his remarks

Ziad Takieddine returned to his version, expressed for a long time except in November, according to which the 2007 presidential campaign of Nicolas Sarkozy had received the contribution of Libyan funds.

He also assured, in confused explanations, to be able to "deliver within 15 days" an original document "compromising the Sarkozy team in its entirety" and which would mention a sum of "25 million" euros, different from the "Libyan document. »Revealed in 2012 by Mediapart, which became part of the investigation.

But the intermediary insists on one point: he has nothing to do with it.

The former head of state "did not touch anything coming from me" or "through me".

Ziad Takieddine's lawyer, Me Elise Arfi, declined to comment.

The entourage of the former president, who disputes the facts, did not respond to AFP mid-afternoon Tuesday.

A "deal" proposed to the judges?

In his interrogation, the man changes his version on another point, recognizing that neither Serge Tournaire, nor Renaud Van Ruymbeke, former investigating judges in charge of the case, "asked him to incriminate Nicolas Sarkozy or whoever it is. In the Libyan affair in exchange for a supposed leniency in the Karachi case, contrary to what he had said in the fall.

It is also Ziad Takieddine who proposed a "deal" to judges Aude Buresi and Marc Sommerer, now in charge of the case: that they raise an arrest warrant targeting him.

The Paris Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant in June after his conviction in the Karachi case.

On the other hand, the intermediary confirms his new version on the five million Libyan euros, which he claimed until the autumn interview to have brought to Claude Guéant and Nicolas Sarkozy in 2006 and 2007 for the financing of the presidential election. .

It would actually be five million dollars, only paid to Claude Guéant, in 2005, and intended exclusively for a contract for "the training of the Libyan security forces", "the Amesys contract".

Takieddine known for his versatility

The man is known for his versatility, including by the magistrates, who thus wondered during the hearing if Mr. Takieddine was not seeking “only” to “permanently remove all credit” to his statements, “whatever 'they are'.

"Ziad Takieddine claims since 2012 to provide evidence: he has never provided, neither in 2012, nor after his hearing on January 14, 2021. No one in good faith can give the slightest credit to such an individual," swept Me Philippe Bouchez El Ghozi, lawyer for Claude Guéant.

In November, the national financial prosecutor Jean-François Bohnert had affirmed that the charges against Nicolas Sarkozy “are not limited to the fluctuating statements” of Takieddine.

Politics

Suspicions of Libyan Funding: The Timeline of Ziad Takieddine's Contradicting Statements

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  • Justice

  • Funding

  • Libya

  • Nicolas sarkozy