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On Friday, the Information Division of the Internal Security Forces in Lebanon arrested a Franco-Lebanese businessman, Ziad Taqi al-Din, after a court order issued against him by the International organization Interpol. Taqi al-Din is one of the main witnesses in the case of Libyan funding for the campaign of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and is wanted by the French authorities.
A Lebanese judicial source said on Friday that Lebanese authorities have arrested the Lebanese-French businessman Ziad Taqi al-Din Who is considered one of the main witnesses in the case of Libyan financing for the campaign of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, at the request of Interpol.
The source said: “The Information Division of the Internal Security Forces has arrested Taqi al-Din on the basis of a telegram received by Interpol’s discriminatory Prosecutor’s Office containing an arrest warrant, as he is wanted by French authorities on charges. of involvement in corruption and financing of Sarkozy’s campaign “.
Taqi al-Din is currently being interrogated by the Information Service under the supervision of the Attorney General for Cassation, Judge Ghassan Oweidat, according to the same source, provided that “the two are referred to the Public Ministry of Cassation, which will question him and issue a arrest warrant against him, and will ask France for his judicial file. “
If the charges in his file against him are proven, Lebanon can try him in Lebanon as a Lebanese citizen or decide to extradite him to France.
A security source told Agence France-Presse that the arrest came after “his appearance before the Bureau of Financial Crimes based on a case brought against him in Lebanon. Upon requesting his court file, it was found that there was a arrest warrant issued against him by Interpol, for which he was arrested. “
Taqi al-Din, 70, fled to Beirut after being convicted in Paris in June in the financial part of the Karachi case, related to the sale of French arms to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The judiciary concluded that he had played the role of mediator and received huge “personal enrichment” commissions.
Taqi al-Din played a key role in the past in relations between France and the Muammar Gaddafi regime. He told French investigators since 2016 that between late 2006 and early 2007 he gave Sarkozy and his office manager five million euros to finance Sarkozy’s presidential campaign.
However, last month he withdrew his accusations in an interview with the French weekly Paris Match and the BFMTV network.
Taqi al-Din was previously arrested for two weeks between October and November in Lebanon, in connection with a legal dispute with lawyer Hani Murad, who was assigned to manage his legal affairs after his arrival in Beirut before being fired.
A human rights source, who declined to be identified, told the French News Agency that Taqi al-Din has been prosecuted in several financial cases in Lebanon, on charges of defamation, fraud and forgery, the latest of which is a criminal complaint filed by a partner against you on charges of dishonesty and fraud regarding a drug.
France 24 / AFP
