[ad_1]
Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Taqi al-Din – Photo by Reuters Archive. reuters_tickers
This content was published on December 4, 2020 – July 9:07,
By Ellen Francis
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Two Lebanese security sources said on Friday that the country’s authorities detained French-Lebanese businessman Ziad Taqi al-Din for his association with allegations of secret Libyan funding for former French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s 2007 election campaign.
The two sources added that the arrest of Taqi al-Din was based on an order from the International Police (Interpol) regarding the Sarkozy case and separate accusations of corruption.
French prosecutors are investigating allegations that Muammar Gaddafi supplied Sarkozy’s successful election campaign with millions of euros shipped to Paris in suitcases, charges that Sarkozy denies.
In a 2016 interview with a French news website, Taqi al-Din said he had transferred some € 5 million in illicit funds from Gaddafi’s former intelligence chief to Sarkozy and his campaign manager.
But when Taqi al-Din appeared again in Beirut a few months ago, he retracted that account in a video clip published by French media.
Imad al-Khazen told Reuters on Friday that he and another lawyer in Beirut stopped representing Taqi al-Din early last week due to unpaid fees and disputes over how to proceed with the case.
Reuters has yet to confirm whether Taqi al-Din has appointed other legal representatives.
(Prepared by Salma Najm for the Arabic Bulletin – Edited by Muhammad Al-Yamani)
