‘Sarkozy ‘received cash from African leaders’
Dirty scandal rocks France:
FRANCE: Nicolas Sarkozy received cash from West African leaders, it
has been alleged, following claims that Jacques Chirac and Dominique de
Villepin received an estimated $20 million stuffed into briefcases over
eight years.
The scandal has cast fresh light on France’s historically murky ties
to African dictators, who for decades allegedly doled out dirty
petrodollars to French politicians in exchange for diplomatic and
military support in a set-up known as “Françafrique”.
Robert Bourgi claimed on Sunday he personally handed millions of
francs from five African leaders to Chirac when he was mayor of Paris
and later president, along with Mr Villepin, his right hand man. Mr
Bourgi, 66, says the money, which he variously transported in a sports
bag, a poster and even a ceremonial African drum, came from Burkina
Faso, the Congo, Gabon, Ivory Coast and Senegal.
Yesterday, he estimated having lugged a total of $20 million (almost
£13 million) to Chirac and Mr Villepin between 1997 and 2005.
Around half of this went into funding Mr Chirac’s successful 2002
electoral campaign, he claimed.
Bernard Houdin, an adviser to former Ivory Coast President Laurent
Gbagbo, said that such payments were “a historical practice” and that
“the sums mentioned are no doubt below reality”. Daily Telegraph
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