Nicolas Sarkozy goes on trial for allegedly funding Gaddafi's election

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has gone on trial in Paris, accused of receiving millions of euros in illegal funds from leader Col Muammar Gaddafi to finance his 2007 election campaign.

In return, the prosecution claims Sarkozy has promised to help Gaddafi fight his reputation as a traitor to Western countries.

Sarkozy, 69, was president of France from 2007 to 2012.

He has always denied the charges, saying they were leveled against him by people with motives to bring him down.

The investigation was opened in 2013, two years after Saif al-Islam, the son of the then Libyan leader, first accused Sarkozy of taking millions of his father's campaign finance money.

A year later, Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine - who has long acted as an intermediary between France and the Middle East - said he had written evidence that Sarkozy's campaign bid was "heavily" financed by Tripoli and that 50 million euro (43 million pounds) worth of payments continued after he became president./ CNA

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