Nicolas Sarkozy fury at Muammar Gaddafi €50m aid allegations

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has dismissed as a “disgrace” a report that deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi had sought to help him win power, a week before a presidential run-off in which he is trailing his Socialist challenger Francois Hollande.

The campaign funding allegation originates from a claim by Gaddafi’s second son, Saif al-Islam, that Libya financed Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential bid.

Although no evidence has emerged that the funding ever took place, French website Mediapart reported on Saturday that it had obtained a 2006 Libyan document signed by Gaddafi’s then-intelligence chief Moussa Koussa with an offer by the regime to spend €50 million on Mr Sarkozy’s campaign.

“It’s a setup, it’s a slanderous remark,” Mr Sarkozy said on Canal Plus television yesterday, accusing the website Mediapart of being a mouthpiece “of the left.”