Ziad Takieddine, a French-Lebanese businessman implicated in the alleged Libyan funding of Nicolas Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign, died Tuesday, September 23, in Beirut at the age of 75, his lawyer Elise Arfi told Le Monde.
While a fugitive in Lebanon, Takieddine repeatedly accused the former French president – who denies the allegations – of receiving funds from the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi and his inner circle.
The French-Lebanese businessman claimed to have handed over suitcases filled with cash from Libya to Claude Guéant, a close ally of Sarkozy, and said he had received €6 million from Libya into a Lebanese bank account. The money was allegedly intended for Sarkozy's presidential campaign, according to the French National Financial Prosecutor's Office.
During the trial that began in January 2025, in his absence, his co-defendants described him as a "liar," saying he acted only in his own "interest." Takieddine was previously sentenced in 2020 to five years in prison in a case involving arms sales to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
The verdict in Sarkozy's trial over alleged Libyan campaign financing is due Thursday.
Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.