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| Europe |
| France's ruling elite rocked by Sarkozy raids |
| 2007-07-08 |
| In the latest episode of a saga that split France’s last conservative government and threatens to divide the new one, Michèle Alliot-Marie, the interior minister, is to be questioned over what she knew about a plot to smear Nicolas Sarkozy three years ago in an apparent attempt to prevent him from becoming president. A retired spymaster, General Philippe Rondot, claimed last week that he had revealed to Alliot-Marie, who was then defence minister, the details of the alleged conspiracy to blacken Sarkozy’s name. Loyal as she then was to President Jacques Chirac and the prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, who both loathed Sarkozy, she allegedly failed to warn him that he was the target of an effort to discredit him. The claim came at the end of a dramatic week in which a power struggle won long ago by Sarkozy over de Villepin culminated in raids on the former prime minister’s office and home, prompting speculation that he might be charged with a criminal offence in spite of his insistence that he had done nothing wrong. The story has gripped France with its insights into Machiavel-lian intrigue in high politics. The conspiracy centred on false accusations in 2004 that Sarkozy, among other politicians and businessmen, held secret offshore accounts through the Clearstream International bank, based in Luxembourg. Bank records were forged to suggest they had received large bribes over the sale of French warships to Taiwan. much more at link |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #10 I think the French invented the weaselly secret police chief. Joseph Fouche took weaseldom to whole new heights: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fouche |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-07-08 13:49 |
| #9 can't wait for Dominique to go to prison. He can read his poetry to the inmates to convince them he's a |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-07-08 13:30 |
| #8 U.S. needs to clean house also. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-07-08 09:58 |
| #7 Bon riposte, deuxparquatre. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-07-08 04:54 |
| #6 anonymous5089, am affraid not. You seem to have some redeeming qualities, and therefore you can't qualify as a "sophisticated" individual. ;-) |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2007-07-08 04:25 |
| #5 --Michèle Alliot-Marie, -- Isn't that the bitch who gave Rummy a toy Helo and basically said this is all the help we're getting???? Good on Sarko, they need to clean house. Payback's coming........... |
| Posted by: anonymous2u 2007-07-08 04:03 |
| #4 "weaselly ex-intel chiefs" Is there another variety? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-07-08 03:52 |
| #3 I'm glad to see that the US is not the only country having problems with weaselly ex-intel chiefs blabbing to the press and stabbing their govenment in the back... |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2007-07-08 02:59 |
| #2 So... I'm sophisticated, after all! |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2007-07-08 02:53 |
| #1 The story has gripped France with its insights into Machiavellian intrigue in high politics. EUspeak to US translation: High politics = low, under-the-belt politics. Sophisticated individual = confused individual with no redeeming qualities. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2007-07-08 01:30 |