Sarkozy is mentally deficient" and "it's thanks to me he is president," are some of the more jarring sentiments Muammar Gaddafi reportedly said about the former French president Nicolas Sarkozy in a 2011 interview with French journalist Delphine Minoui, France 24 reported Wednesday.
In a recorded interview with a French channel, Libya’s former leader claimed Sarkozy had personally asked him for financial support while he was still France's interior minister with presidential ambitions.
The authoritarian leader allegedly gave the revealing interview on March 16, 2011, following France's decision to back the Libyan opposition during the country's uprising in the spring of 2011.
The allegation, made in a recorded interview broadcast by France 3 TV, is the latest in a series of accusations that Sarkozy took Gaddafi's money for his political gains.
The Libyan leader's former interpreter Motah Missouri previously claimed that Gaddafi told him personally he had donated $20 million to the French leader's 2007 campaign.
The former French president received Gaddafi at the presidential palace only seven months before being sworn president in December of 2007.
The Libyan dictator said in the interview that the financial support was part of his political strategy.
“For us, as Libyans, if the president of France wins elections thanks to our funds, it is a real advantage,” Gaddafi told his interviewer.
Sarkozy and members of Gaddafi's ousted regime have denied the allegations.
Muammar Gaddafi, who ruled Libya for 42 years, was killed after he was captured in Sirte in October 2011.
