“Mubarak [Muhammad Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s president from 1981 to 2011], Ben Ali [Zine El Abidin Ben Ali, Tunisia’s president from 1987 to 2011] asked for Gaddafi’s help. He helped 'third world' countries: from Asia to South America. For instance, the French Foreign Ministry’s budget constitutes 1 billion 700 million euros, 780 million of which is allocated to develop relations and help other nations. As for Libya, there was no definite sum for such aims ever,” Missuri said.
READ MORE: Guilt Trip: Was Intervention in Libya Sarkozy's Bid to Hide Campaign Funding?
The interpreter elaborated that Libya had helped everyone under various circumstances – natural calamities, famine, grasshopper plagues – sending medicine and planes. In the meantime, he added that if any head of state asked for help, Tripoli donated from half a million to five million dinars.
Moreover, Missuri told Sputnik that Muammar Gaddafi had personally confirmed that he had funded Nicolas Sarkozy’s election campaign.
“When a Portuguese journalist asked him to specify the amount of money, he answered that he had donated 20 million. […] Later, he reiterated it on numerous occasions on television; his son Saif al-Islam and Ziad Takkiedine have said the same thing, with the latter transferring suitcases with money to Sarkozy,” he said.
Speaking about the French election campaign, Missuri said that Gaddafi had personally held important talks, stressing that the “Libyan government offered 50 million euros, but 20 was enough.”
READ MORE: Repaying Debts With Death: Gaddafi Supporters Expose Sarkozy’s Libyan Connection
Last week, Nicolas Sarkozy was charged with “passive bribery, illegal election campaign financing and the concealment of Libyan public funds.” According to French prosecutors, the former president took about 50 million euros from the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi ahead of the 2007 presidential election; Sarkozy has denied the charges brought against him.
Who Offered Gaddafi Help?
“The presidents of Egypt and Tunisia had lost their power before Gaddafi did, hence they could not help in his time of need. African countries tried to quell the unrest, which started on February 17, 2011, in Libya, but they failed. South Africa, Venezuela and Belarus offered refuge to Muammar Gaddafi, but he did not want to leave his motherland,” Missuri stressed.
READ MORE: Sarkozy's Downfall: Gaddafi's and Libya's Revenge
Where is Gaddafi’s money?
“After his death nobody found any of his possessions. His houses were registered to the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs [in charge of religious donations] and children; there was no cash. When they speak about the freezing of his accounts, the matter concerns the Libyan state accounts. As far as I know, there were no accounts in Gaddafi’s name in foreign banks. Probably, there were accounts in his children’s names, I’m not aware of it. I was Gaddafi’s interpreter, not his family’s,’ Missuri concluded.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Sputnik.
