<p align="justify" class="title">Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was taken into police custody on Tuesday for questioning over suspected Libyan financing of his 2007 election campaign, a source close to the inquiry told AFP.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Sarkozy, 63, had until now refused to respond to a summons for questioning in the case, which drew heightened scrutiny in November 2016 when a businessman admitted delivering three cash-stuffed suitcases from the late Libyan ruler Moamer Kadhafi as contributions towards Sarkozy's first presidential bid.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Sarkozy's detention was first reported by the Mediapart investigative news site and French daily Le Monde and comes several weeks after a former associate, Alexandre Djouhri, was arrested in London and later released on bail.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Djouhri was returned to pre-trial detention in February after France issued a second warrant for his arrest, ahead of a hearing scheduled for March 28.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">A source close to the inquiry also said that Brice Hortefeux, a top government minister during Sarkozy's presidency, was also questioned Tuesday as part of the inquiry.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Before his arrest in January, Djouhri, a 59-year-old Swiss resident, was well known among France's rightwing political establishment and had refused to respond to a summons for questioning in Paris.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">He has been a focus of the inquiry opened in 2013 by judges investigating earlier claims by Kadhafi and his son Seif al-Islam that they provided funds for Sarkozy's election effort.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Sarkozy has dismissed the allegations as the claims of vindictive Libyan regime members furious over his participation in the US-led military intervention that ended Kadhafi's 41-year rule.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine said he had made three trips from Tripoli to Paris in late 2006 and early 2007 with cash for Sarkozy's campaign.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Each time he carried a suitcase containing 1.5 to 2.0 million euros in 200-euro and 500-euro notes, Takieddine claimed in a French media interview, saying he was given the money by Kadhafi's military intelligence chief Abdallah Senussi.</p>
<p align="justify" class="title">Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was taken into police custody on Tuesday for questioning over suspected Libyan financing of his 2007 election campaign, a source close to the inquiry told AFP.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Sarkozy, 63, had until now refused to respond to a summons for questioning in the case, which drew heightened scrutiny in November 2016 when a businessman admitted delivering three cash-stuffed suitcases from the late Libyan ruler Moamer Kadhafi as contributions towards Sarkozy's first presidential bid.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Sarkozy's detention was first reported by the Mediapart investigative news site and French daily Le Monde and comes several weeks after a former associate, Alexandre Djouhri, was arrested in London and later released on bail.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Djouhri was returned to pre-trial detention in February after France issued a second warrant for his arrest, ahead of a hearing scheduled for March 28.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">A source close to the inquiry also said that Brice Hortefeux, a top government minister during Sarkozy's presidency, was also questioned Tuesday as part of the inquiry.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Before his arrest in January, Djouhri, a 59-year-old Swiss resident, was well known among France's rightwing political establishment and had refused to respond to a summons for questioning in Paris.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">He has been a focus of the inquiry opened in 2013 by judges investigating earlier claims by Kadhafi and his son Seif al-Islam that they provided funds for Sarkozy's election effort.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Sarkozy has dismissed the allegations as the claims of vindictive Libyan regime members furious over his participation in the US-led military intervention that ended Kadhafi's 41-year rule.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine said he had made three trips from Tripoli to Paris in late 2006 and early 2007 with cash for Sarkozy's campaign.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Each time he carried a suitcase containing 1.5 to 2.0 million euros in 200-euro and 500-euro notes, Takieddine claimed in a French media interview, saying he was given the money by Kadhafi's military intelligence chief Abdallah Senussi.</p>