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Defence Minister says she was targeted in scandal

Vaiju Naravane

France's Clearstream financial allegations scam takes new twist

Paris: In the latest twist to the scandal that is currently rocking the French Government to its very foundations, Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said she too was "targeted" in the Clearstream affair, a complex tissue of lies and false accusations levelled against senior politicians, defence personnel and industrialists. Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin is accused of trying to use these false allegations to launch a smear campaign against his political rival, Interior Minister Nicholas Sarkozy, reportedly at the behest of President Jacques Chirac. He has repeatedly denied these charges, saying he had "received no instructions" from the head of state.

Ms. Alliot-Marie said she had been targeted through her husband, Conservative MP Patrick Ollier, whose name figured on the list of so-called "beneficiaries" of kickbacks from a 1991 defence contract, allegedly paid out through Clearstream, a Luxemburg-based financial clearing house.

Leaked testimony

She said that she had not been informed of the fact that her husband's name was on the list.

The former chief of French military intelligence General Philippe Rondot said in sworn testimony leaked to the daily Le Monde that he was asked by the Prime Minister not to communicate these details about her husband to Ms. Alliot-Marie who was his direct boss.

The Minister is part of Mr. Chirac's inner circle of staunch loyalists which includes the Prime Minister.

"Someone tried to destabilise me through my husband and that is inadmissible. This has both angered and shocked me. I have been targeted because my name has been mentioned for several high positions," she said. The Minister said her husband would take legal action.

The French and international press has again lambasted Mr. De Villepin and the entire coterie surrounding Mr. Chirac.

Le Figaro said the Prime Minister had "his back to the wall" while the Left wing Liberation said Mr. De Villepin remained the final albeit crumbling rampart of Mr. Chirac's threadbare presidency.

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