Chirac got 3 mn euros from I. Coast: Gbagbo aide

ABIDJAN (AFP) - Former French president Jacques Chirac received three million euros ($4 million) from Ivory Coast in 2002 to finance his electoral campaign, a top aide to ousted Ivorian leader Laurent Gbagbo said Sunday.

Mamadou Koulibaly, a former number two in the Gbagbo government and now speaker of the National Assembly was confirming charges made by Robert Bourgi, a lawyer with a network of African contacts who advised Chirac before changing camps in 2005 to aid now President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Bourgui made the allegations in France's Journal du Dimanche newspaper.

© 2011 AFP