Gadhafi funding claim weighs on French presidential campaign

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Sunday fiercely denied that he was offered campaign funding from late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, as new challenges piled up against him a week ahead of the country’s presidential runoff. Sarkozy also rebuffed leftist critics who compared his campaign rhetoric to that of France’s Nazi collaborators, reviving ugly wartime memories in what has been a particularly bitter presidential race.Polls predict Sarkozy will lose the May 6 runoff to Socialist Francois Hollande, who promises government-funded jobs programs and higher taxes on the rich — pledges that resonate with a recession-weary electorate.Both men staged rousing rallies Sunday on opposite ends of the country, with Hollande sounding victorious already and Sarkozy calling for Europe to protect its civilization.The campaign funding allegation originates from a year-old claim by Gadhafi’s second son, Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, that Libya financed Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential bid. The allegation came as Sarkozy was campaigning for international airstrikes against Gadhafi’s forces to stop crackdown on Libyan rebels.Although no evidence has emerged that the funding ever took place, French website Mediapart reported Saturday that it had obtained a 2006 Libyan document signed by Gadhafi’s then-intelligence chief Moussa Koussa with an offer by the regime to spend $66 million on Sarkozy’s campaign.“It’s a setup, it’s a slanderous remark,” Sarkozy said on Canal Plus television Sunday, accusing Mediapart of being a mouthpiece of the left.