Karachigate: Terrorists or French ruling elite behind killing?

Special Report

Last modification: 14/12/11

In 2002 a suicide bomber killed 11 French marine engineers in Karachi, Pakistan. Initially Islamic terrorists were blamed, but French investigative judges and journalists have since turned up new clues. Were the killings linked to submarine sales to Pakistan in the 1990s? Did France's most prominent politicians conjure up a complex kickback scheme that went wrong? Now the families of the bombing victims want answers.

FRANCE

French ex-minister questioned in 'Karachigate' inquiry

Former culture minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres (pictured) was questioned on Tuesday over alleged kickbacks from the 1994 sale of submarines to Pakistan, suspected of having been used to fund a campaign for an ally of President Nicolas Sarkozy.

FRANCE

Sarkozy allies under scrutiny over Karachi kickbacks

France’s “Karachigate” reared its head again Wednesday after police arrested an ally of President Sarkozy and began to question another, adviser Thierry Gaubert (pictured), over possible links to a corruption case involving arms sales to Pakistan.

FRANCE

Kickback scandal tightens around ex-prime minister

Former French prime minister Edouard Balladur (pictured) is back in the spotlight after new testimony from his ex-chief of staff added weight to accusations that defence contract kickbacks were used to fund Balladur's 1995 presidential bid.

FRANCE

Sarkozy's party under fire for alleged kickbacks in Pakistani sub deal

The party of French President Nicolas Sarkozy is under fire for a 1995 campaign for former PM Edouard Balladur (photo) that is suspected of links to a cancelled Pakistani defence deal and a bomb attack that killed 11 French engineers in Karachi.

FRANCE

Doubt cast on link between French bribes and Karachi bombing

A key witness in the complex “Karachi affair” has cast doubt over an alleged link between a bombing that killed 11 French engineers in the Pakistani city and France’s decision to end bribes paid to Pakistan for the 1994 sale of French submarines.

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FRANCE - PAKISTAN

President Sarkozy asked to testify over fatal Karachi bombing

The relatives of eleven French engineers who were killed in a bombing in Pakistan in 2002 have demanded that President Sarkozy and two other senior politicians be made to testify over alleged corrupt deals that may have caused their deaths.

LUXEMBOURG

'Karachigate' police report mentions French president

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is mentioned in a Luxembourg police report regarding the transfer of millions of euros in bribes during the sale of French submarines to Pakistan in 1994, at which time Sarkozy headed the finance ministry.

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