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Mitterrand linked to

Kohl scandal: report

BERLIN: Former French president Francois Mitterrand helped Germany's then chancellor Helmut Kohl fund an electoral campaign in 1994 with money from French oil giant Elf, German public television ARD alleged Saturday.

Kohl quickly denied the allegation as tantamount to "political murder". In a statement made public by a spokesman the former chancellor called the claims "pure and simple inventions and lies".

Kohl resigned on Tuesday as honorary chairman of the opposition Christian Democratic Union party (CDU) as allegations over secret funds build up.

In a enquiry conducted with France's France-2 television channel, ARD said that of the 43.6 million euros (dollars) paid by Elf-Aquitaine for a German oil refinery, 15.4 million euros went, under the late Mitterrand's instructions, to finance Kohl's successful 1994 electoral campaign.

Kohl, in his statement, stressed that "there was never any question of money" between him and Mitterrand regarding Elf's 1992 purchase of the Leuna refinery.

Kohl said he had never touched any money or "heard talk" of bribes in the Elf affair.

The two television channels citing an unnamed high-ranking member of Mitterrand's former entourage, recalled the strong friendship between the two European leaders and said that their motives had been high.

"This wasn't corruption or bribery, but it was money for the electoral campaign. It was done for reasons of state Ñ for Europe," the anonymous 'informer' was quoted as saying.

According to ARD and France-2, secret service agents from both countries, plus various intermediaries, took part in the transactions, with most discussions on the subject taking place in a Geneva hotel called the Richmond.

Documents which may have shed light on the suspect sale of the oil refinery in eastern Germany have gone missing from the regional government's offices, the Der Spiegel magazine reported in its latest edition.

A search by the current Social Democrat government for the papers Ñ of which there were "only a few copies," according to federal government spokesman Uwe-Karsten Heye Ñ turned up only four related annexes, the magazine said.

The disappearance, if confirmed, would deepen the suspicions of corruption surrounding the sale of the Leuna refinery to Elf, and cast the CDU deeper into scandal over illegal and anonymous donations to the party.

The CDU, which ran the Saxony-Anhalt government at the time of the refinery sale, has repeatedly denied having taken cash under the table in return for granting Elf permission to buy the state-owned refinery.

Last month, a French businessman who acted as a go-between for Elf admitted paying 256 million francs (39 million euros/dollars) in commissions to a German political party.

Bonn law officials are investigating Kohl's financial dealings on behalf of his party and if the former chancellor is found guilty, he could face up to five years in jail plus a fine.

Kohl admitted in November he had run secret accounts during 1993-98 in violation of a law stipulating political contributions of more than 20,000 marks must be declared publicly.ÑAFP