A former controller-general Jean-Louis Porchier of the French
armed forces told parliament that former French PM Edouard Balladur
financed his presidential campaign with kick-backs on the sale of
submarines to Pakistan.
Porchier's evidence is of major importance to an investigation
into the murders of 11 French naval engineers in Pakistani, where
they were to build one of the three submarines.
Porchier questions the role of President Nicolas Sarkozy who was
then Balladur's budget minister and his election campaign
spokesman.
The relatives of the murdered engineers accused Sarkozy of
covering up evidence from an independent judicial investigation
into their deaths in a bomb blast in Karachi.
The anti-terrorist magistrate leading the investigation into
their deaths, in a bomb attack in 2002, believes a dispute over the
kickbacks motivated the attack.
*** Until recently, the officially-supported theory was
that Al-Qaeda was responsible.
### looks like buying/selling French military
hardware is dirty business...........why M'sia buy French subs
leh............and why S'pore buy French frigates leh
???...............LOL