Tuesday, December 30, 2008

French radio boss "took arms cash to hide debts"

A French radio boss told a court on Monday he took money from an arms dealer in exchange for contacts to hide his gambling debts from his girlfriend at the time, the actress Charlotte Rampling.

The revelation was the latest colourful detail to emerge from the "Angolagate" trial, in which 42 people are on trial for selling weapons to Angola in defiance of a U.N. arms embargo, or for using their influence to facilitate the sales.

The accused include the son of former President Francois Mitterrand, a former interior minister and a bestselling thriller writer. The case has caused diplomatic tension between France and Angola, which would prefer the details of arms deals made in the 1990s during its civil war, to remain secret.

Jean-Noel Tassez, a journalist and former boss of the radio station RMC, is among those suspected of taking cash from Pierre Falcone, the arms dealer at the heart of the Angolagate affair.

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