Saddam spies 'offered to help Chirac get re-elected'

[T_i_B]

I'll let you lot try and get to the bottom of this.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/05/14/wsadd14.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/05/14/ixportaltop.html

Saddam Hussein's spies planned a wide-ranging scheme to bribe members of the French political elite in the run-up to the Anglo-American invasion, including an offer to help fund President Jacques Chirac's 2002 re-election campaign.

That bid failed, according to Iraqi secret service papers seen by The Daily Telegraph, when Mr Chirac's aides allegedly said they did not need the cash.

According to the series of Iraqi intelligence service memorandums uncovered by investigators working for the energy committee of the US House of Representatives, the Iraqis identified a group of politicians and businessmen close to Mr Chirac.

The spies claimed that Mrs Bachelot offered an assurance that France would veto any American proposal to invade Iraq at the UN Security Council and would work to have UN-approved sanctions against Saddam lifted. But the memo also claimed that Mr Chirac's team had turned down the cash.

[rooboy]

1. Why not? The Bin Ladens helped get Bush "re-elected".. n/t