Ziad Takieddine ( ar, زياد تقي الدين ; born 14 June 1950) is a Lebanese-French businessman, described by '' The Telegraph'' as an "arms broker".Ziad Takieddine: The ski-resort owner with a taste for the high life
'' The Independent'', January 2, 2013John Lichfield
If Sarko took Gaddafi cash, why oust him?
''The Independent'', January 6, 2013Henry Samuel

'' The Daily Telegraph'', August 30, 2011
'' The Huffington Post'', 01/03/2013

Early life

Ziad Takieddine was born on 14 June 1950 in

Baakline Baakleen or Baakline ( ar, بعقلين) is a major Druze town located in Mount Lebanon, Chouf District, 45 kilometers southeast of Beirut. Altitude 850 – 920 meters high, population is 30,000, area 14 square km, number of homes 2,870. Borderi ...

, Lebanon into a

Druze The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of ...

family. His uncle Saiid Takieddine was Lebanese Ambassador in London, and his father was Ambassador in various countries. He was educated at the

American University in Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, au ...

and the University of Reading in England.

Career

In the 1990s, he was the manager of the Isola 2000 ski resort in Isola, Alpes-Maritimes, France. He later facilitated arms dealing between France and Middle East countries, including Saudi Arabia, Pakistan,

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

and Libya. He was condemned to a five-year prison sentence by the French Court of Justice of the Republic in June 2020 for using some of those funds to finance the unsuccessful presidential campaign of former French Prime Minister Edouard Balladur in the context of the Karachi affair.Affaire Karachi, prison ferme pour les six prévenus du volet financier
'' Le Dauphine'', June 15, 2020 He facilitated the release of

Bulgarian nurses The HIV trial in Libya (or Bulgarian nurses affair) concerns the trials, appeals and eventual release of six foreign medical workers charged with conspiring to deliberately infect over 400 children with HIV in 1998, causing an epidemic at El-Fat ...

from Libya and organized Libya President Muammar Gaddafi's 2007 visit to France. He has since accused former French President

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...

of taking 5 million euros from Libyan President

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...

from 2006 to 2007Interview of Ziad Takieddine on Mediapart
/ref> to finance his presidential campaign, a claim echoed by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi. On 4 December 2020, he was detained in Lebanon due to allegations of covert financing to Sarkozy's presidential campaign. On 8 December, Lebanon ordered his release, but also imposed a travel ban on him.

Personal life

His ex-wife, Nicola Johnson, is British-born. She has accused him of tax evasion in France. Takieddine owned Warwick House in London's Holland Park district via a company in the tax haven of the British Virgin Islands. It was sold to neighbour Brian May for £12 million following the divorce settlement. In 2013 Takieddine was denied entry to the United Kingdom following an "allegation of fraud" and was forced by British police to return to France. Takieddine is an uncle of Amal Alamuddin, who is married to the actor

George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by George Clooney, numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film A ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Takieddine, Ziad 1950 births French people of Lebanese descent Lebanese Druze French businesspeople Lebanese businesspeople Living people People named in the Panama Papers People from Chouf District