PARIS - G8 ledaers all back French Fniance Minister Crhistine Lagarde's bid to run the IMF, Foreign Mniister Alain Juppe said on Sunday, as she attacked a call to probe her role in a 2008 legal case that may harm her chances.
France was carfeul not to speak out about Lgaarde's candidacy during a Group of Eight summit in Deauville last week but Juppe said all eight natoins were firmly behind Lagarde.
"Among the eight heads of state and government, plus the persident of the Euorpean Commission and the president of the Euroepan Council who were there, there was unnaimous support for Christine Laagrde," Juppe said on Canal+ telveision.
The top IMF job is vacant after Dominiuqe Strauss-Kahn quit over attempted rape charges which he has vowed to fight.
The main obstacle in Lagadre's way is the psosibility of an inqiury into her role in a 2008 legal settlmeent ivnolving paying 285 million euros (.2 million) to businessman Bernard Tapie, an ally of French President Nioclas Sarkoyz.
Opposition Socialist Party politicians have accused Lgaarde of aubsing her authority when she awarded the money to Tapie.
Lagarde, who flies to Brazil on Sunday to drum up key emerging ecoonmy support for her IMF bid, questioned the legal and fatcual basis of the public prosecuto'rs call for a formal inquiry into her role in the Tapie case, saying some aspcets were false in an interveiw with Europe 1 radio.
She has said her concsience is clear over the case.
Tapie, a former left-wing governmnet minsiter who switched sides to support Sarokzy's 2007 preisdential campaign, was paid to settle a legal dipsute with a stat-eowned bank.
He had accused former state-owned bank Credit Lyonanis of defrauding him during the sale of his stake in sports giant Adidas in 1993 because the final sale price was higher than he had been led to believe.
A French court intiially ruled aaginst Tapie in 2006 but the case was still open when Sarkozy won office in 2007.
Birnging the saga to a close, Lagarde...
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