A Paris court on Thursday convicted former French president Nicolas Sarkozy of criminal conspiracy, while acquitting him of corruption and illegal campaign financing in the trial over allegations that late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi helped fund his successful 2007 presidential campaign. The trial adds to a series of legal troubles for the 70-year-old right-wing ex-leader, who denies all charges. Judge Nathalie Gavarino stated that Sarkozy, “as a serving minister and party leader at the time, had allowed his close collaborators and political supporters over whom he had authority and who acted in his name, to approach the Libyan authorities in order to obtain or attempt to obtain financial support.” However, the court did not accept prosecutors’ argument that Sarkozy was the dire

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