Elf trial suspended

PARIS, France -- A court has suspended France's multi-million dollar corruption trial involving ex-Foreign Minister Roland Dumas.

The trial was adjourned until March 12 after defendant and witness Alfred Sirven made his first appearance in the Paris court following his extradition from Germany.

Sirven, who has boasted he knows enough to "bring down the republic," was questioned until 3 a.m (0200 GMT) after arriving in France, ending nearly four years on the run.

Sirven, once second-in-command at the former state-owned oil giant Elf, is a key defendant in the trial in which Dumas and Dumas' ex-mistress Christine Deviers-Joncour are co-defendants

Sirven, 74, is accused of distributing millions of dollars in illegal slush funds to ensure Elf won prestigious contracts.

French Justice Minister Marylise Lebranchu has urged him to reveal all he knows, though she conceded that he had given nothing away during initial questioning.

"I hope that everything comes out," Lebranchu told Europe 1 radio.

"The faster it goes, the more that is said, the more the truth is known, the better it will be for everybody," she said.

Sirven arrived from Frankfurt on board a French air force executive jet late on Tuesday and, in a convoy with wailing sirens, was immediately driven to the financial fraud section of the Paris prosecutor's office for questioning.

Allegations 'scandalous'

Earlier he had refused to answer the questions of a German parliamentary investigative committee probing the funding of ex-Chancellor Helmut Kohl's party.

At the heart of that probe are large bribes allegedly paid over the 1992 sale to Elf of the Leuna refinery in former communist East Germany.

Allegations that Kohl or his Christian Democratic party received money in the Leuna deal are the link between the French and German scandals.

Kohl has rejected the allegations as "slanderous."

The inquiry team had asked for more time to quiz Sirven but the German Government refused this amid speculation that an extradition delay might irritate Franco-German ties.

Sirven was arrested on Saturday at Frankfurt airport after arriving on a flight from the Philippines, where he had been in hiding since 1997.

His testimony has been eagerly awaited in France with the list of alleged beneficiaries of illegal slush funds stretching across political lines.

Sirven has maintained the suspense in the rare few words he has uttered since capture.

"My work at this company (Elf) was mixed up with politics and that's never good. I could give away a hundred names... but it doesn't interest me," he said in a brief interview with the French newspaper Le Parisien just after his capture in Manila.

Elf has since become part of the private TotalFinaElf group.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Bribe suspect extradition granted
February 5, 2001
Germany holds key Elf suspect
February 3, 2001
French ex-minister threatens court
January 31, 2001
Dumas trial adjourned after arrest
February 5, 2001

Elf Aquitaine
French Justice Ministry
German Government and Politics

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