Former French president's phone reportedly bugged

PARIS, March 8 (UPI) -- Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy's phone was tapped in an investigation into his alleged dealings with Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi, a report says.

The allegation is that Gadhafi, who was killed during the Libyan uprising in 2011, gave money to Sarkozy for his 2007 campaign, the Guardian reported. The French newspaper Le Monde first reported the "unprecedented" court decision to monitor Sarkozy's phone.

Since Sarkozy apparently became aware of the tap, a new investigation has begun into the leak, Le Monde said.

Thierry Herzog, Sarkozy's lawyer, said the case is "politically motivated." He called the phone tap a "monstrous" violation of Sarkozy's legal rights.

"Mr. Sarkozy is answerable to the law as others. I am a lawyer as others. I am not asking that either he or I should be treated any differently. We should be treated the same as others," he told Le Monde.

In another case, Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, are planning legal action against one of his former top advisers, Patrick Buisson, who allegedly leaked transcripts of conversations he had with Sarkozy, Radio France Internationale reported. Buisson says the transcripts were stolen and that he is planning his own lawsuit, charging that newspapers have been publishing material that became public through theft.