Djibouti President Omar Ismael Guelleh

DJIBOUTI, July 15, 2007 – A former Djibouti  minister Sunday denied ordering a French judge to investigate top politicians in the east African nation, which according to a French official led to his 1995 murder.

"A member of the French military intelligence... has said that as the justice minister I had ordered judge Bernard Borrel to investigate leading personalities in my country," Moumin Bahdon Farah said in a statement.

"Judge Borrel was working in secondment to the Djibouti justice ministry as a technical adviser and was in no way empowered to conduct any kind of probe."

Borrel's widow Elisabeth believes her husband was murdered by Djibouti agents and that France helped Djibouti authorities hush up the crime.

A former French military intelligence officer has testified that Borrel was investigating President Ismael Omar Guelleh, who was then a candidate for the top job.

Elisabeth Borrel maintains that France cooperated with Guelleh's efforts to bury the affair because of fears of losing its military base in the tiny east African state.

Borrel's half-burned body was found at the foot of a ravine 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the town of Djibouti in October 1995.

Source: AFP