Paris (AFP) - Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch filed a defamation lawsuit in Paris against former French European MP Jose Buffet, who claimed the kingdom tried to bribe him on the sidelines of negotiations for a trade deal in the early 2000s, according to documents seen by AFP.

Bovet told France Inter radio on Friday that when he was rapporteur of the Foreign Trade Commission "in the years 2009-2014", he opposed the "harmful" free trade agreement relating to fruit and vegetable trade between the European Union and Morocco.

He said, "The Minister of Agriculture (at the time, Aziz Akhannouch) could not bear my opposition to this project, and offered to bring me a gift in Montpellier, in a quiet café." Asked by the journalist whether it was about money, Buffet replied, "What else do you want it to be?"
Buffet said he made an appointment for him at his lawyer's office and "it (the case) stopped there."

"When there are huge economic interests at stake, these countries exert pressure and some deputies, whom I describe as fraudsters, took advantage of this," he said.

Akhannouch says in the lawsuit, which he filed on Tuesday and which was seen by Agence France-Presse, that these are "unacceptable false accusations" and "reflect buried hatred."
Olivier Baratelli's lawyer said, "Jose Buffet is clearly and unfairly trying to take advantage of the judicial developments related to the European Parliament to produce old and unfounded stories."

Buffet's accusations came at the height of what was described as a corruption scandal in which Qatar is suspected of involvement in the European Parliament, especially affecting the Vice-President of the European Foundation, Eva Cayley.