A former French minister, who is convicted of illegal arms trade, says former president Jacques Chirac and several other officials knew about the affair.

Former interior minister Charles Pasqua said on Friday that he had secret documents that would prove his claim.

The documents, from the DGSE counter-espionage agency addressed to 13 top officials, detail the arms sales to Angola and confirm that they were illegal, Pasqua said.

Pasqua who has held the ministerial position twice — from 1986 to 1988, under Jacques Chirac and from 1993 to 1995, under Edouard Balladur — said that Chirac and other government officials were aware of the weapons sales but did nothing to stop them.

"In 1995, Jacques Chirac, Dominique de Villepin, Charles Millon, Herve de Charette were informed of the arms sales to Angola," said Pasqua, now a senator.

In October, the 82-year-old politician was sentenced to one year in prison, plus two more years suspended, and was fined EUR 100,000 (USD 150,000) for his involvement in the Angola arms affair.

VA/MMN