Former Mali defence minister Maiga detained in Paris: source

PARIS (Reuters) - French police have detained Mali's former defence minister, Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga, as part of a bribery investigation involving a Corsican businessman, a source close to the matter said on Friday. The businessman, Michel Tomi, was placed under investigation in June on suspicion of bribing foreign public officials, breach of trust and forgery as part of a probe launched in 2013, a judicial source said then. Tomi, an investor in the gambling industry in Africa, has denied any wrongdoing. The investigation could embarrass several African leaders who French newspapers say have benefited from Tomi's largesse. "(Maiga) is in police custody," the source in Paris said, without giving further details. Mali government spokesman Mahamane Baby confirmed that Maiga had been arrested, adding that it was not linked to any legal decision taken in Mali. He made no further comment. Maiga, a veteran politician, was close to Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita until he was forced to step down in May, shortly after an embarrassing defeat of Malian army forces by Tuareg separatist rebels who seized several northern towns.