French smear scandal claims second EADS scalp

PARIS, May 16 (Reuters) A second official at European aerospace and defence company EADS implicated in a smear scandal engulfing the French government has stepped down from his duties at the company.

EADS today said Imad Lahoud, the company's research director, had asked to be discharged temporarily to prepare his defence in what has been dubbed the ''Clearstream affair''.

''Imad Lahoud is currently on sick leave. Like Jean-Louis Gergorin, he asked in writing to be discharged from his operational duties to prepare his defence,'' an EADS spokesman said.

Gergorin, EADS vice president in charge of strategy, stepped down last week.

In a television interview yesterday, Lahoud denied being behind a smear campaign that has prompted a parliamentary vote of confidence today in Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin's government.

The scandal turns on a list of accounts held in a Luxembourg finance house, Clearstream, by senior public figures including Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.

The list turned out to be partially faked, and Villepin has been accused of using French spies to try to smear Sarkozy in order to damage his rival's chances in next year's presidential election.

Villepin has vehemently denied targeting Sarkozy -- cleared by separate investigations of holding a foreign account -- or any wrong-doing.

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