A French businessman has been arrested in London as part of a probe into whether the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi illegally funded Nicolas Sarkozy’s presidential campaign in 2007, according to French judicial sources.

Alexandre Djouhri was arrested on Sunday at London's Heathrow airport under the jurisdiction of a European arrest warrant, said the source. He was remanded in custody after a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday.

Judges are seeking to verify allegations made by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the late former Libyan leader, in 2011 that Mr Sarkozy had accepted millions of euros from him and his father to finance his successful 2007 election run.

The warrant was issued after Mr Djouhri, who is a close friend of former prime minister Dominique de Villepin, repeatedly failed to respond to the judges' to question him, said the sources.