German investigators rebuffed

The German commission had hoped to question Mr Sirven about bribes allegedly paid in the early nineties when Helmut Kohl was Chancellor.

''I regret I must decline your offer (to give evidence),'' he told commission members.

Trial confusion

A request by the German parliamentary investigators to keep Mr Sirven in Germany has been turned down by the justice ministry, which said all conditions for extraditing him had been satisfied.

In France Mr Sirven is accused of distributing millions of dollars from an Elf slush fund.

He has been put on trial in his absence with the former Foreign Minister, Roland Dumas, and a number of senior Elf officials.

Roland Dumas: Former foreign minister on trial

The progress of the trial was thrown into confusion with the news on Friday that Mr Sirven had been arrested in the Philippines after four years on the run. The court case has been put on hold until at least Wednesday.

But the drama deepened when Mr Sirven, to the surprise of the French authorities, was unexpectedly detained in Germany while on his way back to France.

Extradition planned

Mr Sirven is expected to be handed over to French officials by German federal border guards at 1800 local time (1700 GMT) at Frankfurt airport, according to public prosecutors in the city.

Mr Sirven has been dubbed by the French media as "the man who can bring down the republic".

Christine Deviers-Joncour: Allegedly lobbied Dumas over warship sale

The BBC Paris correspondent, James Coomarasamy, says Mr Sirven is seen as the man who can reveal the circumstances in which Christine Deviers-Joncour - Mr Dumas's ex-lover - was hired by Elf.

Mr Dumas is accused of securing her the job, and then benefiting from the $9m that she was paid by the company.

It is alleged that Ms Deviers-Joncour lobbied Mr Dumas to persuade him to agree to the sale of warships to Taiwan.

German case

The German bribery claims centre on the 1992 sale of the East German oil refinery Leuna to Elf Aquitaine, which at that time was owned by the French state.

It is known that while Mr Sirven was second-in-command of the firm, bribes of about $36m were paid to facilitate the sale.

It has been repeatedly alleged in France that the cash was transferred illegally to Germany's then ruling party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), at the behest of the then French President, Francois Mitterrand.

Mr Kohl has always vehemently denied the allegations.

The Philippine authorities are currently searching for Mr Sirven's girlfriend, Vilma Aguilando Medina, who was not at home when Mr Sirven was arrested.

French police say Mr Sirven stashed the bulk of his 200 million franc ($27.2m) fortune in three Hong Kong bank accounts in her name.

Elf is now part of the private company TotalFinaElf.