French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin Mr Villepin told radio Europe 1 he was 'indignant' at accusations he was behind a smear campaign related to a political and legal corruption inquiry known as the Clearstream affair. 'Nothing justifies my departure,' he said.
| Yup, just leave. |
The Clearstream affair is a complex political-legal case over allegations of kickbacks in the sale of warships to Taiwan, money-laundering and high-level corruption. Le Monde newspaper said a senior intelligence officer had told magistrates that Mr Villepin ordered him to investigate Mr Sarkozy over the scandal. But the officer has since said his comments were taken out of context.
The current French PM said that in January 2004, when he was foreign minister, he had ordered the intelligence officer to conduct a discreet inquiry into the Clearstream matter. 'At no time was Nicolas Sarkozy mentioned in that conversation,' Mr Villepin said. 'I never asked for an investigation into any political figure.'
Mr Villepin is fighting for his political future, already jeopardised by mass street demonstrations last month that forced him to withdraw a labour reform he had championed. Poll numbers give him the second-lowest rating of any French prime minister in the past four decades, and his chances of succeeding Jacques Chirac as president in elections next year are looking slim.
Mr Sarkozy is considered a far more popular
