FRANCE: French prime minister Dominique de Villepin denied yesterday he was involved in a smear campaign against interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who could be his rival in next year's presidential race.
Mr Villepin's second official statement on the scandal in as many days followed media reports that police might soon search his office as part of a judicial inquiry into the smear.
Le Monde newspaper quoted a senior intelligence official who is investigating the scandal as saying Mr Villepin had told him that President Jacques Chirac wanted a confidential inquiry on foreign bank accounts to focus on Mr Sarkozy.
"As prime minister, I am profoundly shocked at how some things are being mixed up here and the state and its services are being questioned," Mr Villepin said. "We never spoke about Nicolas Sarkozy as a possible beneficiary of a foreign bank account," he said of a 2004 meeting when he assigned Gen Philippe Rondot to investigate.
Le Monde said investigators had found handwritten notes by Gen Rondot at his home showing Mr Sarkozy was the target of his inquiry.
Mr Chirac's office also issued a statement denying any role in the affair: "The president categorically denies having asked for the slightest inquiry into the personalities . . . mentioned."