FRANCE: French prime minister Dominique de Villepin last night faced renewed calls to resign over an alleged smear campaign against his political rival Nicolas Sarkozy, after a newspaper published leaked testimony which appeared to question Mr de Villepin's version of events.
For days, the prime minister has angrily denied any role in an alleged smear campaign dubbed a "French Watergate" or that he asked the intelligence services to investigate Mr Sarkozy, his fellow minister and a main contender for the presidency.
But yesterday Le Monde published more extracts from the sworn testimony to investigating judges of Gen Philippe Rondot, a retired intelligence officer, suggesting that the prime minister knew more than he acknowledges about the murky "Clearstream affair".
The scandal dates back to June 2004, when an anonymous source wrote to a judge accusing Mr Sarkozy and other politicians and businessmen of holding secret accounts with the Luxembourg bank Clearstream. The allegations proved false.
Mr Sarkozy, then finance minister, complained the affair had been used to discredit him. A judicial inquiry has since tried to find out who wrote the letter and whether there was a smear campaign. President Jacques Chirac and Mr de Villepin have denied any part in a plot.
After Le Monde published its first leak last week, Mr de Villepin denied using Mr Sarkozy's name in a meeting with Gen Rondot in January 2004 or that he had ordered an investigation into his political rival.
Gen Rondot also told Le Figaro he had not been asked to investigate Mr Sarkozy. But Le Monde yesterday published further leaked extracts from Gen Rondot's testimony in which he described being asked to investigate politicians on the Clearstream list in early 2004 and that Mr Sarkozy was mentioned.