Bruni apologises over Nazi methods remark

ITALY: Carla Bruni, the wife of French president Nicolas Sarkozy, apologised yesterday for comparing the methods used by a French news magazine to those of Nazi collaborators during the second World War.

Ms Bruni took aim at the website of the left-leaning Nouvel Observateur magazine, which had suggested the president wanted to get back together with his previous wife.

"If this type of website had existed during the war, I wonder if it would have denounced Jews," Bruni said in her interview with L'Express magazine. Yesterday she said she was sorry if her remarks had upset anyone.

Nouvel Observateur said last week that Mr Sarkozy had sent a text to his former wife, Cecilia, eight days before his marriage to Ms Bruni, promising to "drop everything" if she returned to him.

He has denied the report and took the unprecedented step for a French president of launching legal action for forgery and use of forged materials - a criminal charge which could result in prison terms for the magazine's editors if proven.

Nouvel Observateur has stood by the story. 

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times