|
Rumours fly over Sarkozy split
12/10/2007 14:03 - (SA)
Paris - A spokesperson for the French presidency refused to comment on Friday on a newspaper report that Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Cecilia are shortly to announce a divorce.
Quoting "sources close to the Elysee", L'Est Republicain newspaper said on its internet site that the couple's "separation and divorce" would be made public on Friday.
"Things should move pretty quickly, with divorce papers filed rapidly at the courts in Nanterre (a suburb of Paris)," the newspaper said.
Asked by AFP about the report, Elysee Palace spokesperson David Martinon said: "I have no comment to make on press rumours."
Cecilia, 49, has been barely seen at her husband's side since he took office in May, prompting speculation that their relationship - which went through a period of separation in 2005 - is once again on the rocks.
Last week she failed to accompany Sarkozy on a visit to Bulgaria, where she was to have received an award for helping secure the release of nurses held in Libya.
In September L'Est Republicain became the only newspaper to publish an post-election interview with Cecilia, in the controversial aftermath of her visits to Libya on behalf of the Bulgarian nurses.
French radio stations on Friday morning discussed the separation rumours, sourcing them to the Swiss newspaper 24 Heures, which described the couple as "unofficially separated".
The newspaper said that Cecilia Sarkozy has been in Geneva and London in recent weeks.
In France Le Nouvel Observateur magazine reported that at a recent France-Georgia rugby match Sarkozy, 52, confided recently to his Georgian counterpart Mikhail Saakashvili that he might soon be single.
It also quoted Sarkozy as saying: "Thankfully there is the rugby. With that you can forget all the rest."
- AFP
|
News
