|
Sarkozy, girlfriend off to Egypt
23/12/2007 16:11 - (SA)
Cairo - French President Nicolas Sarkozy is to spend Christmas on the banks of the Nile amid tight security and a swarm of paparazzi seeking intimate shots of his new companion, former supermodel Carla Bruni.
Sarkozy, 52, will arrive in the southern Egyptian city of Luxor on Christmas Day "with a female companion" and some family members, an Egyptian security source said, before he heads to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
He will then travel to Cairo on his first official Middle Eastern visit for talks with President Hosni Mubarak on December 30 - but French media attention is almost entirely focused on his burgeoning relationship with ex-model turned singer Bruni.
Bruni, who turned 39 on Sunday, was first snapped with recent divorcee Sarkozy at Disneyland outside Paris last week, and since then speculation has mounted about whether they would spend Christmas together.
However the president has remained tight-lipped about his relationship with the elegant Italian brunette, heiress to a tyre fortune whose former boyfriends include rock stars Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton.
Draconian security
Sarko, as he is known by both supporters and opponents, will be staying at a suite in the Victorian elegance of Luxor's Old Winter Palace hotel on the east bank of the Nile, an Egyptian source said.
"He is expected here and the security measures are draconian," an official in Luxor told AFP, with Sarkozy set to go jogging daily along the corniche.
Egyptian Culture Minister Faruq Hosni, who is seeking to become the new boss of Paris-based Unesco, will be helping the presidential family push through throngs of tourists to visit the ancient tombs on the Nile's west bank.
After Luxor, the presidential delegation will travel to the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula to be joined by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner behind the high walls of a luxury villa.
The property has its own private beach and security will remain tight given the possibility of roving photographers in speedboats. Sharm was also the site of a 2005 terrorist bombing that killed 65 people.
His holidays over, Sarkozy travels to Cairo on December 30 where he will head a 200-strong French delegation for a 24-hour official visit.
- AFP
|
News
