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Sarkozy, Bruni 'not yet married'
22/01/2008 13:47 - (SA)
Paris - France's president has not yet married model-singer Carla Bruni and she is not accompanying him on a state visit to India this week, a respected French newspaper quoted her as saying on Tuesday.
President Nicolas Sarkozy's relationship with Bruni has captured world headlines in recent weeks. The couple has been carefully coy amid rumours that they had already wed.
The married-or-not question is a matter of protocol for those planning Sarkozy's trip to India on Friday and Saturday. French officials have declined to comment for weeks on whether Bruni would join him, and in what capacity.
Bruni, speaking to the French daily Liberation, said the two were "not yet married" though "it is in our plans".
She also said she would not accompany Sarkozy to India. As long as they are unmarried, she is quoted as telling the newspaper, "I cannot take part in an official trip with the president".
Sarkozy, 52, and Bruni, 40, reportedly met in November, soon after his October divorce from Cecilia, his second wife. Sarkozy's openness about his private life has surprised many French, accustomed to presidents who keep their love lives discreet.
Bruni did not accompany Sarkozy on a recent trip to Saudi Arabia, after a senior Saudi official urged Sarkozy to respect the country's conservative Islamic culture.
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