FRANCE: The French prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, yesterday vowed he would not resign over a bogus corruption scandal dubbed "France's Watergate" and told parliament he had been the victim of a campaign of "slander and lies".
The beleaguered prime minister yesterday went on the offensive against opposition politicians who had suggested he resign or call early elections after he was alleged to have used a senior intelligence official in a plot to smear his rival and presidential contender Nicolas Sarkozy.
"In the last few days, I have been the victim of a campaign of slander and shameful lies, a campaign which has deeply shocked and hurt me. Enough is enough," Mr de Villepin told parliament as MPs from the left booed. "Nothing will turn me away from my duties as prime minister in the service of the French people."
Opposition politicians claim the bitter rivalry between Mr de Villepin, a protege of the president Jacques Chirac, and his highly ambitious interior minister, Mr Sarkozy, is making the government a laughing stock and damaging France's image. Even within the two ministers' ruling conservative UMP, politicians have warned that the scandal, known as the "Clearstream affair", could damage the party in the run-up to the presidential elections and play into the hands of the far-right.
The scandal dates back to 2004, when an anonymous source wrote to a judge accusing Mr Sarkozy and other politicians and businessmen of holding secret bank accounts with the Luxembourg bank Clearstream. The accounts were said to contain kickbacks from the $2.6 billion sale of French frigates to Taiwan in 1991. But the judge soon discovered that the allegations were false.
Mr Sarkozy, then finance minister, complained that 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.
Mr de Villepin and Mr Chirac have denied any part in a plot. But last week Le Monde published a leak of the sworn testimony of Gen Philippe Rondot, a retired intelligence officer, which suggested that the prime minister, acting on the orders of the president, had asked the agent to dig up information on Mr Sarkozy.
Yesterday, in an interview with Le Figaro, Gen Rondot denied having been ordered to investigate Mr Sarkozy. "Mr de Villepin never asked me to get interested in politicians."
Mr de Villepin cited this interview as "proof" that he had no involvement in the Clearstream affair. He said he would be ready to answer questions from an investigating magistrate.
Mr Sarkozy, the main candidate for the presidency next year, told a party meeting he wanted "to know the truth about this affair - no matter what the consequences".
Mr Chirac appointed Mr de Villepin last year. hoping the career diplomat would help win back the country's confidence. But Mr de Villepin, severely weakened after the biggest street protests in decades forced him to scrap a youth employment law last month, yesterday saw his approval ratings plummet to 20 per cent.