Nicolas Sarkozy is examined in the case of party funds

Bordeaux, France (Reuters)-the former President of France Nicolas Sarkozy officially inspected on Thursday, because "harassing people weak" in a case involving party funds 2007 L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt women, who are already elderly, prosecutors said.

Under the laws of France, official examination is the final step before a suspect facing criminal charges.

Sarkozy, who in March hinted at the possible return to politics, has repeatedly denied receiving campaign funds from Bettencourt.

"Nicalas Sarkozy, who have benefited from the presumption of innocence, has been told that he had been subject to official examination due to take advantage of vulnerable people in February 2007 and during 2007 due to the detriment of Liliane Bettencourt," said public prosecutor after a review process.

Bettencourt, who is 90 years old, was the richest woman in France.

Sarkozy, who was defeated in the general election last year from Francois Hollande, the find annggota in the process of examination of Bettencourt's staff on Thursday morning, Reuters said.

He was questioned by the judges in November, but they chose not to open the big checks against Sarkozy, who lost in the world of politics but still be a candidate that might appear from the conservative strongholds in the coming presidential election in 2017.

Early suspicions about funds stuck out three years ago, when a woman who works as an accountant for Bettencourt, who is mentally fragile, suspect a lot of money taken for Sarkozy's presidential election campaign.

Bettencourt is revealed to be the condition dementia in 2006 and placed under the supervision of his family in 2011.

The TV station France, BFM, citing lawyer Sarkozy, reported the decision was "chaotic and unfair" and he will appeal, according to Reuters.

Translator: Chaidar Abdullah

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Sarkozy called Israeli PM 'liar'

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8 November 2011 Last updated at 11:03 GMT The comments - embarrassing for President Sarkozy - have only just emerged French President Nicolas Sarkozy called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "liar" in remarks to US President Barack Obama overheard by journalists.

"I can't stand him any more, he's a liar," Mr Sarkozy said in French.

"You may be sick of him, but me, I have to deal with him every day," Mr Obama replied.

The exchange at the G20 summit was quoted by a French website, Arret sur Images, and confirmed by other media.

The remarks - during a private conversation - were overheard by a few journalists last week but were not initially reported, the BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris says.

Journalists at the bilateral press conference had been handed translation boxes but had been told not to plug in their headphones until the backroom conversation had finished. But those who did heard the revealing comments.

For several days there was media silence in France about the exchange - a decision had been taken not to embarrass the French president, our correspondent says.

A correspondent for Le Monde newspaper referred to the conversation without the quotes.

But Israeli newspapers have reported it in full.

It is said Mr Obama was taking Mr Sarkozy to task for voting in favour of the Palestinian bid for full membership of the UN cultural organisation, Unesco, a bid that was approved despite American opposition.

The remarks indicate a breakdown of trust with the Israeli leader which could have wider implications for the Middle East peace process, our correspondent says.

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PM clashes with Sarkozy over euro

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23 October 2011 Last updated at 23:40 GMT David Cameron: "Greater fiscal and economic integration in the eurozone is inevitable"

Prime Minister David Cameron has clashed with French President Nicolas Sarkozy over the UK's involvement in discussions about the eurozone crisis.

Mr Sarkozy believes the final talks on Wednesday should be limited to nations which actually use the euro.

Mr Cameron said all EU leaders should be present to debate issues which could affect them in one way or another.

The clash came on the day when leaders agreed to change the Union's treaty if necessary to help resolve the crisis.

EU president Herman Van Rompuy said after a day of emergency talks in Brussels that members would "explore the possibility of limited change".

Mr Cameron said he had sought assurances to protect the UK's interest if there is change.

All EU leaders are now set to attend the final meeting on Wednesday, which was originally meant to be attended by only the 17 countries that use the euro.

That prompted French leader Mr Sarkozy to speak out. He said he was sick of reading in newspapers about advice Mr Cameron and his Chancellor George Osborne were offering the eurozone.

At one point in the exchanges, Mr Sarkozy was quoted as telling Mr Cameron: "We are sick of you criticising us and telling us what to do.

"You say you hate the euro and now you want to interfere in our meetings."

On Sunday morning the leaders of all the European Union's 27 members held talks about the Greek debt crisis, recapitalising banks, and bolstering the bailout fund.

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The more closely integrated the eurozone becomes, the greater the British fear will be that decisions will be taken that impacts on their major concerns such as preserving and expanding the single market”

End Quote Gavin Hewitt BBC Europe editor This was followed in the afternoon by a separate meeting of the 17 nations that use the euro.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Van Rompuy said that altering the treaty was under discussion. Although no proposed details were given, any change is likely to involve closer fiscal and economic cooperation.

"The aim is deepening our economic convergence and strengthening economic discipline," Mr Van Rompuy said.

He said the words "limited change" meant "not a general overhaul of the institutional architecture".

He added: We also said that we would need the agreement of all the 27 (member states) before we can decide on a treaty change."

'Progress needed'

Mr Cameron said he had secured safeguards to ensure that Britain's national interest within the EU was protected as the eurozone nations moved towards greater fiscal and economic integration.

He told a news conference: "This must not be at the expense of Britain's national interest. I have secured a commitment today that we must safeguard the interests of countries that want to stay outside the euro, particularly with respect to the integrity of the single market for all 27 countries of the EU."

The prime minister said the EU needed to build on the progress of the work done on Saturday on recapitalising the banks.

Nicolas Sarkozy disagreed with David Cameron over who attends Wednesday's summit

"More progress is needed. I think we are beginning to see the elements of a strong package coming together," he said.

Mr Cameron has cancelled visits to Japan and New Zealand this week in order to attend Wednesday's summit.

Speaking alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a joint press conference on Sunday, Mr Sarkozy said "a quite broad agreement was taking shape on the reinforcement" of the bailout fund.

Mrs Merkel said a French idea for the fund to acquire a banking licence was dead, leaving a mix of plans to use the fund to offer insurance to eurozone bond holders, and moves to create a "fund within the fund" that would be topped up by some of the main emerging nations.

On Saturday eurozone finance ministers struck a provisional deal that will see banks raise more than 100bn euros (£87bn) in new capital to shield them against possible losses to indebted countries.

It is conditional on a wider accord, including a write-down of Greek debt.

BBC business editor Robert Peston said the 100bn euros agreed in the deal will be provided to banks by commercial investors, national governments and the EU's bailout fund.

Debt-laden Greece has been bailed out - twice - along with the Irish Republic and Portugal.

The eurozone is working on a third package for Greece, as well as a solution that could help the much bigger economies of Spain and Italy, which are faltering.

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French left seizes Senate majority, hurts Sarkozy

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French President Nicolas Sarkozy attends a ceremony commemorating the Harkis, Algerian soldiers loyal to the French during the Algerian war, at the Invalides in Paris, September 25, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Philippe Wojazer

By Sophie Louet

PARIS | Mon Sep 26, 2011 3:32am EDT

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative government lost its majority in the Senate to the left on Sunday, officials said, in a historic defeat that deals him a blow just seven months before a presidential election.

For the first time since 1958, the right-dominated upper house swung to a left-wing majority as the body's membership underwent a major generational change of guard.

Early results from the indirect elections showed left-wing candidates took at least 23 seats from the ruling conservative party, securing them an absolute majority.

The shift to the left, which UMP Senate leader Gerard Larcher had described as having "seismic" consequences ahead of a presidential election next April, drew howls of joy from left-wing supporters at a meeting in Paris.

"The 25th of September, 2011, will go down in history," Jean-Pierre Bel, head of the Socialist group in the Senate, said on LCI television. "The results of this Senate election represent a real comeuppance for the right."

The left's victory followed a series of wins by Socialist candidates in local elections in the same regions where tens of thousands of municipal officials -- empowered as so-called "super voters" in the Senate poll -- cast votes on Sunday.

SYMBOLIC SETBACK

A left-leaning Senate will not be able to derail Sarkozy's legislative plans but the loss of a longstanding bastion for the right is a symbolic setback especially when taken together with his persistently poor poll ratings.

Sarkozy has become slightly more popular in the past few months, but he remains one of the least well-liked presidents in post-war France and faces a tough battle for reelection in a two-round vote scheduled for next April.

French voters are depressed about their economic prospects, unemployment remains stubbornly high and a European debt crisis has invited intensive scrutiny of France's public finances.

Such worries have overshadowed Sarkozy's foreign policy victories, notably France's role in the toppling of Libya's Muammar Gaddafi.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon said the result was a result of divisions in the ruling camp.

"Today, the opposition has shown strong progress in the Senate, underscored by divisions in the ruling camp in several regions," he said in a statement.

"The moment of truth will come next spring. Tonight, the battle begins, and the results of this Senate election show us what sort of effort we will have to produce."

Government spokeswoman Valerie Pecresse pointed out that the right retained a majority in the National Assembly.

"This is in no way a point of blockage for the government because, as you know, it's the National Assembly that has the last word," she said.

Sarkozy, in the final months of his term, faces a tough battle for reelection against Francois Hollande, the most likely Socialist candidate.

"This victory creates a dynamic ... If we could win the presidency of the republic after winning the presidency of the Senate, that would be a good," Hollande said on LCI television.

There is no major legislation outstanding that a left-wing Senate could delay, but losing his majority there would bury Sarkozy's grand plan to get a budget-balancing debt rule written into the French constitution, a measure that could have been an anchor for France's AAA-rating.

Parliament already has approved an adjustment to the 2011 budget bill to incorporate a bigger bailout for Greece as agreed by euro zone states on July 21, and the 2012 budget bill should pass without hitches.

Of the 170 seats up for grabs in the election, the UMP had 147 seats out of a total 343 to the Socialist Party's 115 before Sunday's vote. Final results are expected later on Sunday.

The number of seats in the upper chamber will be increased on Sunday to 348, reflecting a rise in the population.

Sarkozy is expected to announce sometime in November that he will run for a second term in next April's election.

(Reporting by Catherine Bremer, Nicholas Vinocur, Emile Picy and Sophie Louet; Writing by Nicholas Vinocur; Editing by Sophie Hares)

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