Beaten Chirac names Villepin prime minister

PRESIDENT Jacques Chirac, shaken by the defeat of the European Union constitution, appointed Dominique de Villepin, a loyalist who jetted around the globe galvanising international opposition to the Iraq war, as prime minister to lead a new government yesterday.

Villepin, 51, moves from the Interior Ministry to replace Mr Jean-Pierre Raffarin, dumped after voters Sunday roundly rejected Mr Chirac's call to ratify a European Union constitution, humiliating the 72-year-old president a leading proponent of the charter.

Mr Chirac asked Mr Villepin to form a new government the makeup of which was not expected to be announced until at least today.