Sarkozy takes on website over ‘text-wife’ claims

NEWLY married French president Nicolas Sarkozy has filed a legal complaint over a media report saying he promised to call off his engagement if his ex-wife came back to him.

In a statement, Thierry Herzog said the complaint accused the website of the weekly newsmagazine Nouvel Observateur of having made the story up.

The charges, which include “using falsehoods”, are punishable by fines and up to three years in prison.

The report alleged Mr Sarkozy sent his ex-wife Cecilia a text reading: “If you come back, I’ll cancel everything,” eight days before his marriage last Saturday to model-turned-singer Carla Bruni. He got no response, the report said. It alleged that despite his high-profile romance with Ms Bruni, “Nicolas Sarkozy’s real obsession was and remains Cecilia Sarkozy”. Cecilia and Nicolas ended their 11-year marriage in October.

Ms Bruni and Mr Sarkozy went public with their relationship in December, less than a month after they met.

The report cites unnamed witnesses as saying Mr Sarkozy appeared “less happy than one would have imagined” at his wedding.

The two tied the knot in a discreet ceremony last Saturday in the presidential Elysee Palace before about 20 friends and family members.

The wedding was the third for Mr Sarkozy, 53, who has three sons and the first for Ms Brun.