Former French PM Villepin cleared in slander case
Former French prime minister Dominique de Villepin has been acquitted by an appeals court of charges that he took part in a murky smear campaign against his arch-rival, President Nicolas Sarkozy.
A lower court acquitted Mr Villepin of charges of complicity in slander over the so-called Clearstream affair last year, but the prosecution appealed and was seeking a 15-month suspended sentence against the former premier.
