AP News, April 11th, 2007
Conservative presidential front-runner Nicolas Sarkozy made good on promises to visit troubled suburbs that were wracked by rioting more than a year ago, attending a citizenship ceremony east of Paris on Wednesday.
Sarkozy has avoided campaigning in suburbs since he called local troublemakers "scum" in October 2005. The remark outraged many and helped fuel riots that erupted days later and spread through the poor, immigrant-heavy housing projects that ring cities throughout France.
Sarkozy, a former interior minister who is leading opinion polls heading into the election's first round April 22, spent less than an hour in Villepinte, northeast of Paris, speaking before 30 people who recently received French citizenship.
Sarkozy, who has made curbing illegal immigration his campaign's cornerstone, emphasized his foreign roots as the son of a Hungarian immigrant, calling himself a "Frenchman of mixed blood."
He urged those at the ceremony to "love France," riffing on his controversial slogan, "Love France or leave it." Extreme-right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen has often used a similar slogan.
Sarkozy was the last major candidate to make a campaign stop in the suburbs.
His two top competitors, socialist Segolene Royal and centrist Francois Bayrou, have made several visits while vying to earn a spot in the May 6 presidential runoff vote.
Sarkozy spent part of the day denying a news story alleging he struck a deal for President Jacques Chirac's support by agreeing to protect Chirac from any prosecution once his judicial immunity runs out next month.
Sarkozy said the report in Le Canard Enchaine, a satirical weekly that is also known for its investigative reports, was not "based on any form of reality." Chirac's office called the story unfounded.
Chirac has been protected by presidential immunity during his 12 years in power, but once he leaves office long-dormant investigations of scandals in his political past could be revived. The most threatening one is a fake jobs affair at his former political party.
Bayrou, who has risen to a strong third in opinion polls while promising to bridge France's traditional left-right divide, sought Wednesday to carve out a foreign policy agenda leaning heavily on Europe _ not the U.S. _ to tackle international terrorism and Middle East peace.
Despite his centrist campaign, the stance he laid out echoed the conservative Chirac's push for a "multipolar world" that would dilute U.S. dominance.
"The United States can no longer be the guarantor of peace in the Middle East" because of its decision to go to war in Iraq, Bayrou told reporters. "Therefore, there should be several guarantees of that peace. The other natural guarantor is the European Union."
Royal also voiced opposition to U.S. policies and lashed out at Sarkozy, who met with Bush during a recent trip to the U.S. She said she would "not shake George Bush's hand as if nothing was going on, without a single word about our tactical and strategic disagreements."
