Sarkozy 'a kept man'

Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, supermodel Carla Bruni, launched a legal bid yesterday to prevent any further publication of tapes secretly recorded during his term as French president.

In a move that will fuel speculation that the tapes contain a seriously compromising "smoking gun", lawyers for Sarkozy said they would file a motion with a Paris court for an emergency injunction against further distribution or publication.

The tapes are thought to contain hundreds of hours of Sarkozy's private conversations with Bruni and close aides. They were recorded by a political adviser, Patrick Buisson, without the couple's knowledge.

Extracts - without any really explosive content - have already been published, by the satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaine and the news website Atlantico.

The revelation of what Buisson was doing while he was a close confidant of the centre-right president has sent shockwaves through the French political class.

MPs from across the political spectrum have denounced what they have described as an unprecedented act of treachery and, in some cases, a potential threat to national security.

Sarkozy's lawyers said the former president and his wife had no option but to take legal action.

The taped conversations that have been made public so far contain some mildly slightly embarrassing material.

Bruni is heard joking about Sarkozy being a kept man and teasing him that her status as first lady has prevented her from signing lucrative deals to promote wrinkle creams, unlike actresses Julianne Moore, Julia Roberts and Sharon Stone.

"I thought I was marrying a guy with a salary . I had big contracts and now nothing," she is heard to say.