Sarkozy's ex-wife denies text message on wedding 10/03/2008 00:00

The ex-wife of President Nicolas Sarkozy told police that a text message he reportedly sent her offering to call off his wedding to Carla Bruni did not exist.

   PARIS, March 11, 2008 (AFP) - The ex-wife of President Nicolas Sarkozy told
police Friday that a text message he reportedly sent her offering to call off
his wedding to Carla Bruni did not exist, a judicial source said.
   Police questioned the former first lady as part of a probe into last
month's report on the Nouvelobs.com website, run by the left-leaning Nouvel
Observateur magazine. Sarkozy has lodged a complaint over the report.
   "If you come back, I'll call it all off," he was reported to have written
to his ex-wife Cecilia Ciganer-Albeniz eight days before his February 2
marriage to Bruni, an Italian-born former supermodel turned singer-songwriter.
   She told investigators she never received such a message, according to the
judicial source.
   Sarkozy, 53, remarried less than four months after ending his stormy
11-year marriage to Cecilia, 50, with whom he has a young son, Louis. The
couple announced their divorce on October 18.
   The French president has filed suit against the website for falsification,
use of false documents and possession of stolen goods, his lawyer Thierry
Herzog has said.
   Under French law, the maximum penalty in such a case is three years in
prison and a fine of 45,000 euros (65,250 dollars). The courts could also
order that the source of the story be revealed.
   The editor of the magazine that published the report has said he stands by
the story.
   Cecilia plans to re-marry in New York later this month, the Italian fashion
house Versace said earlier this week.

AFP