Sarkozy's party accused of anti-Semitism following potential rival diatribe

Paris, Feb.16 (ANI): Nicolas Sarkozy's party has been accused of anti-Semitism after it described the French President's most dangerous potential rival and IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, as "not representing the soil of France".

The most provocative comment came from Christian Jacob, the leader of the UMP in parliament, who claimed DSK did not represent "the image of France, the image of rural France, the image of French soil that we love".

In response Pierre Moscovici, a top DSK ally said, "The attack resembles a little the rhetoric of the far-right between the two world wars" who attacked French Jewish Socialists with similar language".

In 2008, Strauss-Kahn' landed in a controversy at the IMF for having an affair with a young female economist, and Sarkozy's party, the UMP has made it clear that it may use Kahn's allegedly colourful private life as a weapon against him, The Telegraph reports.

"If DSK returns, scandals will come out as soon as he kicks off his (electoral) campaign, he'll be hit by Exocets," weekly Le Canard Enchaîné quoted Sarkozy, as saying. (ANI)