France's Sarkozy to be sworn in as president

Paris, May 16: Right-winger Nicolas Sarkozy will be sworn in as French president today, a new generation of leader promising to direct his reformist drive from the front in a style starkly different from the man he succeeds.

Within hours of succeeding Jacques Chirac, 74, Sarkozy will fly to Berlin for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel in a trip designed to underscore the continued importance of Franco-German ties.

Sarkozy is widely expected to name moderate conservative Francois Fillon as his prime minister tomorrow and draft centrists and high-profile leftists into a streamlined cabinet whose line-up will probably be announced on Friday.

His government will also break ground with an equal number of men and women ministers whose job will be to prepare reforms for a summer session of parliament after June legislative polls.

Chirac is due to welcome Sarkozy, a law and order hardliner who mixes state intervention and pro-market economic views, at his official Elysee Palace residence around 1430 hrs IST.

Chirac will hand over the secret codes of France's nuclear strike force to the 52-year-old, who comfortably defeated Socialist Segolene Royal in a May 6 run-off ballot.

After proclamation of the official results by the head of the Constitutional Council, Sarkozy will receive the insignia of office and make his first speech as head of state to a gathering of friends, family, outgoing Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, the speakers of parliament and other dignitaries.

A 21-gun salute outside the historic Invalides landmark in central Paris will mark the start of his five-year term.

Berlin Flight

After a private lunch Sarkozy will ride in a motorcade up the celebrated Avenue des Champs Elysees, escorted by the mounted Republican Guard, and lay a floral tribute at the tomb of the unknown soldier beneath the Arc de Triomphe.

He will also lay wreaths at the nearby statues of revered post-war leader Charles de Gaulle, World War One leader Georges Clemenceau and make a short address at a memorial to young French resistance members shot by the Gestapo in 1944.

Security is expected to be tight sporadic violence from anti-Sarkozy protesters marred his election night and authorities faced a fresh challenge from a group that has claimed links to al Qaeda.

The Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades warned in a Web posting on Tuesday it would punish France for electing the ''Zionist crusader'' Sarkozy with attacks in Paris. Authorities made no immediate comment.

Unlike Chirac, Sarkozy has promised to be a hands-on president on the domestic front, demanding ministers produce results and asking to be judged on his record in restoring full employment, boosting growth and fighting illegal immigration.

It was not clear what impact a probe into a 1990s party funding scandal would have on his widely flagged plan to name ex-prime minister Alain Juppe to an environment, energy and transport super-ministry.

Juppe, who was interviewed on Tuesday as a witness, not a suspect, was forced to quit elected office in 2004 after he was convicted in a separate party funding case.

Reuters

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