French Finance Minister fights to clear his name

French Finance Minister Thierry Breton sought yesterday to clear his name and prevent any threat to his political career after police searched offices at his ministry and companies he used to work for.

A source close to the investigations said police had searched offices at electronics company Thomson, which Mr Breton used to head, in addition to offices at his ministry and the headquarters of chemicals firm Rhodia on Monday.

In his first public comments on the search of Rhodia's offices, Mr Breton told Europe 1 radio: "I have really done nothing wrong in this affair."

Asked about the potential political consequences, he replied: "I am fighting my corner."

Mr Breton headed Rhodia's audit committee during 1999-2002, the period under which its accounts are being investigated for suspected inaccuracies.

Mr Breton said he was only one of 10 administrators of Rhodia at the time. Le Monde newspaper quoted him as saying he was the victim of "an implausible manipulation that makes me sick".

He told Europe 1 he had been "flabbergasted" when he learnt of the police searches while visiting New York, and that police had asked for the password of his personal computer. He did not deny his home had also been searched when asked about this.

Mr Breton, 50, faces the risk his work will be overshadowed by the investigations as the government struggles to revive the sluggish economy and oversees a key privatisation programme.

His predecessor, Herve Gaymard, resigned on February 25 after three months in office because of a scandal over his state-paid luxury flat. Mr Breton was the fourth finance minister in a year.

The government's left-wing foes have asked Mr Breton for an explanation, but no one has demanded the former France Telecom chairman quit and police have not pressed charges against him.

Any doubts about Mr Breton's future would be another blow to President Jacques Chirac, who has already been undermined by French voters' rejection of the European Union Constitution.

A Socialist Party leader, Jean-Marc Ayrault, said the Rhodia affair "has weakened the minister".

Government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope denied this. But Les Echos financial newspaper said: "In the middle of preparing for the 2006 budget, the minister risks being weakened from now on by these affairs."

Legal sources said Monday's search at the Finance Ministry had been requested by examining magistrate Henri Pons, who is co-leading the investigation into Rhodia's accounts.

Mr Breton's lawyer, Claude Serra, said he hoped the search would clarify matters and that "the foreseeable repercussions of this move would appear disproportionate in relation to Thierry Breton's involvement in the Rhodia matter".

The source close to the investigations said police had also searched the headquarters of Thomson and Canal Plus television in a probe into Thomson's purchase of a Canal Plus subsidiary.