Furious French row over break-in

Segolene Royal is one of President Sarkozy's fiercest critics

Supporters of French President Nicolas Sarkozy have reacted angrily to a statement by Socialist Segolene Royal linking him to a break-in at her flat.

In a TV interview on Tuesday, Ms Royal suggested that last week's burglary was connected to her recent criticism of "the Sarkozy clan's grip on France".

PM Francois Fillon said the Socialist ex-presidential candidate was "losing her self-control" and had no proof.

A spokesman for Mr Sarkozy's UMP party said Ms Royal had "blown a fuse".

Another Sarkozy supporter, parliamentary Speaker Bernard Accoyer, said: "She will stop at nothing to get attention."

Ms Royal - who was defeated by Mr Sarkozy's in last year's presidential election - filed a complaint with police after her flat outside Paris was broken into on 27 June.

She says the intruders rummaged through her belongings, but stole nothing.

"I note that last week - just after I'd said that the Sarkozy clan's grip on France must come to an end - my home was ransacked," she told French TV on Tuesday.

"I do establish a link between the two."

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