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.

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Jury out in royal blackmail trial ... 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."

(BBC)

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