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PARIS, FRANCE - THE ex-wife of President Nicolas Sarkozy told police that a text message he reportedly sent her offering to call off his wedding to Carla Bruni did not exist, a judicial source said.
Police questioned the former first lady as part of a probe into last month's report on the Nouvelobs.com website, run by the left-leaning Nouvel Observateur magazine. Mr Sarkozy has lodged a complaint over the report.
'If you come back, I'll call it all off,' he was reported to have written to his ex-wife Cecilia Ciganer-Albeniz eight days before his Feb 2 marriage to Ms Bruni, an Italian-born former supermodel turned singer-songwriter.
She told investigators on Friday she never received such a message, according to the judicial source.
Mr Sarkozy, 53, remarried less than four months after ending his stormy 11-year marriage to Cecilia, 50, with whom he has a young son, Louis. The couple announced their divorce on Oct 18.
The French president has filed suit against the website for falsification, use of false documents and possession of stolen goods, his lawyer Thierry Herzog has said.
Under French law, the maximum penalty in such a case is three years in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros (S$96,000). The courts could also order that the source of the story be revealed.
The editor of the magazine that published the report has said he stands by the story.
Cecilia plans to re-marry in New York later this month, the Italian fashion house Versace said earlier this week. -- AFP
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