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Is this the beginning of a disturbing trend? The arms deal struck by France with Libya is now formally announced –nothing to worry about: the contract had nothing to do with the release of the Bulgarian nurses, says France’s new diva, President Sarkozy, whilst taking on the crowd of enraged American paparazzi  whom he no doubt believes want to turn him into another Princess Diana.

In the meantime, though, another coup of the French Presidential diplomacy, the possible release of Ingrid Betancourt, is rumoured to have already happened. If this turns out to be true, however, how are we to take the accompanying gossip that says that Comrade Chávez mediated the deal, in return for some quality Label Rouge French-made weapons –the sale of which to Venezuela had been stopped under Chirac? Of course, it is highly possible that this info is bogus –there’s also a rumour that Hugo Boss demanded the liberation of Carlos in return for Ingrid– but if not, surely this does not bode well for the future of the Franco-American friendship so touted by Sarkozy himself. Would France’s Gaullist ‘Third Way’ after the fall of communism be to take over the leftover arms trade towards rogue regimes that they don’t control yet?