Stars linked to scandal

France's two biggest movie stars, Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu, have been questioned over their links to a failed Algerian tycoon wanted for suspected money laundering, police said.

Deneuve, 61, was interrogated by a special Paris police unit investigating embezzlement claims against the fugitive businessman, Abdelmounene Rafik Khalifa, officers said.

Depardieu, 56, has fiercely defended Khalifa from accusations that the businessman had raised his money from dealings with Algeria's powerful generals.

Khalifa's group of companies collapsed in 2003 under debts and claims of embezzlement.