Sarkozy allies accused of slur

Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP Party has been accused of anti-Semitism against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, his most threatening potential rival for re-election as French President.

Strauss-Kahn, a former finance minister and the head of the International Monetary Fund, is a likely presidential hopeful for the Socialists.

Polls suggest he would easily win if a run-off took place now. The leader of the UMP in parliament, Christian Jacob, claimed Strauss-Kahn, who is Jewish, did not represent "the image of France, the image of rural France, the image of French soil that we love".