Sarkozy's spies watch press

President Nicolas Sarkozy personally supervises a team of security agents which spies on French journalists, it was claimed yesterday.

The claim, dismissed by the Elysee Palace as "utterly ridiculous," follows a law suit brought in September by France's most prestigious newspaper and a series of burglaries at the homes or offices of investigative reporters.

According to the satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaine, Sarkozy regularly orders the boss of France's internal security service to investigate and uncover the sources of any journalist who writes stories that embarrass the Government.

A team of agents within the Division Centrale du Renseignement Interieur has been created to lead the investigations, the newspaper said.

Whenever the President saw an investigative article which "embarrassed him or his friends", he ordered the journalist to be placed "under surveillance", it reported.