French foreign minister must stand down

France's opposition is calling for the resignation of French Foreign Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie on the grounds that over the Christmas holidays she used private jets belonging to a friend of hers and relative of Tunisia's deposed dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. The daily Le Soir supports the call: "Michèle Alliot-Marie is not the only one in France to miss out on the Tunisian revolution. But as the head of France's foreign policy she can only improve her standing by stepping down. ... Perhaps Nicolas Sarkozy ... will say that it is easy to rewrite history with the benefit of hindsight and that no one could have foreseen such a quick end to the Tunisian dictatorship. ... The French president's reluctance to part with one of his ministers is well known, because he too will be immediately weakened by such a resignation. ... But France's honour hangs in the balance."

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