FRANCE:French president Nicolas Sarkozy may take legal action against Ryanair over an advertisement featuring him with his girlfriend, former model and singer Carla Bruni, daydreaming about a wedding.
The advert, which ran in Le Parisiennewspaper on Monday, features a photo of the smiling pair in an advertisement for cut-price tickets for "all occasions".
"With Ryanair, all my family can come to my wedding," says a thought bubble beside Ms Bruni.
Beneath the photo, the airline offers 100,000 tickets for February and March for which it says customers pay only taxes and charges.
"It's an abusive use of the president's image, and so the president has given instruction to his counsel so that this case receives the necessary legal action," said Franck Louvrier, a spokesman in Mr Sarkozy's office.
A Ryanair spokeswoman in Dublin said: "It was a humorous comment on a matter of great public interest in France. We apologise sincerely for any offence caused."
Mr Sarkozy recently made the front pages of newspapers and celebrity magazines when he announced his relationship with Italian-born Ms Bruni, whom he met just a few weeks after separating from his second wife, Cecilia.
Mr Sarkozy hinted at a news conference this month that he would marry Ms Bruni and added that the media would probably find out about it after the event.
A regional newspaper then reported that they had wed in private, prompting a fresh round of speculation.
However, in an interview published last week, Ms Bruni said she had "not yet" married the president. But she added that they planned to do so. - (Reuters).