Former spy chief reveal secrets of French leaders

The drug-taking habits, sexual appetites and even the face lifts of some of France's most senior politicians have been revealed in eye-watering detail after the secret notes of an intelligence chief were leaked.

Described by Le Point, the magazine which published the papers, as a "voyage under the skirts of the Republic", the extracts of the handwritten diaries of Yves Bertrand delve deep into private lives of France's political elite.

Mr Bertrand, 64, a former confidante of the former president Jacques Chirac, was sacked by President Nicolas Sarkozy when he dismantled the Renseignements Généraux (RG) police intelligence service.

His 23 spiral-bound notebooks, which he compiled between 1998 and 2003, contain a mixture of facts and baseless rumour. Le Point said they were "stored vials to be distilled like poison at the right time".

They suggest that the RG's notorious reputation as a tool for French presidents to keep tabs on and eliminate rivals - often using information gleaned from anonymous tip-offs - was fully deserved. More