Sarkozys rumored to have split

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, Cecilia, have informed a judge they are separating, a respected newsweekly reported Wednesday.

The president's office would not comment on the report.

Rumors that the couple was on the verge of officially separating have spread for weeks and French media have widely reported the suspicions - with no official denials.

Both Sarkozy's spokesman David Martinon and Cecilia Sarkozy's spokeswoman, Carina Alfonso Martin, responded to queries Wednesday with a "no comment."

The Web site of Le Nouvel Observateur said that the 52-year-old president and his 49-year-old wife "went before a judge together on Monday to materialize the separation procedure of the couple."

Pakistan braces for Bhutto's return

Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto said she would return to Pakistan today to end eight years of self-exile and lead her party into national elections despite suicide attack threats.

"Tomorrow at this time we will be on board the plane for Karachi, which is a day that I and all the people in Pakistan who love democracy and who believe in fundamental human rights have been waiting for," Bhutto said in Dubai yesterday.

Residents of Pakistan's biggest city were gearing up for her long-awaited arrival.

Billboards bearing iconic images of Bhutto smiling beneath a trademark white scarf loomed over downtown Karachi while youths wore pennants of her Pakistan People's Party (PPP).

Leaders of the PPP predicted that a million people will turn out to greet her, as supporters carrying red, black and green party banners streamed into Karachi.

Agencies

(China Daily 10/18/2007 page10)