Odd News

Sarkozy: I am not drunk

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-06-22 15:50

PARIS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in an interview published Wednesday he was not drunk at a news conference where he appeared slightly out of breath and trying not to laugh.

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy delivers a speech during a meeting with members of the Parliament at the Elysee Palace, June 20, 2007. [Reuters]

He dismissed reports he may have been drinking alcohol before the news conference, footage of which appeared on the Internet and was seen by millions around the world.

"I was late, so I went up the stairs four steps at a time," Sarkozy told French daily Le Parisien,

"I don't drink a drop of alcohol," he said, adding: "I don't like it." Sarkozy was addressing the news conference following talks with Russian President Valdimir Putin at a Group of Eight summit in Germany.