NICOLAS SARKOZY

JUNE 20 2007 14:21h

France`s Sarkozy Says Was Not Drunk In Video Clip

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French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in an interview published on Wednesday he was not drunk at a news conference.

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

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.