Chirac rejects judge's summons

The French President, Jacques Chirac, has rejected a summons from a French Judge seeking to question him about a scandal dating back to his time as Paris mayor.

It's the first summons issued to a French president under the current constitution passed in l958.

The Judge Eric Halphen wants to question Mr Chirac as a witness regarding allegations that, in the eighties and early nineties, his party the RPR awarded contracts for municipal housing schemes to construction companies in return for illegal payments.

Mr Chirac denies the allegations and says his position as head of state means he can't testify because of the constitutional separation of powers. The BBC Paris correspondent says the constitution only gives the president immunity from criminal investigation and the current issue lays in uncharted legal waters.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service