Clouds gather around Chirac

The French president is under growing pressure

By Hugh Schofield in Paris

The Indians circling the Chirac corral are whooping louder. The lust for scalps is becoming irresistible.

The marauders now have a new weapon: Mr Chirac's family

The news this week has certainly not been especially favourable for the French president.

Having weathered a succession of allegations about his knowledge of multi-million franc back-handers to his Rally for the Republic (RPR) party, he now finds himself attacked by a new band of hostiles appearing over "air-fares" ridge.

In essence the claim is that between 1992 and 1995 he managed to spend the astronomic sum of FR2.4m - in cash - on plane trips abroad for himself and his entourage.

Where did he get the money from, the investigators want to know, if not from the cash payments known to have been made to the RPR by various building firms while he was mayor of Paris?

Claude Chirac is her father's 'image adviser'

By constantly firing off the line that as president he is above the attentions of a mere judicial enquiry, Mr Chirac has been able to beat back the marauders - but now they have a new weapon: his family.

The immunity of his office may protect Mr Chirac from judicial investigation - even from giving evidence as a witness - but the same is not true of his wife and daughter, and the peculiarity of the air fares scandal is that they are named in it as well.

Thus it was a highly symbolic moment on Wednesday when magistrates questioned his daughter Claude over the tickets - not least because she is also one of her father's closest advisers.

If, as expected, his wife Bernadette is also called in, then battle will well and truly have been engaged.

However, Mr Chirac has borne such assaults before, and he has perfected his technique.

Prosecutors also want to question Mr Chirac's wife Bernadette

Safe in the knowledge that he will never suffer serious cross-examination at the hands of the media, he will deny all knowledge of such grubby matters as the passing of FR500 notes.

He will use the allegations being levelled against Claude and Bernadette as evidence of the depths his political enemies are prepared to stoop to.

Mr Chirac will also draw comfort from the fact that despite the never-ending nature of the scandal, his popularity ratings barely seem to be deflected more than the occasional point or two.

This Saturday's traditional television interview to mark Bastille Day will be the perfect opportunity to make his point.