Sarah Palin duped by prank call

US vice-presidential hopeful Sarah Palin has become the victim of a prank phone call by a Canadian comedian posing as the French president.

Marc Antoine Audette convinced Alaska's governor she was speaking to Nicolas Sarkozy during a six-minute chat aired on a Montreal radio programme.

Topics discussed ranged from the beauty of Mr Sarkozy's wife, Carla Bruni, to the prospect of a joint hunting trip.

A spokesperson for Mrs Palin said she was "mildly amused" by the prank.

At one point during the phone call, aired three days before the US election, Mr Audette told Mrs Palin he could see her as president one day.

Laughingly, the Republican candidate replied: "Maybe in eight years."

Masked Avengers

Mr Audette said he would be keen to join her on a helicopter hunting trip.

"I just love killing those animals. Mmm, mmm, take away life, that is so fun," he said in an exaggerated French accent.

"I'd really love to go, so long as we don't bring along Vice-President [Dick] Cheney."

In 2006, Mr Cheney infamously shot and injured a hunting partner while quail-hunting in Texas.

Mrs Palin responded: "I'll be a careful shot."

Mr Audette told the BBC he had wanted to see whether Mrs Palin was right when she talked about being "treated unfairly by a lot of principal medias" in the US.

"We tried to speak with her a little bit about foreign affairs, and well, it gave the result that you can air," he said.

Mr Audette and fellow comedian Sebastien Trudel present a programme on the radio station CKOI Montreal.

Calling themselves the Masked Avengers, the duo have in the past duped Nicolas Sarkozy himself, former French President Jacques Chirac, and the music star Britney Spears with prank phone calls.