The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Washington

If French President Nicolas Sarkozy considers himself a big fan of the United States, he had no qualms about showing his prickly side in an interview with the top US television news magazine "60 minutes." Sarkozy, who was profiled by CBS, showed his impatience at an Elysee Palace interview calling his press secretary an "imbecile" for scheduling it. "He is stupid," he said in English before reverting to French to say he was a busy man. "I don't have the time. I have a big job to do t I'm not angry, I'm in a hurry," he told the flustered CBS interviewer. Later in the same interview, the French president left in a huff when the questions turned to his soon-to-be-former wife, Cecilia, two weeks before the separation was announced. "If I had something to say about Cecilia I would certainly not say it here," he first told the interviewer after she brought up the subject of his marriage. "You asked me that question," Sarkozy seems to say as he pulls off the microphone, stands up and walks away from the interviewer, who appears confused.