Bernard Laporte denies fathering Rachida Dati child

Another senior European politician has felt it necessary to issue a denial that he is the father of French justice minister Rachida Dati's unborn daughter - and this time it's one of her colleagues in the French government, sports minister Bernard Laporte.

Rumours have been buzzing ever since the glamorous Dati, 42, confirmed earlier this month that she was expecting a baby but refused to identify the father, saying only: "My private life is complicated and I am keeping it off-limits to the media."

First, Jose Maria Aznar, the former Spanish prime minister and a friend of President Sarkozy, issued a statement saying he was not the father. (Continued below)
Yesterday, under pressure from the French media, 44-year-old Laporte, who was made sports minister by Sarkozy after resigning as coach of the French rugby squad in 2007, issued a similar denial.

The rumours surrounding Laporte and Dati were given extra impetus by the discovery of a video showing Dati and Laporte (pictured) at a garden party at the Elysee Palace in July, where Dati appears to have drunk a little too much champagne.

Dati has rarely dropped out of the headlines since her appointment last May, mainly because of her close friendship with Sarkozy during the hiatus between his previous wife Cecilia moving out of the Elysee and his new wife Carla Bruni moving in. Indeed, the president is one of those who have been mentioned as a suspect in any gossip about the unborn child's paternity.

According to the authors of La Veritable Histoire de Carla et Nicolas, Bruni and Dati were walking through the presidential bedroom in the Elysee Palace when Carla pointed to the bed and said: "You would have liked to occupy it, wouldn't you?"