Chirac refuses to be questioned in French probe into smear scandal

PARIS, Saturday (AP) -Former French President Jacques Chirac is refusing to be questioned in an investigation into an apparent smear scandal during his tenure as president, his office said.

Investigating judges want to question Chirac about the so-called Clearstream affair, his office said in a statement. The murky scandal centered on damaging but false allegations that current President Nicolas Sarkozy _ a one-time Chirac protege who later became a political rival _ had secret bank accounts.

Chirac's office said that, because he enjoyed constitutionally guaranteed judicial immunity while he was president, he cannot ''be ordered to provide testimony'' about incidents that happened during his tenure.

The former president wrote to the investigating judges to inform them of his position, the statement said Friday. Chirac faces a slew of potential legal problems now that he no longer has presidential immunity, which expired a week ago. He handed over power to Sarkozy on May 16.

While the 74-year-old Chirac is unlikely to go to jail, the legal woes are an embarrassing coda to his 40-year political career.

Chirac faces a more complex dilemma with three other legal cases that his name has been linked to, since they involve his time as Paris mayor from 1977-1995, before he became president. Those investigations also present him greater potential consequences. In the Clearstream case, judges only want to question him as a material witness, whereas in at least two other cases he could face preliminary charges.

Friday's statement said Chirac was ready to cooperate with the judges investigating events before his 1995-2007 presidential tenure. Chirac reiterated his denial of wrongdoing in the Clearstream case Friday.

Judges Jean-Marie d'Huy and Henri Pons are trying to determine who was behind allegations that emerged in 2004 that Sarkozy, along with leading businessmen and secret agents, kept accounts at the Luxembourg bank Clearstream to hold kickbacks from the 1991 sale of French frigates to Taiwan.

Accusations have emerged that Chirac and Dominique de Villepin _ a Sarkozy rival and Chirac ally who was a government minister when the scandal broke _ ordered a former special agent to investigate the allegations even though they knew they were fake. Villepin has been questioned at length in the case, and also denies wrongdoing. Sarkozy contends the phony accusations amounted to a smear campaign.

Sarkozy, Villepin and Chirac all come from the same conservative political camp. Chirac left behind a mixed legacy of largely unfulfilled reform promises at home, and over the years, a popular satirical TV show lampooned him for alleged misdeeds, branding him ''Superliar.''