De Villepin bows out of French presidential race

Former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin bowed out of France's presidential race on Thursday after failing to get the required number of official signatures to register his candidacy, a move that could benefit President Nicolas Sarkozy. Villepin, a conservative rival of Sarkozy had been credited with between 1 and 2 percent of voting intentions for the first round ballot on April 22. speaking on French television he said it would take a miracle for him to get the signatures of 500 official sponsors by tomorrow's deadline, without which he will not be able to take part in the contest. "I'm still around 30 short," he told France 2 television in an interview. He refused to say whether he would form an alliance with another candidate, adding only: "Alliances aren't in my nature." Villepin was prime minister of France under former President Jacques Chirac.