'No tall people' for Sarkozy visits

NICOLAS Sarkozy has been accused of deliberately picking short people to appear alongside him in TV footage when he attends public events.

The claim, which has been strongly denied by the president's office, was made by a factory worker in Normandy who said she was chosen to stand next to Sarkozy when he visited the plant on September 3 because she was shorter than him.

Sarkozy's office has described the claim as "totally preposterous and grotesque".

At 1m 68, Sarkozy is one of the world's shortest heads of state - only slightly taller than North Korea's Kim Jong-Il and Russia's Dmitry Medvedev, both of whom are 1m 62.