Paris - Former French presidential candidate Segolene Royal said US president-elect Barack Obama was inspired by her campaign and copied it, the online edition of the daily Le Monde reported on Tuesday.

"Yes, I inspired Obama and his teams copied us," Royal said in Washington, where she was to be the only French politician of note to take part in Obama's inauguration later on Tuesday.

Royal said Obama's campaign aides took away several of her ideas, such as her "win-win" slogan or the idea of the "citizen expert."

Paris - French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants to convene a wide-ranging international Middle East peace conference in Paris, the daily Le Figaro reported Tuesday, citing sources close to the president.

Sarkozy introduced the idea of the peace conference at Sunday's summit meeting in the Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Sheikh, saying that its aim would be "to finally secure peace this year."

According to Le Figaro, the first step would be a meeting of foreign minister in Egypt, which would probably take place at the beginning of February.

Rome/Paris - The agent of French midfielder Frank Ribery has denied reports AC Milan had made an offer to Bayern Munich for the player, the Italian website calciomercato. it reported on Monday.

"I know the management of Milan very well, but nobody called me about Ribery," the football agent Alain Migliaccio was quoted as saying. "It's just allegations and suppositions by newspapers."

Sharm al-Sheikh, Egypt  - French President Nicolas Sarkozy Sunday called on Israel to withdraw from Gaza, a day after it issued a unilateral truce which took effect early Sunday.

"There is no need to stay in Gaza. It will offer nothing for Israel's security but will shake the power of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas," Sarkozy told world leaders who are meeting in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm-al-Sheikh to discuss means of establishing a lasting peace in Gaza.

Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak and Sarkozy were jointly chairing Sunday's summit.

Sarkozy extended support to the Palestinian President who was also attending the summit.

Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued a joint statement Saturday to the governments of Israel and Egypt supporting efforts for a lasting ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

According to the statement, the three EU countries "declared our readiness to take a series of measures that would contribute to the end of weapons smuggling into Gaza."