Sarkozy facing split over gypsy crackdown

France's crackdown on gypsies, which has been criticised by the Vatican and the United Nations, is now exposing cracks in President Nicolas Sarkozy's government.

Two top Cabinet ministers have voiced concern about the accelerated expulsions of Roma, also known as gypsies, to their home countries.

Yesterday, prime minister Franois Fillon admitted to a "malaise" in Mr Sarkozy's conservative camp over the ensuing debate that has dented France's image as a stalwart defender of human rights.

Foreign minister Bernard Kouchner said yesterday he had considered resigning over the Roma expulsions. He suggested his frustration was not with the policy, but with the way the message had been spun and got out of the control of French officials.

Mr Kouchner, a human rights lawyer turned political figure, said he "isn't happy about what happened", but he decided resigning would not fix the problems faced by Roma.

For years, Mr Sarkozy has brandished an image of a tough, law-and-order politician in an effort to win political support. He has linked Roma to crime, calling their camps sources of prostitution and child exploitation. On July 28, he pledged that illegal Gypsy camps would be "systematically evacuated".

The government stepped up a long-standing policy of rounding up gypsies, dismantling their illegal camps and sending them home to eastern Europe - mainly Romania.

The policy has attracted widespread scorn. Pope Benedict XVI and the United Nations human rights panel have expressed concern, and European Union justice commissioner Viviane Reding criticised the use of "openly discriminatory and partly inflammatory" language.