Nicolas Sarkozy offended the Saudis by planning to take Carla Bruni on a state visit before they were married, a secret US cable shows.
The French president made a high-profile trip to Saudi Arabia in January 2008 to improve his personal relationship with King Abdullah. But a memo from the US embassy in Riyadh said Saudi contacts "privately shared displeasure with certain French conduct" during the trip.
The hosts found Sarkozy's invitation of his then fiancée, Bruni, "offensive given their strict, conservative culture against the company of an unmarried woman". In the end, Bruni stayed home. But various "protocol faux pas" were committed by the French delegation. Sarkozy was deemed "less than gracious" for "avoiding tasting traditional Arab foods" and displaying a "bored look during the televised arrival sword ceremony".
Saudi contacts lamented the brazenly commercial tone of the trip, the cable said. The French president reportedly "presented a list of 14 sales that French firms would like to make to the Saudi government, complete with the original price and discounts that Sarkozy was prepared to negotiate".
On another state visit, Sarkozy travelled to Morocco in October 2007, just after the divorce from his second wife, Cecilia. He was accompanied on the trip, including at a banquet with the royal family, by his justice minister, Rachida Dati, whose mother was Moroccan.
But the US embassy in Rabat noted in a secret cable: "While Sarkozy was generally well received, there was much gossip in Moroccan salons about a 'too relaxed' president slouching comfortably in his chair as he and the king presided over a 22 October signing ceremony at the royal palace in Marrakech. In one image, Sarkozy was seen crossing his legs and pointing the sole of his shoe at the king – a taboo gesture in the Islamic world."