Royal Backfire

French Socialist presidential candidate Ségolène Royal stirred up a lot of controversy over her recent remarks supporting Quebec sovereignty.

Now that gaffe has returned to haunt her - in the form of a hoax telephone call from a man she thought was Quebec premier Jean Charest. The caller was actually Gérald Dahan, an imitator known for his phone hoaxes of public figures.

Posing as Charest, Dahan chided Royal, "it's as if we said, "Well, Corsica, it should be independent."'

To which Royal replied that not all French people "would be against that". But she was quick to add: "Don't repeat that. It will create another incident ... in France."

Dahan has released only this one part of the tape but more is expected to be made public soon.