January 27, 2007	Saturday	Muharram 07, 1428

PARIS, Jan 26: France's Socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal, already in hot water over a string of diplomatic gaffes, faced more embarrassment on Friday when it emerged she was fooled by a comedian posing as prime minister of Quebec.

Gerald Dahan -- who is seen as close to Ms Royal's right-wing rival Nicolas Sarkozy -- told French radio he called her on Wednesday claiming to be Quebec Premier Jean Charest, to discuss a row over comments in which she appeared to back independence for the French-speaking Canadian province.

The Socialist candidate arrived late for a public debate on Wednesday, announcing that she had just been speaking with the prime minister of Quebec, and that he sent his greetings to the assembly.

In Montreal, a spokesman for Charest said the premier had not spoken with Royal and confirmed she had fallen victim to a hoax.

Royal, who left Thursday on a four-day campaign trip to the French Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, was not immediately available for comment but her staff tried to shrug off the incident.

“Dahan's a funny guy. Jokes happen. We should treat these things with a pinch of salt, a touch of humour,” said Royal's adviser Jack Lang.

Her official spokesman Francois Rebsamen said “we don't comment on hoaxes.”

The comedian, who specialises in duping public figures, played a brief extract of the alleged conversation on air, in which he jokingly compares Royal's comments on Quebec to suggesting independence for Corsica, the restive French Mediterranean island.

“The French people wouldn't be opposed to the idea, by the way,” Royal is heard to reply with a laugh -- before adding: “Don't repeat that, though -- it would cause another incident in France. It's a secret.”Sarkozy wasted no time in rounding on his rival, telling reporters that Corsica “is no laughing matter” and that her remark, “if it was a joke, was a joke in poor taste”.

French politicians have been caught out by humorists before now: last year Chirac himself was taken in by a Quebecois comedian pretending to be Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

But coming on top of Royal's faux pas on Quebec the hoax was likely to play into her critics' hands.—AFP