March 17, 2007	Saturday	Safar 27, 1428

PARIS: Eleven contenders passed the first hurdle in the French presidential campaign on Friday after securing the 500 endorsements needed to stand in the race.

But a question mark hung over farmer-activist Jose Bove who said he may be four or five signatures short of the number required to get on the ballot for the April and May votes.

“According to our calculations, we should have the 500 signatures, but we don't have the official confirmation,”—AFP