Sarkozy memory of the Wall fall stirs questions 

Source: ReutersFrench President Nicolas Sarkozy at the presidential residence of Bellevue Castle in Berlin

Was the young Nicolas Sarkozy in Berlin on the night that the Wall came down 20 years ago?

The French president said he was, in a post on his Facebook page on Sunday. But while he was in the German capital on Monday celebrating the anniversary with other world leaders, the media back home were suggesting he had got his dates mixed up.

"On the morning of Nov 9 (1989), we looked into the news from Berlin, which indicated that change was afoot in Germany's divided capital," Sarkozy wrote in his Facebook post, which includes a photograph of himself at the Wall at night.

"We decided, with Alain Juppe, to leave Paris and take part in the event that was shaping up," he wrote, referring to the then secretary-general of Sarkozy's party, the RPR.

The post then goes on to describe how Sarkozy and Juppe rushed to the Brandenburg Gate, where crowds were gathered.

"Later, we went to Checkpoint Charlie to go through to the eastern side of the city and confront this wall, on which we were able to land a few blows with a pickaxe," he wrote.

It was supposed to be a heart-warming account of a young and enthusiastic Sarkozy witnessing history in the making, but sentiment soured after French media rifled through their archives and questioned not the trip itself, but its date.

On Nov 9 that year, Juppe was in France at a ceremony to honour the late General Charles de Gaulle, the newspaper Le Figaro said, citing its own coverage of that event.

Juppe also appeared on French television news the next day, commenting on the fall of the Wall but making no mention of having been in Berlin with Sarkozy the night before. On Monday, he acknowledged his memory of the timing was not precise.

Witness to Napoleon?

The growing doubts inspired some Facebook users to post sarcastic comments on Sarkozy's page, making reference to what some of his countrymen see as his penchant for trying to dominate the media agenda and draw attention to himself.

"Mr President, is it true that you were present at the coronation of the Emperor Napoleon?" wrote one user who gave his name as Adam Labrosse. That event took place in May 1804.

Sarkozy's office stuck by the Facebook post, in which he also said that among the euphoric crowds at the Wall he ran into the young Francois Fillon, now prime minister, by coincidence.

Fillon backed up Sarkozy on Monday by saying that he was indeed in Berlin on Nov. 9, 1989.

Unfortunately for Sarkozy, Fillon's comments added to the confusion as he mentioned that he also saw Alain Madelin, another French politician, at the Wall that day. Madelin immediately denied that he was in Berlin on Nov 9.

"Maybe I was there on Nov 10, maybe later ... No one could have foreseen what was going to happen and reacted so quickly," he told the Rue89 investigative website.