French prime minister Francois Fillon today revealed the Egyptian president lent him and his family a plane while he was a guest during the New Year's holiday.
Mr Fillon said in a statement today that he and his family were hosted by the Egyptian government during a stay from December 26th to January 2nd in the Nile resort of Aswan.
His family was treated to a Nile boat ride and a flight on a government plane to see the temples at Abu Simbel, the statement said.
Mr Fillon said he paid personally for his family's flight to Aswan on a French government plane. The statement did not specify the amount.
"The prime minister, again at the invitation of the authorities, borrowed a plane from the Egyptian fleet to travel from Aswan to Abu Simbel where he visited a temple," a ministry statement said, according to France's Le Monde newspaper.
During his stay in Aswan, Mr Fillon met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who has since been forced by two weeks of public protests to announce that he will not be seeking another term.
His disclosure comes as Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie fends off calls to resign for accepting a flight from a Tunisian businessman.
The Socialist Party has repeatedly called for Ms Alliot-Marie to resign after she admitted that during her winter holidays she accepted two rides in a jet owned by a supporter of then- Tunisian president Zine al Abidine Ben Ali.
The deadly riots that forced Mr Ben Ali from office were already under way when Alliot-Marie visited Tunisia. The riots in Egypt began after Mr Fillon's trip.
Ms Alliot-Marie said today during a parliamentary debate that she will not be stepping down and apologised for her "clumsiness" in accepting the flights from businessman Aziz Miled.
Bloomberg