French interior minister likens Libya intervention to a crusade

On Monday, Mr Guéant had praised Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, for having "headed the crusade to mobilise the United Nations Security Council, and then the Arab League and the African Union."

"Looking back I could have used another word," he admitted in a radio interview on yesterday.

The term "crusade" was seen as unfortunate given the historical connotations of the Christian crusades in the Middle East in the Middle Ages.

In spite of raising hackles in the Middle East and Russia, Mr Guéant had earlier been unrepentant, telling fellow right-wingers that the modern usage of the term "crusade" did not necessarily have religious overtones.

Mr Guéant, until last month Mr Sarkozy's chief Elysée adviser, is the latest embarrassment to cause the government embarrassment.