( dpa ) - Three days after his divorce was made public, French President Nicolas Sarkozy was secretly hospitalized to treat a throat abscess, France-Info radio reported, citing a book to be published about his ex-wife.
Denis Demonpion, co-author with Laurent Leger of Cecilia: The Hidden Face of the Ex-First Lady, told the station that Sarkozy was rushed to the Val-de-Grace Military Hospital in Paris on October 21 suffering from high fever and a throat abscess.
At the hospital, Demonpion said, the French president underwent a surgical procedure to free his throat of infected material, was administered antibiotics through a catheter and discharged several hours after his admission.
The authors report that Sarkozy, depressed and ailing, called his ex-wife, who rushed to his bedside to comfort him.
"At no time, were the French people informed of their president's state of health," Demonpion said.
During his presidential campaign, Sarkozy had promised to make a break with the secrecy of past French presidents about their state of health.
He said he would issue a medical statement about his health every month and even "make a star of my doctor." But since taking office, Sarkozy has issued only one medical bulletin about his state of health, France-Info said.
Sarkozy's spokesman, David Martinon, refused to comment on the report about the hospitalization.
Cecilia: The Hidden Face of the Ex-First Lady, which covers the brief time Sarkozy's ex-wife, Cecilia, spent as France's first lady, is due to be published on Friday.