PARIS (Reuters) -- Roland Dumas, the former French foreign minister who has been dogged for months by a corruption scandal, said Tuesday he was taking temporary leave from his post as president of the powerful Constitutional Court.
The statement followed a fresh salvo of allegations last week that Dumas had knowingly benefited from slush funds from the French oil giant Elf Aquitaine in the early 1990s.Dumas, a close ally of former Socialist President Francois Mitterrand, denies the charges and has repeatedly refused to bow to calls from across the political spectrum that he resign.
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"I have decided, for a time, to no longer carry out my duties as president of the Constitutional Court," Dumas said in a statement on Tuesday.