**Former French PM Dominique de Villepin has been cleared of plotting to discredit the then interior minister and now President, Nicolas Sarkozy.**The charges, which Mr de Villepin denied, date back to a judicial investigation in 2004.
Prosecutors had called for him to receive an 18-month suspended sentence and a fine of 50,000 euros (£43,000).
He was accused of manipulating the corruption investigation to spoil Mr Sarkozy’s chances of winning in 2007.