French culture minister in 'paedophile scandal'

The French culture minister Frederic Mitterrand is facing intense pressure over a book he wrote which said he paid for sex with 'young boys' in Thailand.

Despite support from one of president Nicolas Sarkozy's advisers, there is increasing pressure for Mr Mitterrand to resign, after the issue was brought into the headlines following his defence of filmmaker Roman Polanski.

Mr Polanski has been arrested in Switzerland on child sex charges. He fled the US in 1978 after pleading guilty to charges that he had had unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.

Mr Mitterrand is the nephew of former president Francois Mitterrand. He made the admission in his 2005 autobiography, saying when he was in Thailand: 'I got into the habit of paying for boys.

'All these rituals of the market for youths, the slave market excited me enormously... the abundance of very attractive and immediately available young boys put me in a state of desire.'

But despite calls for him to step down, Henri Guaino, and advisor of Mr Sarkozy, has defended the culture minister: 'I don't see why he can't stay in the government, and I don't see why we dredge up such a pathetic polemic after such a long time,' he said on France 2 television.

'Is he on trial, has he committed a crime?'

Mr Mitterrand has denied being a paedophile, saying he used the term 'boys' loosely.