Break-in at election HQ of former French premier

PARIS — Police say a break-in has taken place at the presidential election campaign headquarters of French former prime minister Dominique de Villepin.

Campaign staff on Saturday discovered a damaged entrance door and signs that closets had been rummaged through.

Police officials said authorities were checking to see if anything had been stolen.

Most polls show center-right candidate Villepin — seen as a rival of conservative president Nicolas Sarkozy — would garner a few percentage points at best if the springtime election were held today.

Villepin is perhaps best known abroad for a rousing 2003 U.N. Security Council speech against the prospect of U.S.-led war in Iraq.