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AFP Reporters
Employees place a red carpet in the Elysee Palace courtyard, 16 May 2007 in Paris, before the handover power ceremony between outgoing French President Jacques Chirac and president-elect Nicolas Sarkozy. During a short meeting, Chirac, 74, stepping down after 12 years as president, will give Sarkozy the codes for France's nuclear arsenal before leaving the Elysee for the last time. The 52 year-old former interior minister was elected president 06 May 2007, beating the Socialist candidate Segolene Royal. AFP PHOTO PATRICK KOVARIK (Photo credit should read PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images)
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AFP Reporters
Employees place a red carpet in the Elysee Palace courtyard, 16 May 2007 in Paris, before the handover power ceremony between outgoing French President Jacques Chirac and president-elect Nicolas Sarkozy. During a short meeting, Chirac, 74, stepping down after 12 years as president, will give Sarkozy the codes for France's nuclear arsenal before leaving the Elysee for the last time. The 52 year-old former interior minister was elected president 06 May 2007, beating the Socialist candidate Segolene Royal. AFP PHOTO PATRICK KOVARIK (Photo credit should read PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images)
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