French President Jacques Chirac dismissed his foreign minister on Thursday in a government reshuffle intended to win back voter confidence after his crushing defeat over the European Union constitution, Reuters reported. Philippe Douste-Blazy, a 52-year-old former health minister who is loyal to Chirac but a novice in international affairs, replaced Michel Barnier as foreign minister. Douste-Blazy faces the tough task of maintaining France's influence in the EU despite the referendum defeat. In a government list read out by an aide on the steps of Chirac's Elysee Palace, the head of state confirmed presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy in his post as interior minister even though they could be rivals in a 2007 presidential race. Sarkozy, the ambitious head of the ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party, is the government's number two under Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, a Chirac loyalist. Finance Minister Thierry Breton, Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie and Budget Minister Jean-Francois Cope and Farm Minister Dominique Bussereau kept their posts. --More 2251 Local Time 1951 GMT
