Sarkozy's son and Jewish heiress tie the knot

French President Nicolas Sarkozy's 22-year-old son Jean, who has launched his own political career, married a member of the Jewish family that founded one of France's biggest retailers on Wednesday.

Jean Sarkozy has become a household name in France since he played an important role in supporting and then abandoning the main center-right party's candidate to succeed his father as mayor of the wealthy Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine.

A law student, the president's second son has since been elected to the post of local councillor in his father's former fiefdom and taken over the influential post of leader of the centre-right UMP party group in his regional council.

Jean Sarkozy told reporters he married Jessica Sebaoun-Darty, whose family set up one of France's biggest electronics retailers, Darty, at the town hall of Neuilly on Wednesday evening.

Jean Sarkozy shot to fame last year, when he had a hand in the demise of his father's then spokesman, David Martinon.

Martinon, who was seen as close to Nicolas Sarkozy's then wife, Cecilia, was originally anointed as the UMP candidate for mayor of Neuilly. But many residents were unhappy with a man who had never lived in their town being parachuted in to run it, and his local backers, including Jean Sarkozy, soon ditched him.

Martinon pulled out of the election, dealing a blow to his political ambitions. He has since returned to his previous career as a diplomat and is now France's consul in Los Angeles.

The younger Sarkozy's turnaround prompted some observers to say he shared his father's political cunning, and he has since become a pin-up of the centre right.

Sarkozy, born to the president's first wife, became engaged to Sebaoun-Darty in June. He has denied speculation he is planning to convert to Judaism.

The conditions in which the wedding was held -- on a weekday afternoon and with several guests arriving through a back door to avoid the waiting press -- was reminiscent of Nicolas Sarkozy's marriage to singer and former model Carla Bruni-Sarkozy seven months ago.

That wedding, celebrated in a low-key, civil ceremony at the presidential Elysee palace, was Sarkozy's third and took place just four months after he separated from Cecilia, his wife of 11 years.

	Jean Sarkozy. (Reuters)