Carla Bruni in Qatar to bolster education ties

Carla Bruni, wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, visited Qatar on Wednesday to help efforts to persuade the emirate to set up branches of major French universities and research bodies, an aide said.

France's first lady was to hand over a dossier showing that top French academic institutions such as the HEC school of management, the Pasteur medical research organisation and cancer research centre IRCAD are ready to open wings in the gas-rich Gulf state.

The singer and former model has no official title under French law but has set up a foundation helping children from deprived French neighbourhoods prepare for application to university.

Bruni was scheduled to present the dossier to the Qatari Emir's wife Sheikha Moza bint Nasser al-Misnid, who heads the Qatar Foundation specialising in education and culture.

"Under an unofficial initiative, Bruni-Sarkozy will hand Sheikha Moza a file that confirms that a number of prominent French institutes are ready to open a branch (in Qatar)," the presidential aide said.

"Bruni-Sarkozy realises that her participation would draw more attention to the efforts (made by Qatar to lure French institutions)."

Qatar, the world's top exporter of liquefied natural gas and holder of the world's third-largest gas reserves, is spending billions of dollars on developing education.

French university La Sorbonne has opened a branch in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi.