Former French President Jacques Chirac is still in hospital in Paris after suffering a lung infection at the weekend, Frederic Salat-Baroux, his brother-in-law said, rejecting a rumor about his death.
"There is nothing to add, President Chirac is being treated for a lung infection," Salat-Baroux, who was also Chirac's chief of staff at the Elysee, was quoted as saying by local media.
"We ask during this period of hospitalization to respect his peace, that of his wife, his daughter and his grandson," he added.
Salat-Baroux's remarks came after former French housing minister Christine Boutin made mention of the "Death of Chirac" on her Twitter account.
Former First Lady Bernadette Chirac was also hospitalized on Wednesday "to rest and recuperate," according to Salat-Baroux.
The 83-year-old ex-head of state was taken to the Pitie-Salpetriere hospital in Paris on Sunday.
Former Prime Minister Alain Juppe, a close ally of Chirac, sent a Twitter message hoping he would be able "to defeat the illness and recover quickly."
On his Twitter account, ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy, who served as interior minister in Chirac's government from 2005 to 2007, wrote, "I'm thinking, at the moment, of Chirac. I hope he recovers as soon as possible."
Chirac was France's president between 1995 and 2007. Starting his career as a high-level civil servant, the center-right lawyer was prime minister under the Socialist President Francois Mitterrand. Prior to this, he was in charge of the interior ministry and agriculture portfolios during President Georges Pompidou's rule in the 1970s.
