Nicolas Sarkozy to announce rejoining politics

Nicolas Sarkozy may announce a political comeback this weekend, after weeks of fevered speculation that the former French president was considering a bid for the Elysee Palace in 2017, the Guardian reported Friday.

According to his friends and colleagues, a statement had been prepared for release on the former leader's Facebook page some time from Friday afternoon onwards.

Brice Hortefeux, one of Sarkozy's closest friends and advisers, told Europe 1 radio "Be patient ? just a few more hours. All I can tell you is that Nicolas Sarkozy is coming back and that the time has come."

The return is expected to take the form of an announcement that Sarkozy is a candidate to head the centre-right UMP party that helped elect him as president of the republic in 2007. He was defeated in 2012 after one term in office by Socialist François Hollande.

Before his defeat in 2012, Sarkozy had said that if he lost "nobody will hear of me again".

However, few seriously expected the former leader and career politician to give up politics for good after leaving the Elysee two and a half years ago.