Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin was ordered on Wednesday to stand trial in apolitical smear campaign that targeted President Nicolas Sarkozy, a French judicial official said.

Judges signed an order on Tuesday evening, requiring Villepin to appear in the court on charges of alleged "complicity in libel," the official said.

Villepin is suspected of helping leak a fake document of individuals at Clearstream bank in Luxemburg which includes Sarkozy's name. He has already been questioned over the case in December 2006, and has been under investigation since July 2007.

Villepin has always denied the charges, however, he could face up to 5 years in prison if the charges were convicted.

"Nothing can justify this decision to the court," Villepin said in a statement. "Through the judicial investigation, the reality of the facts and of the law has been diverted to the benefit of only one civil party who is today at the same the president."

Villepin, 55, became foreign minister after former President Jacques Chirac's reelection in 2002. He was appointed prime minister in 2005. Villepin and Sarkozy were both presidential rivals under President Chirac, but always had tense relations.

Villepin was preferred by Chirac, but Sarkozy won party support to succeed the presidency.

(Xinhua News Agency November 20, 2008)