A senior security official has been sacked after Corsican nationalists briefly occupied a holiday villa owned by French comic actor Christian Clavier, a close friend of President Nicolas Sarkozy.
 
The incident highlighted Sarkozy's close relations with some of France's leading celebrities and drew accusations of inappropriate interference and favouritism by the president.
 
Dominique Rossi, coordinator of internal security services on the Mediterranean island of Corsica, was dismissed on Monday after accusations he had advance warning of the protest but allowed it to go ahead, a government source said.
 
Clavier, who played Asterix in two of the Gallic hero's film adventures, has starred in a string of box-office hits.
 
His Corsican villa was invaded by pro-independence supporters on Saturday evening in a protest against the "colonisation" of the island by mainland French holidaymakers.
 
Clavier, who was not present, was alerted by his staff and ordered drinks to be served to the demonstrators, who left peaceably after about 20 minutes.
 
The comedian is close to Sarkozy and was one of a select group invited to the chic Paris restaurant Fouquet's on the night of Sarkozy's 2007 election victory.
 
Francois Bayrou, a centrist politician who ran against Sarkozy, accused the president of favouring his friends.
 
"It says a lot about the regime we're in," he told France Info radio. "It's a ruling from on high. These are arbitrary and disproportionate decisions which show where you get to when all powers are concentrated in the same hands."
 
The Elysee Palace declined to comment but an interior ministry spokesman said the decision to transfer Rossi to the national police force's internal inspectorate had been taken by Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie.
 
Spokesman Gerard Gachet said the decision was taken because of "an error in judgement by Mr Dominique Rossi" in deciding against intervening when security services knew before the protest that an occupation was likely. He denied it had anything to do with Sarkozy's friendship with the actor. Police union official Emmanuel Roux said Rossi, a highly respected and experienced officer, had acted appropriately and should not have been sacked. "There was no mistake, there was no damage, the demonstration passed off well," he told France Info.
 
If Rossi had sent in heavy police forces, the demonstrators could have reacted violently, he said.
 
Demonstrations and firebombings against holiday homes owned by mainland French and foreigners are common in Corsica, where there is an active and sometimes violent independence movement.