France 'drops support for Polanski'

The French government has retracted a public statement of support for Roman Polanski, saying that the 76-year-old "is neither above nor beneath the law".

The director is currently being held in Switzerland on a US arrest warrant over his conviction for unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.

Polanski, who has dual French and Polish citizenship, was detained on Saturday when he flew into the country to pick up a lifetime achievement prize at the Zurich Film Festival.

Earlier this week, French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner publicly called for Polanski to be freed.

However, his support has now been withdrawn by government spokesman Luc Chatel, who told BBC News: "We have a judicial procedure under way, for a serious affair, the rape of a minor, on which the American and Swiss legal systems are doing their job."

Despite the US authorities' eagerness to return Polanski to America for trial, at least 110 Hollywood figures have signed a petition calling for his release.

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