CAYENNE, French Guiana (Reuters) – Police conducting  a corruption inquiry have detained French Guiana mayor Leon  Bertrand, who served as tourism minister under former President  Jacques Chirac, Radio France Outre-Mer said yesterday.

Bertrand, who is mayor of the French Guiana commune Saint  Laurent du Maroni, was detained in an investigation into  corruption linked to the awarding of public works contracts.

The examining magistrate put Bertrand in temporary detention  and gave him four days to prepare a defence, RFO said.

Since Chirac stepped down in 2007, he and several former  allies have been the targets of corruption investigations,  tainting Chirac’s record and leaving a bitter aftertaste from  the years when his generation ran France.