Gerard Longuet, an UMP senator and former defense minister under Nicola Sarkozy, gave Algeria the two-fingered gesture during an interview on live television on Wednesday.

The incident happened at the end of "La preuve par trois", a political show broadcast on the channel "Public Senat".

The former defense minister was responding to a question about a request made by an Algerian minister for 'an open recognition of the crimes perpetrated ...by French colonialism' when he gave the obscene gesture.

Longuet thought he was off air at the moment of the incident, unfortunately a TV camera, which had remained switched on, filmed the whole scene.