French president Nicolas Sarkozy has married Italian-born model turned pop singer Carla Bruni following a whirlwind romance.

The couple released a brief statement Saturday saying they were "were married this morning in the presence of their families in the strictest privacy."

Sarkozy had to quickly return to work. The former French colony of Chad had rebels fighting with government troops in the national capital.

Francois Lebel, mayor of Paris' eight district, presided over the ceremony at the Elysee Palace.

He told Europe-1 radio Bruni wore white and "looked ravishing, as usual." Sarkozy looked good himself, Lebel added.

About 20 people attended the ceremony, he said. It was "a moment of family intimacy for the ... newlyweds, of great simplicity and apparently a lot of affection between the spouses.

"I wished them a lot of happiness," he said.

Sarkozy, 53, separated from his second wife Cecilia, also a former model, last October. The couple had been married 11 years.

While French presidents are known to have had discreet affairs, Sarkozy is the first in modern history to divorce while in office. He is the first to marry in office since 1931.

Sarkozy then met Bruni, 40, in November.

The first public sighting of the couple was during a visit to Disneyland Paris, but that was followed up with a trip to the Middle East.

Tabloid photos of Sarkozy in trunks, with a gold chain and Ray-Ban mirrored sunglasses, helped earn him a new nickname: President Bling-Bling.

The high-profile holidays had France's voters grumbling about the work ethic of their new president, who had run on boosting the economy by getting people to work harder.

The couple had indicated they would be marrying, but despite the public dating, made it clear any ceremony would be private.

One French newspaper report that they had married on Jan. 14 proved to be false.

Bruni has a son from a previous relationship. Sarkozy has two adult sons from his first marriage, and a third with Cecilia.

Bruni has been linked to a series of famous men, including musicians Eric Clapton and Mick Jagger, real estate mogul Donald Trump and Laurent Fabius, a one-time Socialist prime minister of France.

Sarkozy is a political conservative.

In one case, Bruni dated French publisher Jean-Paul Enthoven before marrying his son, philosopher Raphael Enthoven.

Of marriage, Bruni told one magazine: "I'm monogamous from time to time, but I prefer polygamy and polyandry. Love lasts a long time, but burning desire, two or three weeks."

With files from The Associated Press