London, Apr 1: He might be one of the most confident leaders of the world, but French President Nicolas Sarkozy seems to be a bit apprehensive, when it comes to his height.

The 5ft 5ins leader is set to have pioneering stretch surgery in a bid to increase his height.

Sarkozy has become so paranoid about his frame that he has contacted a leading Swiss laboratory for the surgery.

Doctors reckon that they will be able to add an amazing five inches to his height in just over a year with the help of Stature Augmentation Treatment, a method developed on guinea pigs by Israeli academic Professor Ura Schmuck.

“SAT replicates the growth the human body goes through from birth to adolescence,” The Sun quoted Schmuck, as saying.

“The patient is stretched on a traction bed for several hours and calcium supplements are injected in the bone shafts near the joints. The bones are tricked into thinking they are growing again,” he added.

Luc Bigger, the spokesman for the French government, also admitted that Sarkozy wants to add five inches to his height.

“He wants to add five inches to his height. He read in a science journal about a short man who is now over 6ft,” Bigger said.

He said the President would have a series of ops at the Poisson D’Avril Medical Centre in Geneva over the next year.

When surgery is completed Sarkozy will be an inch taller than his stunning ex-model wife Carla Bruni. (ANI)