PARIS: France's Jacques Attali, the controversial former president of

the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (ERBD), was given

back his former state job at home on Wednesday.

A cabinet announcement said he was reinstated as a member of the

Council of State, the country's top administrative court which also

advises the government on legislation.

Attali, a 49-year-old former aide of Socialist President Francois

Mitterrand, served on the council before founding the ERBD in 1990.