Image caption Luc Ferry has been questioned by French officials over the allegations 
 
 Morocco has launched an inquiry into allegations that a French ex-minister was caught in an orgy with young boys on its territory. 
 
 Prosecutors in the city of Marrakesh are to investigate the claims, made by former French Education Minister Luc Ferry during a recent TV debate. 
 
 He refused to give any names. 
 
 Meanwhile a Moroccan child protection association has lodged a complaint in France for both "exploitation of minors" and "non-denunciation". 
 
 A lawyer for the association, Don't Touch My Child, said the complaint would be handled by Paris prosecutors, who are also investigating the case. 
 
 'High sources' 
 
 Mr Ferry, a philosopher who served as education minister from 2002 to 2004, made the allegation during a TV debate on privacy, sex and French politics on 30 May. 
 
 He said the unnamed former minister had been "caught in Marrakesh in an orgy with small boys". 
 
 He added that the information had been given to him by the "highest authorities of the state", including a former prime minister. 
 
 Last week prosecutors in Paris opened a preliminary inquiry to determine whether criminal proceedings could be launched. Mr Ferry was questioned. 
 
 France - which has strict privacy laws and a press tradition of respect for private life - had been rocked by recent sex claims against politicians. 
 
 Senior socialist Dominique Strauss-Kahn stood down as head of the International Monetary Fund last month after being charged with attempted rape in New York. 
 
 A conservative junior minister, Georges Tron, has resigned from the government following allegations of sexual harassment. 
 
 Both he and Mr Strauss-Kahn deny any wrongdoing. ||||| Former French education minister Luc Ferry has told a TV chatshow that a member of a previous French government abused children in Morocco, suggesting that reporting of the affair was stifled by strict libel and privacy laws. 
 
 Ferry, a French philosopher who was in government from 2002 to 2004, told the Grand Journal on Canal Plus that senior state sources informed him of a former minister taking part in "an orgy with little boys" in the tourist town of Marrakech. 
 
 "All of us here probably all know who I'm talking about," he told the panel of high-flying journalists, alluding to a rumour that has long circulated in media circles. Asked if he had any proof, he said: "Of course not. But I have testimony from cabinet members at the highest level, state authorities at the highest level." 
 
 He said the affair was detailed to him at the top of government, "particularly by the prime minister". 
 
 Ferry said he would not name the former minister, implying that he feared France's strict libel laws. "If I let his name out now, it's me who will be charged and doubtlessly convicted, even if I know that the story is true." 
 
 His remarks come as France's political and media class questions the tradition of respecting private life in the wake of Dominique Strauss-Kahn's indictment for sexually assaulting and attempting to rape a New York hotel maid. Strauss-Kahn denies the charges and is expected to plead not guilty at a court hearing on Monday. 
 
 But many journalists have predicted a "before and after Strauss-Kahn" suggesting that sexual harassment in political circles will no longer be tolerated and criminal behaviour should not be hushed up just because it pertains to a politician's private life. France has some of the toughest libel and privacy laws in the world. 
 
 This weekend, Georges Tron resigned as civil service minister after two former staff members filed complaints for sexual assault, saying they had been emboldened to come forward after the Strauss-Kahn arrest. Tron denies the allegations. He had hoped to keep his post despite the investigation, but Nicolas Sarkozy feared public opinion. The foreign minister Alain Juppé, said members of government, even if innocent until proven guilty, must be "above all suspicion". 
 
 Women politicians this week began to denounce the sexism that pervades political life. The sports minister, Chantal Jouanno, said she could no longer wear a skirt in parliament for fear of salacious comments.
– A French minister was caught in the middle of an orgy with young boys in Morocco but it was covered up by France, a former French official has charged. French and Moroccan prosecutors have launched a probe into former education minister Luc Ferry's explosive allegations, presented during a TV talk show, the BBC reports. Ferry, a philosopher who was in government from 2002 until 2004, says the "highest authorities of the state," including a former prime minister, informed him of the incident at that time. The pedophile minister was flown back to France and authorities hushed it up, says Ferry. It's not clear what government role, if any, the former minister may be playing now. Ferry refused to name the former minister for fear of running afoul of France's strict libel laws. Rumors of the Moroccan orgy have long circulated in French media circles, notes the Guardian. "All of us here probably all know who I'm talking about," Ferry told fellow panelists during a TV debate. Ferry's allegations come as French society is taking a harder look at the behavior of its politicians in the wake of Dominique Strauss-Kahn's arrest on sex assault charges.