Updated on Sunday, November 30, 2008, 00:00 IST

London, Nov 30: Moved by the tragic death of her brother from AIDS, the glamorous French first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, is ready to don a new avatar as an ambassador in the global fight against the deadly disease.

Bruni, who married President Nicolas Sarkozy in February, is expected to be appointed an "ambassador" for the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a Geneva-based organisation backed by the United Nations, tomorrow on World Aids Day.

The 40-year-old supermodel-turned-singer had for long been trying to decide what cause to embrace as first lady, and the choice of AIDS appears to have been influenced by a family tragedy that occurred in 2006, when Virginio, her brother, with whom she had a close relationship, died after a long battle with the illness, Sunday Times reported.

Her latest album features a song called 'Hi, Sailor', which has been described as a farewell to Virginio, an artist and passionate yachtsman, who had frequently crossed the Atlantic single-handed.

His death devastated the family: Carla has spoken of the "emptiness" it caused, and in 2007 Marisa, her mother, set up the Virginio Bruni Tedeschi Foundation in his memory. Backed by UNESCO, it is dedicated to fighting AIDS.

Bureau Report