O.A.S. Plan To Kill De Gaulle Foiled

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29829, 23 May 1962, Page 13

O.A.S. Plan To Kill De Gaulle Foiled

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) PARIS, May 22. French police today tightened their net on Secret Army Organisation suspects after foiling a plot to murder President de Gaulle.

At least 15 persons, possibly including several women, were under interrogation at the headquarters of the Surete Nationale, the Associated Press reported.

A chain of chance circumstances first set police on the trail.

Forty-eight hours before President de Gaulle left on Wednesday night for a fourday speaking tour of south central France, three Secret Army agents were arrested in Marseilles. Two others were netted the same day in Paris. Both groups, it is understood, revealed that plans were afoot to assassinate the President during his provincial tour. Arrest In Algiers Then Francois Leca. a Secret Army man wanted for the alleged murder of a military security officer, was arrested in Algiers. The police uncovered a complete picture of the plot. They obtained the names of members of the commando which had been given the job of removing President de Gaulle in a last desperate attempt to throw the nation in chaos and stave off approach, ing Algerian independence. A number of them were traced to France in the week preceding the President’s trip. The chief of the so-called “Delta group” was identified by police as a Paris insurance agent named Blanchy, one of the chief aides of Roger Degueldre. who headed the commando killers in Algiers and was arrested in Algiers some weeks ago. Police said Blanchy and one of his men had already surveyed the route the 71-year-old President was to follow

through the mountains and the farming towns of central France. Full descriptions of Blanchy and his companion, a man named Slebodia, were circulated. All police were alerted. Seeing the strengthened security measures the gang apparently gave up the plan. Blanchy Caught Early on Sunday, Paris police seized Blanchy at home. Slebodia got away. Blanchy’s car contained 14 bottles of highly inflammable butane gas. police said. Information in documents at Blanchy’s home resulted in more arrests. Tomorrow. President de Gaulle is due to make several appearances before Paris crowds at ceremonies in connexion with the state visit of President Moktar Ould Daddah of Mauritania. Security precautions surrounding President de Gaulle, always heavy, have been increased during recent months. Since the trial of the Secret Army leader, Raoul Salan, began last week, the area around the President’s Elysee Palace has looked like an armed camp, especially at night. Police in pairs with sub-machine-guns patrol the streets and stand obscured in almost every doorway, keeping a close watch on any late strollers. Previous Attempt A previous attempt on President de Gaulle’s life occurred on September 9 last year, when a petrol bomb exploded and sent a sheet of flame around his car as he was speeding to his country home from Paris. Several arrests were made later. A trial has not yet been held. President de Gaulle at the time called the incident “a little joke in bad taste.”