French question security officials

Press, 12 August 1985, Page 1

French question security officials

By

ROBIN CHARTERIS

London correspondent

of “The Press” Four top officials of the French security service have been questioned about possible involvement in the bombing of the Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior at Auckland, says the “Guardian” newspaper. Paul Webster of the “Guardian,” has reported from Paris that the four from the Direction Generale de la Securite Exterieure (D.G.S.E.) have been questioned. He also said that at least two resignations might be on the way. The “Guardian” report said that among known French suspects in the bombing affair were a colonel with a private army of mercenaries, members of the National Front, and former Gaullist undercover men who belonged to assassination and sabotage squads in Algeria, some of

whom later switched to the O.A.S. secret army.

The London “Financial Times” correspondent in Paris, David Marsh, says President Mitterrand’s move to hold an inquiry underlines the Paris Government’s embarrassment over suggestions of French backing for the bomb attack.

The allegations of a “French connection” have come at a sensitive time for the French Government in view of controversy inFrance and in the South Pacific over its handling of conflicts in New Caledonia.

According to the “Financial Times,” some officials in Paris believe the attack may have been launched by extreme Right-wing agitators to try to blemish France’s international standing. The "Guardian” says most suspicion, however, has fallen on one of the main branches of the D.G.S.E., its

Action Service, a squad that recruits among Regular Army paratroopers. Its hand has been noticed in many African coups, often preparing the ground and sometimes taking its “licence to kill” literally.

The Action Service was particularly active in Algeria and among its exploits were many RainbowWarrior type raids to sink Algerian liberation ships. The “Guardian” said there was no doubt the service still trained and armed men for underwater sabotage. Many of the men who . had been in North Africa took their retirement in New Caledonia, acknowledged as the centre of operations in the Greenpeace affair. A Colonel supposedly acted as a go-between for a well-known Parisian arms dealer who financed the operation, said the “Guardian” report. The arms dealer is said to

have flown from Paris to look over the yacht Ouvea, which has disappeared after anchoring near the Rainbow Warrior during a visit to New Zealand.

The “Guardian” says that New Zealand detectives in Paris have complained about a lack of co-operation by the French police in New Caledonia, who are seen to be in sympathy with the plotters. The latest allegation in the French news media over the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior is that French Army officers and not secret service agents were involved. The radio station France Inter alleged on Saturday (French time), that contrary to previous French reports, the secret service agencies were not involved. It said the fatal bombing was the work of French Army officers concerned with the security of nuclear sites. As with previous allega-

tions of French involvement, the French Defence Ministry refuses to comment.

The French news media, until the middle of last week apparently little interested in the Rainbow Warrior incident, have suddenly produced a barrage of allegations. It was the allegations in two magazines last week that apparently led to President Mitterrand’s ordering the top-level inquiry into a possible French connection. Two branches of the French secret services have been said to be involved. They are the D.G.S.E. and the Direction de la Surete du Territoire, whose director, Mr Yves Bonnet, was removed from his post One French magazine alleges that the D.G.S.E. was told to halt Greenpeace’s Pacific protests because the French Defence Ministry feared the Rainbow Warrior carried sophisticated equip-

ment to monitor neutron bomb tests at Mururoa. The D.G.S.E. had a $76 million budget and 2000 spies and analysts, said the magazine, alleging however, that the spies involved would have been financed from a secret fund controlled by the Prime Minister’s office. Mr Mitterrand has said that if the inquiry brought to light who was responsible, “Those who are guilty — at whatever level — should be severely punished.”

Included among the wilder allegations in the French news media is that the Defence Minister, Mr Charles Hemu, was informed of the Rainbow Warrior sabotage before it took place. From London, NZPA-AFP reports that the British Foreign Office declined to comment yesterday on a French State-owned radio report that Britain might be

involved in the Rain Warrior bombing.

“The only answer is that we have nothing to say,” a spokesman said. The French radio said the ship might have been bombed to discredit France in the South Pacific. The British domestic news agency Press Association said that “diplomatic sources” in London thought the French Government might be behind the French radio speculation “to add to the uncertainty surrounding the explosion.” The French radio said Britain might have ordered the attack as revenge for France’s supply of Exocet missiles to Argentina during the Falklands conflict.

The report said that Mr Fernando Pereira, the Portuguese photographer killed in the explosion at Auckland on July 10, was a member of a pro-Soviet pacificist movement.

The “Sunday Times” newspapers reported in Britain yesterday that the assistant to the head of the D.G.S.E. had ordered a spying operation on the Rainbow Warrior which was taking place at the time of the fatal bombing on July 10. In a report from Paris written by Brian Moynahan and Jon Swain, the “Sunday Times” named the official as General Emin, aged 54, quoting from the respected French magazine “Le Point,” to be published on Monday (U.K. time). “Le Point” says the order for the operation came from General Emin, a veteran of France’s colonial wars in Indo-China and Algeria, but the detailed planning was done by Colonel Serge Cadet, also of the D.G.S.E.

Mr Mitterrand on Saturday discussed the top-level inquiry he has ordered with his Defence Minister, Mr Hernu, who has cancelled an official visit he was to make to Tokyo this week. Should the inquiry confirm the complicity of such senior officers as General Emin and Colonel Codet, a purge of the top echelons of the D.G.S.E' is considered inevitable, said the “Sunday Times.” For the “Observer” newspaper, Robin Smyth in Paris reports that staff of the

D.G.S.E. were called to an emergency session at their Paris headquarters at the week-end to align their stories and prepare their files for inspection. - In spite of hopeful stories leaked from the D.G.S.E., says Smyth, that the Rainbow Warrior venture was an Anglo-Saxon plot to discredit France, all the indications point to a loss of nerve by French military Intelligence after years of sparring with Greenpeace.

A London lead is that the Zodiac rubber dinghy found near the Rainwbow Warrior, of a type used by the French Navy, is reported to have been bought in London by a man who gave a false Brussels address.

Scotland Yard had traced the boat and motor back through serial numbers to Barnet Marine, a North London company, said the “Observer.”

Mr David Chapman, the company’s manager, said on Saturday that he had been visited by a Frenchman on May 29 this year. After discussing the merits of different inflatables, the Frenchman bought a 12ft 6in Zodiac inflatable dinghy and a second-hand 4 h.p. Yamaha outboard engine. Mr Chapman said the man paid £l4OO in cash. The official view reflected in the French press at the week-end, says

Smyth, is that the plot was hatched in Paris with careful preparation and lavish financial backing.

The role of a Frenchwoman identified only as “Frederique B” is another mysterious factor in the affair, says the “Sunday Times.” She arrived in Auckand in mid-April, claiming to be a Paris-based member of Greenpeace. During her stay at the movement’s Auckland office, she travelled throughout the North Island, finding out details of dinghy hire and where to hire and fill diving tanks. She is believed to have telephoned this and other information back to Paris.

Frederique, aged 32, who comes from the South of France, flew to France via Tahiti and San Francisco on May 24. She then went to Israel and worked at an archaeological site there. Inquiries in Israel reveal that Frederique arrived at Tanture, site of the ancient city of Dor, in company with a Californian university professor. The “Sunday Times” said she left suddenly within two weeks, saying she had received an urgent message from her family. This was shortly after reports linking her with the Rainbow Warrior explosions appeared in New Zealand newspapers on July 27. The New Zealand police have now issued a warrant for her arrest.