Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06PARIS2137
2006-03-31 17:14:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Paris
Cable title:
IIC FOLLOW-UP: FRENCH INVESTIGATION OF
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C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 002137
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EUR/WE, NEA/I, IO/PSC-LIZ PARKER
E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/06/2016
TAGS: PREL KFIN PGOV PINR IZ FR
SUBJECT: IIC FOLLOW-UP: FRENCH INVESTIGATION OF
OIL-FOOD-CORRUPTION CONTINUES
REF: A. STATE 40595
B. BAGHDAD 318
C. PARIS 552
D. PARIS DAILY REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 17 2005 AND
PREVIOUS
Classified By: Deputy Political Counselor Bruce Turner, reasons 1.4 (b)
and (d).
C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 002137
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EUR/WE, NEA/I, IO/PSC-LIZ PARKER
E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/06/2016
TAGS: PREL KFIN PGOV PINR IZ FR
SUBJECT: IIC FOLLOW-UP: FRENCH INVESTIGATION OF
OIL-FOOD-CORRUPTION CONTINUES
REF: A. STATE 40595
B. BAGHDAD 318
C. PARIS 552
D. PARIS DAILY REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 17 2005 AND
PREVIOUS
Classified By: Deputy Political Counselor Bruce Turner, reasons 1.4 (b)
and (d).
1. (SBU) In the wake of the UN Independent Inquiry Committee
(IIC) reports into Oil-for-Food Program (OFF) corruption, the
GoF has launched investigations of a number of French
nationals named in the IIC reports, though so far none have
been charged with a crime. The GoF investigation is being
led by financial investigating judge Philippe Courroye, who,
according to press reports, has placed five individuals under
formal investigation (the precursor to criminal charges):
former French Ambassador to the UN (now retired) Jean-Bernard
Merimee; former MFA Secretary-General (retired) Serge
Boidevaix; Bernard Guillet, former Diplomatic Advisor to
then-Interior Minister Charles Pasqua; Gilles Munier, former
Secretary-General of the Franco-Iraqi friendship group and a
SIPDIS
longtime defender of the Saddam regime; and Claude Kaspereit,
president of the firm European Trading International and son
of a former center-right parliamentarian. Other prominent
personalities cited in IIC reports and targeted by Courroye,
though not formally placed under investigation, include:
former Interior Minister Charles Pasqua; Patrick Maugein,
president of an oil trading company and reputed to be a
longtime friend of President Chirac; Michel Grimard, a former
member of the governing council of the Rally for the Republic
(RPR) party, the precursor to Chirac's center-right UMP
party; and Elias Firzli, a Lebanese lawyer believed to be a
key middleman in OFF-related corruption.
2. (SBU) Of the individuals named in para 2, the Merimee and
Boidevaix investigations attracted the most local media
scrutiny and sparked unusually harsh criticism of the French
Foreign Ministry and past GoF Iraq policy, given the two
former diplomats' elite status as "ambassadors for life," and
high-level connections. (Bio Note: Boidevaix served as
then-PM Chirac's diplomatic advisor in the mid-1970's --
during which Chirac first met with Saddam -- and went on to
serve as French Ambassador to India and Germany, and MFA NEA
A/S-equivalent, before retiring in 1993 from the number two
position in the MFA. Merimee served as French Ambassador to
the UN from 1991 to 1995, and French Ambassador to Australia,
India, Morocco, and Italy, before retiring in 1996 and
serving as a special advisor to UNSYG Kofi Annan.) According
to IIC reports, Merimee received illicit allocations for some
6 million barrels of Iraqi oil between 1996 and 2003 (during
the period he was an advisor to SYG Annan),part of which he
used to buy a house in Morocco. Meanwhile, the IIC accused
Boidevaix of receiving allocations for some 32 million
barrels of Iraqi oil, via a non-existent front company,
"Vittol-France," between 1998 and 2002. In response to the
Merimee and Boidevaix allegations, the French MFA announced
the creation of a new MFA "ethics committee" to oversee both
current and retired diplomats; despite calls in the French
media for rescinding Merimee and Boidevaix's "ambassador for
life" titles, the MFA has not taken such punitive action
against them to date.
3. (C) In a late January meeting with poloffs (ref C),Judge
Courroye sought U.S. assistance in facilitating interviews of
high-level former Iraqi regime officials, including Saddam
Hussein and Tariq Aziz. Courroye described such testimony as
crucial to his investigation of OFF-related corruption,
particularly with respect to former Interior Minister Pasqua.
On March 31, the center-right French daily "Le Figaro"
reported that Courroye will go to Baghdad to pursue his
investigation, after overcoming initial objections from the
French embassy, due to security concerns. According to the
"Le Figaro" report, Courroye may travel to Baghdad within
days, and will seek access to SOMO archives, in addition to
interviewing former regim officials. (Comment: We will seek
confirmation from Courroye on his planned Baghdad trip; post
also appreciates Embassy Baghdad's efforts (ref B) to help
facilitate Courrouye's request for access to former regime
officials. End Comment.)
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm
Stapleton
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EUR/WE, NEA/I, IO/PSC-LIZ PARKER
E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/06/2016
TAGS: PREL KFIN PGOV PINR IZ FR
SUBJECT: IIC FOLLOW-UP: FRENCH INVESTIGATION OF
OIL-FOOD-CORRUPTION CONTINUES
REF: A. STATE 40595
B. BAGHDAD 318
C. PARIS 552
D. PARIS DAILY REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 17 2005 AND
PREVIOUS
Classified By: Deputy Political Counselor Bruce Turner, reasons 1.4 (b)
and (d).
1. (SBU) In the wake of the UN Independent Inquiry Committee
(IIC) reports into Oil-for-Food Program (OFF) corruption, the
GoF has launched investigations of a number of French
nationals named in the IIC reports, though so far none have
been charged with a crime. The GoF investigation is being
led by financial investigating judge Philippe Courroye, who,
according to press reports, has placed five individuals under
formal investigation (the precursor to criminal charges):
former French Ambassador to the UN (now retired) Jean-Bernard
Merimee; former MFA Secretary-General (retired) Serge
Boidevaix; Bernard Guillet, former Diplomatic Advisor to
then-Interior Minister Charles Pasqua; Gilles Munier, former
Secretary-General of the Franco-Iraqi friendship group and a
SIPDIS
longtime defender of the Saddam regime; and Claude Kaspereit,
president of the firm European Trading International and son
of a former center-right parliamentarian. Other prominent
personalities cited in IIC reports and targeted by Courroye,
though not formally placed under investigation, include:
former Interior Minister Charles Pasqua; Patrick Maugein,
president of an oil trading company and reputed to be a
longtime friend of President Chirac; Michel Grimard, a former
member of the governing council of the Rally for the Republic
(RPR) party, the precursor to Chirac's center-right UMP
party; and Elias Firzli, a Lebanese lawyer believed to be a
key middleman in OFF-related corruption.
2. (SBU) Of the individuals named in para 2, the Merimee and
Boidevaix investigations attracted the most local media
scrutiny and sparked unusually harsh criticism of the French
Foreign Ministry and past GoF Iraq policy, given the two
former diplomats' elite status as "ambassadors for life," and
high-level connections. (Bio Note: Boidevaix served as
then-PM Chirac's diplomatic advisor in the mid-1970's --
during which Chirac first met with Saddam -- and went on to
serve as French Ambassador to India and Germany, and MFA NEA
A/S-equivalent, before retiring in 1993 from the number two
position in the MFA. Merimee served as French Ambassador to
the UN from 1991 to 1995, and French Ambassador to Australia,
India, Morocco, and Italy, before retiring in 1996 and
serving as a special advisor to UNSYG Kofi Annan.) According
to IIC reports, Merimee received illicit allocations for some
6 million barrels of Iraqi oil between 1996 and 2003 (during
the period he was an advisor to SYG Annan),part of which he
used to buy a house in Morocco. Meanwhile, the IIC accused
Boidevaix of receiving allocations for some 32 million
barrels of Iraqi oil, via a non-existent front company,
"Vittol-France," between 1998 and 2002. In response to the
Merimee and Boidevaix allegations, the French MFA announced
the creation of a new MFA "ethics committee" to oversee both
current and retired diplomats; despite calls in the French
media for rescinding Merimee and Boidevaix's "ambassador for
life" titles, the MFA has not taken such punitive action
against them to date.
3. (C) In a late January meeting with poloffs (ref C),Judge
Courroye sought U.S. assistance in facilitating interviews of
high-level former Iraqi regime officials, including Saddam
Hussein and Tariq Aziz. Courroye described such testimony as
crucial to his investigation of OFF-related corruption,
particularly with respect to former Interior Minister Pasqua.
On March 31, the center-right French daily "Le Figaro"
reported that Courroye will go to Baghdad to pursue his
investigation, after overcoming initial objections from the
French embassy, due to security concerns. According to the
"Le Figaro" report, Courroye may travel to Baghdad within
days, and will seek access to SOMO archives, in addition to
interviewing former regim officials. (Comment: We will seek
confirmation from Courroye on his planned Baghdad trip; post
also appreciates Embassy Baghdad's efforts (ref B) to help
facilitate Courrouye's request for access to former regime
officials. End Comment.)
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm
Stapleton