We consider that all military action not endorsed by the international community, through, in particular, the Security Council, was both illegitimate and illegal, is illegitimate and illegal. And we have not changed our view on that.

Jack, le combattant de la paix
ÉVIAN-LES-BAINS 3 June 2003

SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE GO FREE AS JUDGE
DENOUNCES CHIRAC OVER ISLAND COUP

PARIS June 21, 2006 (TO) - Covert attempts by President Chirac to exert influence over Africa were exposed by a French court yesterday, when it denounced his secret services for conniving with a band of mercenaries in a coup in the tiny Comoros Islands.

In a damning ruling, the Paris Criminal Tribunal said that the French authorities had given at least tacit approval to the 1995 [NB] coup led by Bob Denard, the best-known French soldier of fortune.

The judgment came as Denard, now 77, and 26 other defendants were found guilty of criminal association in connection with a military operation to oust Said Mohamed Djohar, the Comoros President, 11 years ago. The court refused a prosecution demand to jail the plotters and instead handed out suspended sentences after hearing them claim that they were acting with the backing of M Chirac’s Government.

Although France has long been accused of secret operations to maintain its influence in Africa, the ruling constituted an unprecedented, public condemnation of these practices. It was particularly embarrassing for M Chirac, who has sought to portray himself as one of the Third World’s greatest advocates in the West.

"It is clear that the French secret services knew of the plan for a coup d’état conceived by Robert Denard, both its preparation and execution. It is also evident that at the very least they did nothing to hinder it and that they therefore allowed it to reach its conclusion. As a consequence, that means political leaders must also have wanted it," the court said.

Wait! Wait. Surely Jack had a UNSCR in hand greenlighting the French coup? [Pause.] Surely. [A very long pause. Followed by a very very exceptionally long pause.]

In testimony read to the court, [Denard] said that he "never for one moment believed he was acting against the interests of my country — quite the contrary." Maître Elie Hatem, Denard’s lawyer, said that the coup — codenamed "Eskazi" — was "controlled by French politicians. It was a pretext for France to intervene and get rid of a president."

Denard, one of France’s most colourful figures, spent 30 years in Africa’s battlefields, where he was often suspected of acting on behalf of the French authorities. He was involved in a total of four coups or attempted coups in Comoros Islands after they won independence from France in 1975. In that year he helped to overthrow Ahmed Abdallah, the country’s first president, before restoring him to power in 1978. In 1989 [NB] M Abdallah was assassinated in suspicious circumstances. Denard was tried for the murder in France ten years later but acquitted for lack of evidence.

The above report makes it clear that the outcomes of the trial, acquittals and no custodial sentences served, are because of Jack's complicity. You'd never know it in the Franco-phony press coverage -- if you can find coverage.* Here is Jack in the same story as reported by the AFP:

THE 'DOG-OF-WAR' GETS SUSPENDED FIVE-YEAR TERM

PARIS June 20, 2006 (AFP) - On October 4 1995, recently-elected President Jacques Chirac activated a friendship agreement with the Comoros and sent in a 600-man force which quickly put down the putsch. Djohar however was not restored to power and died earlier this year. [All the Jack fit to print.]

There is widespread suspicion that many of Denard's African military adventures in the 1960s and 1970s were conducted with the connivance of the French authorities who were anxious to maintain influence on the continent.

However the election of Socialist president Francois Mitterrand [a choirboy] in 1981 [NB] is believed to have brought to an end Denard's privileged contacts.

Huh? Believed by whom? Certainly not the Paris Criminal Tribunal. The AFP appears unaware of the time context of the above indictments, scil., 1995. Pathetic phony French press.

* Fausta over at Bad Hair Blog:

France2 news last evening [scil., 20 juin 2006] was totally silent on the Comoros story; instead, they had a long feature on the opening of the new Jacques Chirac museum ("his legacy to the nation"), officially named the Musée du Quai Branly.

Also see Alexandra at All Things Beautiful.

PFFT (What is this?): Illegitimate 5 | Illegal 5 | Illegitimate and illegal 5 | Rayonnement français 0

Bonjour,

Je vois ,sur votre site, un bandeau de la DEA ,mettant en garde contre l 'importation de médicaments trafiqués.
Votre système de santé , voué à la "liberté" , ne serait-il pas aussi performant que vous le prétendez ?
En France , on n'a pas ces problèmes, notre système est NATIONALISE !

Good luck to ? your country in Irak !