FRANCE ADMITS ITS AGENT SANK GREENSPACE SHIP UNDER ORDERS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000605490002-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 1, 2012
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: September 23, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/01 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000605490002-9
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WA CI.ia J 23 September 1985
France Admits Its Agents Sank
Greenpeace Ship Under Orders
By THOMAS KAMM and ROGER RICKLEFS
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
PARIS - French Prime Minister
Laurent Fabius last night admitted French
responsibility in the sinking of the Green-
peace organization ship Rainbow Warrior
and said the attack had been carried out
by secret service agents acting under or-
ders.
But Mr. Fabius, in a brief statement to
reporters, didn't specify who gave these
orders or whether top government officials
had advance knowledge of the operation.
The admission further jolted French
President Francois Mitterrand's Socialist
Party government, which already faces a
struggle to keep control of Parliament in
national elections only six months away.
However, political analysts said that so far
Mr. Mitterrand's position wasn't threat-
ened.
"Agents of the DGSE (the Direction
Generale de la Securite Exterieure, a
branch of the French secret service) sank
this ship," Mr. Fabius said. "They acted
on orders. This truth was hidden from
state councilor (Bernard) Tricot," a senior
civil servant who last month absolved
France from responsibility in the bombing
following a government-ordered investiga-
tion.
Standing at Mr. Fabius's side was Paul
Quiles, who was named defense minister
Friday following the resignation of Charles
Hernu in the wake of fresh allegations that
appeared to point to a cover-up by some
French officials during Mr. Tricot's inves-
tigation. The government also dismissed
Vice Admiral Pierre Lacoste, the head of
France's foreign intelligence service, after
he refused to answer questions by Mr.
Hernu on his service's involvement in the
bombing.
Mr. Fabius's statement marks the first
official French admission of guilt since the
so-called Greenpeace affair surfaced two
months ago. While it contradicts the con-
clusions of the Tricot report and squarely
puts the blame on France's secret service,
it. doesn't answer the crucial question of
who ordered the attack and who precisely
carried it out.
Political commentators believe that Mr.
Fabius's statement is a bid to limit politi-
cal damage for the government after suc-
cessive press revelations made French of-
ficials look like they weren't saying all
they knew. These analysts said that the
manner in which Mr. Fabius made the an-
nouncement of the DGSE's guilt was de-
signed to show that President Mitterrand
and the government had no advance
knowledge of the attack and were trying to
get to the bottom of it.
Mr. Fabius said the government was in
favor of establishing a parliamentary com-
mission of inquiry to clarify the Green-
peace affair. He also said that a new head
of the DGSE would be named by Wednes-
day and that his "prime task will be to re-
organize all of these services." -
The prime minister didn't explain what
facts allowed him to conclude now that the
DGSE was responsible for the bombing
when only a few hours earlier Foreign
Minister Roland Dumas said in a radio in-
terview that there wasn't any proof of
French guilt. But he said that his asser-
tions were based on "the first conclusions
of an inquiry into the Rainbow Warrior af-
fair" by Mr. Quiles that "allow us to get
closer to the truth."
French political commentators noted
that the speed with which Mr. Quiles
reached at least partial conclusions on re-
sponsibility appear to indicate that Mr.
Hernu, even if he had no advance knowl-
edge of the operation, covered up the
DGSE's role out of loyalty to some of his
subordinates. Mr. Quiles, who was Trans-
port, Housing and Urban Development
minister previously and comes to the De-
fense Ministry with a reputation of ruth-
lessness, wasn't bound by such loyalty,
these commentators added.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/01 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000605490002-9