Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit excerpt from ... INTELLIGENCE ISSN 1245-2122 N. 47 New Series, 4 November 1996 Publishing since 1980 Editor Olivier Schmidt (web http://www.blythe.org/Intelligence) A one year subscription (23 issues with full index) is US $315. --------------------------------------------- Intelligence, N. 47, 4 November 1996, p. 38 FRANCE: U.S. USE OF THE "FRANCO-FRENCH" HERNU AFFAIR On 30 October, the headlines on the front page of "Le Monde" read "Europe Stands Up to the U.S.", and the next day, "French Counterespionage is Convinced Charles Hernu was an Eastern Agent". This front page article was followed by an interview with weekly "L'Express" journalists, Jerome Dupuis and Jean-Marie Pontaut, instigators of the "Hernu affair", in which they defend their "scoop" by saying that a media "manipulation" would serve no purpose since former French Socialist Defense Minister Charles Hernu died in 1990. They obviously forgot to read the "Le Monde" the day before. There is a war going on between the U.S. and France in Africa, where U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher recently led a presidential election "road show" in what France -- and particularly French intelligence services -- considers its "backyard"; and in the Middle East, where French President Jacques Chirac "gate crashed" at the strictly private U.S.-Israeli party of "keeping the Arabs down". In this dirty and secret war, the intelligence services are on the front line, and anything and everything that can weaken or discredit them is considered "good ammo". Despite the lack of substance and of professional seriousness of the supposed documents concerning Mr. Hernu, the "affair" is indeed "good ammo". The above "U.S. did it" argument put forward by some specialists is countered by others with a "Franco-French" argument. Indeed, one hardly even hears of former national counterespionage directors publicly taking up diametrically opposed positions on a major affair, which, strictly speaking, is not within their competence. But, then on what basis can journalists Dupuis and Pontaut declare that former head of DST counterespionage, Yves Bonnet, who defended Mr. Hernu's reputation, "doesn't know what he's taking about"? Perhaps the journalists know more about covert manipulations than Mr. Bonnet. At any rate, one of Mr. Bonnet's successors, Jacques Fournet, publicly stated that he warned Pres. Francois Mitterrand in 1992 that Mr. Hernu had been in contact with Eastern services in the 1950s and 1960s. However, Mr. Fournet later refused to confirm whether the incriminating documents were false or real. Quite obviously, there's an internecine "Franco-French" fight going on in the intelligence community, with Messrs. Bonnet and Fournet on opposite sides. COMMENT -- These two "obvious" explanations of the "Hernu affair" both touch fundamental aspects of an operation which, in reality, subsumes both. According to certain "Intelligence" French contacts, the U.S. caught this "Franco-French" fight "on the rebound" and went on to score with it. For over a year now, the French government has been looking for a new director to replaced Jacques Dewatre at the head of DGSE foreign intelligence (INT, N. 23/48 & 38/41). This strained situation has seen several "leading candidates" come and go, and has even led to international "dirty tricks" to try to force a solution (INT, N. 40/1). According to "Intelligence" sources, the "Hernu affair" just eliminated the current "leading candidate" to head the DGSE: one of Mr. Hernu's former chiefs of staff, "a general who recently became a prefect". With this "elimination", some specialists expect another "highly- qualified" general to become a prefect within a few months, before taking his turn "walking the plank". If he makes it, Washington, just by accident, wouldn't be unhappy to welcome him among world intelligence leaders. --------------------------------------------- Also in this Issue: TABLE OF CONTENTS, N. 47, 4 November 1996 Frontpage: BULGARIA - NEVA'S VAST NETWORK OF MONEY AND DEATH p.1 Technology & Techniques: U.S. POLICE "WISH LIST" FULFILLED BY FBI COVERT TECH p.2 NEW AND POPULAR INTERNET SCAMS AND PROTECTION p.3 "BAD DAY" FOR FBI INTERROGATION TECHNIQUES p.4 DIGITAL TELEPHONY - FBI's Pass or Fail Tech List. p.5 GUARDS - Bright Future for Private Security. p.6 VIRUSES - Another Word Macro from Microsoft. p.7 INTELLIGENCE - The U.S. Army Discovers "Smarts". p.8 AEROSTATS - Upscaling from Tactical to Strategic. p.9 UAV - Brits "Go It Alone" with a "Survivor". p.10 ECONOMIC INTELLIGENCE - Strange French Cuisine. p.11 NAVIGATION - Joint GPS/Glonass System Winning Support. p.12 People: U.S.A. - JIM R. FREEMAN p.13 U.S.A. - GLORIA STEINEM p.14 PALESTINE - FARID ASALIYAH p.15 HONG KONG/CHINA - LAWRENCE LEUNG p.16 U.S.A. - Lester K. Coleman, III. p.17 U.S.A. - Emmett Paige, Jr. p.18 U.S.A. - Patrick and Robin Eddington. p.19 GREAT BRITAIN - Charles Guthrie. p.20 BELGIUM/NETHERLANDS - Herman Luyten. p.21 RUSSIA/U.S.A. - Armand Hammer. p.22 EGYPT - Ahmad Rached Mohamad. p.23 IRAQ/BRAZIL - Hugo do Oliveira Piva. p.24 SAUDI ARABIA - Osama Bin Laden. p.25 Agenda: COMING EVENTS FROM NOW TO 15 DECEMBER 1996 p.26 Intelligence Around the World: U.S.A. - SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS AND TORTURE p.27 MAJOR SHAKE-UP COMING AT THE FBI p.28 American Airlines, a Tough Customs Customer. p.29 FBI Makes It Big on Wall Street. p.30 CIA's Papal Intelligence Exchange Went East. p.31 CIA-Cocaine-Contra Connection Refuses to Die. p.32 GREAT BRITAIN - PRE-ELECTION LAW & ORDER BILL p.33 MAKING PROFITS GOING TO WAR IN RENTED TANKS p.34 LAST U.S. NUCLEAR MISSILES GO HOME p.35 NORTHERN IRELAND - SIR HUGH'S LAST WORDS & MASONRY FEARS p.36 IRELAND - DOUBLE STANDARD DOMINATES PEACE PROSPECTS p.37 FRANCE - U.S. USE OF THE "FRANCO-FRENCH" HERNU AFFAIR p.38 High-Tech Defence Business with the U.S. p.39 "Spill Over" From Sri Lanka. p.40 BELGIUM - TUNIS PUSHES COOLS FUNDAMENTALIST CONNECTION p.41 NETHERLANDS - HUSHED-UP DRUG SEIZURE SUCCESS p.42 A Public Hearing for CIA "Drug Culture". p.43 GERMANY - NEW ATTACK ON FRENCH HELIOS-2 PROJECT p.44 Scientology "Excommunicated" by BfV. p.45 ITALY - PROMISED REFORM STARTS WITH SPY CHIEFS p.46 HUNGARY - TALES OF THE COLD WAR p.47 EASTERN EUROPE - Security & Balkan-Soviet Break-Up. p.48 UKRAINE - Sabre and Hughes Get a Foot Hold. p.49 ETHIOPIA/ERITREA - Sale of Entire Navy "Sunk". p.50 ISRAEL - "Hail and Farewells" in Intelligence Cooperation. p.51 SOUTH KOREA - Embarrassing "Party Crashers". p.52 * (It is possible to post a paid advertisement presenting, in more detail, a product, a service, or a meeting, and interested parties should contact "Intelligence" for more information.) ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org =================================================================