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Reference ID	Created	Released	Classification	Origin
06PARIS2137	2006-03-31 17:14	2011-08-30 01:44	CONFIDENTIAL	Embassy Paris

VZCZCXYZ0023
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHFR #2137/01 0901714
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 311714Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
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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). 
 
 
¶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

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