French secret service agent killed in Iraq

[ECH1969]

A French secret service agent was killed by militiamen last week at a checkpoint in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, the French defence ministry said on Monday.

France never releases operational details about its DGSE foreign intelligence service and announced the death only after Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie had attended the dead man's funeral.

"On Nov. 21, a non-commissioned officer of the (DGSE) was killed by a local militia during an inspection at a checkpoint in Basra in southern Iraq," the ministry said. It gave no further details of the incident.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L27904668.htm

[ECH1969]

1. Its interesting that this happened in Basra

most likely the Madhi Army killed him.

[ECH1969]

2. more

The two men were stopped in their car at a checkpoint, where a member of a local militia fired on them even though they made clear they had diplomatic status, the magazine said.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/update_detail.asp?id=13626

[ECH1969]

3. I updated the article

[jordi_fanclub]

4. WOW... a militia checkpoint?

Ok, both agents are members of a diplomatic protection unit.
Since diplomatic units aren't at checkpoints...
"Doubt": it was at a militia checkpoint, right?

Oooops... YES! You missed the third and last paragraph in the article:
"The two men were stopped in their car at a checkpoint, where a member of a local militia
fired on them even though they made clear they had diplomatic status, the magazine said.


EDITED to restate the first link provided with the original message:
http://www.thenews.com.pk/update_detail.asp?id=13626

[Robbien]

5. Another article states France has a mission in Basra

Le Point magazine reported on its Web site that a second agent was seriously wounded in the attack and flown back to France on Saturday.

The magazine said the men were in Iraq to protect French diplomats. France, which fiercely opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, has an embassy in Baghdad and a diplomatic mission in Basra.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L27904668.htm

What kind of diplomatic mission could France have in Basra? Interesting.

[spillthebeans]

8. Probably they are just monitoring what the US commandos are doing

in connection with Iran

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/jan2005/iran-j20.shtml

According to an extensive report by the well-connected journalist Seymour Hersh published in the New Yorker magazine last weekend, US military forces have been staging commando operations in Iran for months, preparing the way for air strikes against suspected weapons facilities or even a full-fledged invasion of the country. The article, titled “The Coming Wars,” cites multiple sources whom Hersh describes as “former high-level intelligence officials”—most likely CIA officials forced out over the last seven months in the Bush administration purge of the agency—as well as Pentagon consultants and others in a position to know.

Hersh combines his revelations about US operations in Iran—themselves acts of war under international law—with an account of steps towards an enormous expansion of what the Pentagon calls the “Global War on Terrorism.” This includes not only provocations against Iran, but covert operations in nearly a dozen countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia.


....

The British daily newspaper the Guardian reported January 18 that it had “learned the Pentagon was recently contemplating the infiltration of members of the Iranian rebel group, Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) over the Iraq-Iran border, to collect intelligence. The group, based at Camp Ashraf, near Baghdad, was under the protection of Saddam Hussein, and is under US guard while Washington decides on its strategy. The MEK has been declared a terrorist group by the State Department.”

[daleo]

6. Diplomatic status and $5

Will get you a cup of coffee in Iraq.

[NOLADEM]

7. Probably pretty hard to hide a French accent in Baghdad

:hide:

[goforit]

9. Whose militiamen?