Alain Chouet
 Alain Chouet       (spook) | ||||||||||
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| Born | 24 August 1946 Paris | |||||||||
| Nationality | French | |||||||||
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Alain Chouet is a former senior officer of French intelligence agency, the DGSE.
Contents
Background
Chouet was the head of the DGSE's Security Intelligence Service (SRS). As a specialist in Arab language and culture, he spent several years on working on Arab "terrorism" and Islamist violence. Before directing the SRS, he had worked about 25 years on the ground in the Middle East and the Maghreb, and in Europe within the framework of a variety of missions.[1]
"War on Terror"
He has dismissed the "war on terror" as a "sham" concealing an ongoing "military alliance" between "Western governments and the financial sponsors of jihad … [W]e remain allies with those who have sponsored this terrorism for the last 30 years."[2]
September 11 Warning
Chouet has claimed that the French warned the US of an impending Al Qaeda attack on US interests in 2001:
- With respect to what Western secret services (and we, in particular) had gathered, if it was clear that something major was in the works, not one of us had envisaged that it could happen on American territory itself.
- On the one hand, our connections on the ground - in particular the FBI - assured us that their control over their own territory was absolute and flawless. Duly noted.
- On the other hand, all the indications seemed to imply that the objective would be an American target in Europe or American airliners somewhere in the world. And I have to acknowledge that we were reinforced in this analysis by the disinformation operation very cunningly conducted by Khaled Sheikh Mohammed when he "delivered" Djamel Beghal to the Emirates. Khaled Sheikh Mohammed distrusted Beghal. That's why he gave him to us, all the while using him as a vector for disinformation, so that we would all concentrate on anti-American attacks in Europe.[3]
Niger Uranium
Chouet has claimed that French intelligence told the CIA that there was no evidence that Iraq was sourcing uranium from Africa:
- Chouet told the Times that his agency was contacted by the CIA in the summer of 2001 - shortly before the attacks of Sept. 11 - to check that uranium in Niger and elsewhere was secure. The former CIA official was quoted by the Times as confirming Chouet's account of this exchange.
- Then twice in 2002, Chouet told the Times, the CIA contacted DGSE again for similar help. By mid-2002, Chouet recalled, the request was more urgent and more specific. The CIA was asking questions about a particular agreement purportedly signed by Niger officials to sell 500 metric tons of uranium to Iraq.
- Chouet told the Times he had dispatched a five-or-six-man team to Niger to double-check any reports of a sale or an attempt to purchase uranium. The team found none, and Chouet said the CIA had been told this in Paris and the United States.
- "We had the feeling that we had been heard," Chouet told the Times. "There was nothing more to say other than that."[4]
Rocco Martino
Chouet has denied claims that the DGSE had a relationship with Rocco Martino prior to 2002:
- "I'm laughing because these photos prove the opposite of what Sismi says. Let me explain. This photo proves:
- "a. Sismi was shadowing Rocco Martino in the summer 2002, therefore they already knew who he was, what he was doing or what he was trying to do.
- "b. Rocco Martino's 'contact' was Jaques Nadal. Well. Do you know when Jaques Nadal was posted to the Brussels station? I appointed him between April and May 2002. Therefore, if you want to claim that Nadal was Rocco's 'French contact', which is true according to the photo, the contact dates back to the summer 2002. Not before. (nor later, of course, in 2003, when all the world knew that those documents were a forgery and the meeting would have been meaningless). The photo, in short, proves the exact contrary of what it was meant to prove, that is that the French were behind Rocco."[5]
Chirac Inquiry
Chouet was reportedly moved from his post in July 2002 amid reports that the DGSE had been investigating President Chirac's private life.
- Two senior DGSE officers, Gilbert Flam, head of special investigations, and Alain Chouet, head of security intelligence, have been removed from their posts and moved elsewhere in the last week, and the agency's chief, Jean-Claude Cousseran, is widely expected to be sacked in the next few weeks.[6]
Clearstream Affair
Chouet played a role in the Clearstream Affair:
- In early May, plaintiff Alain Chouet, a former chief of the DGSE's intelligence and security service, told the investigating magistrates that France's intelligence services (DST, DGSE, and Customs) had investigated Clearstream back in 1996, eight years before the poison letter writer made his intrusion. Alerted by rumours, they concluded that the Luxembourg clearing house could possibly be used for money laundering operations, but without its knowledge.[7]
A Quote by Alain Chouet
| Page | Quote |
|---|---|
| "War on Terror" | “Western governments and the financial sponsors of jihad... [W]e remain allies with those who have sponsored this terrorism for the last 30 years.” |
References
- ↑ Alain Chouet interview with Le Monde, Truthout, 29 March 2007.
- ↑ http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/terror-climate-chaos-financial-crisis-are-costs-doing-business-325052240
- ↑ Alain Chouet interview with Le Monde, Truthout, 29 March 2007.
- ↑ Report: French warned against Iraq-Niger allegation, former spy says, Associated Press Worldstream, 11 December 2005.
- ↑ 'Urban Myth' – or Treason? The Niger uranium forgery cover-up unravels, by Justin Raimondo, 5 December 2005.
- ↑ Check on Chirac's Tokyo 'family' costs security chiefs their jobs, by Jon Henley, The Guardian, 12 July 2002.
- ↑ French judges resume Clearstream inquiry, further revelations possible, Text of report by French newspaper Liberation website on 22 May, Report by Renaud Lecadre: "General Rondot Returns", BBC Monitoring Europe - Political, 23 may 2007.
