On the 10th July 1985 the "action" branch of the French foreign intelligence services, the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE), sank the Rainbow Warrior ship in New Zealand - not French, but New Zealand - waters after the Greenpeace ship tried to stop them from conducting nuclear tests near the Pacific island of Moruroa. One man onboard the Rainbow Warrior was killed. This was done by planting a bomb on the ship. All this led to President Mitterand's downfall.
In 2006, a man named Antoine Royal mentioned to a French newspaper that his brother, then-lieutenant Gérard Royal, was involved in the planting of the bomb. They are both brothers of Ségolène Royal, the Socialist contender in the 2007 French presidential election.
But the French, not wanting the blame to fall upon them, had the audacity to blame the British and MI6 for this atrocity.
---------
The Times November 28, 2005
French tried to blame Britain for sinking Greenpeace flagship
By Chris Johnston
The Rainbow Warrior just before it was sunk by the French in New Zealand waters in 1985.
The French Government tried to blame the 1985 sinking of the Greenpeace ship the Rainbow Warrior on MI6, according to official documents released under the Freedom of Information Act.
The campaign of “misinformation and smears” — suggesting that MI6 bombed the ship in New Zealand and framed French secret agents, or that MI6 knew in advance of the French mission — infuriated Margaret Thatcher’s Government. Malcolm Rifkind, then a Foreign Office minister, told British diplomats in Paris to demand an end to the stories in the media, but they continued to appear.
Sir John Fretwell, the British Ambassador in Paris, wrote of French officials’ “desperate attempts to find answers which will somehow satisfy public opinion while keeping the president [François Mitterrand] above the mêlée”.
Sir Geoffrey Howe, the Foreign Secretary, said he was “disturbed” that stories still appeared after he complained to his French counterpart.
timesonline.co.uk
In 2006, a man named Antoine Royal mentioned to a French newspaper that his brother, then-lieutenant Gérard Royal, was involved in the planting of the bomb. They are both brothers of Ségolène Royal, the Socialist contender in the 2007 French presidential election.
But the French, not wanting the blame to fall upon them, had the audacity to blame the British and MI6 for this atrocity.
---------
The Times November 28, 2005
French tried to blame Britain for sinking Greenpeace flagship
By Chris Johnston
The Rainbow Warrior just before it was sunk by the French in New Zealand waters in 1985.
The French Government tried to blame the 1985 sinking of the Greenpeace ship the Rainbow Warrior on MI6, according to official documents released under the Freedom of Information Act.
The campaign of “misinformation and smears” — suggesting that MI6 bombed the ship in New Zealand and framed French secret agents, or that MI6 knew in advance of the French mission — infuriated Margaret Thatcher’s Government. Malcolm Rifkind, then a Foreign Office minister, told British diplomats in Paris to demand an end to the stories in the media, but they continued to appear.
Sir John Fretwell, the British Ambassador in Paris, wrote of French officials’ “desperate attempts to find answers which will somehow satisfy public opinion while keeping the president [François Mitterrand] above the mêlée”.
Sir Geoffrey Howe, the Foreign Secretary, said he was “disturbed” that stories still appeared after he complained to his French counterpart.
timesonline.co.uk