The newly discovered documents released on Tuesday afternoon stated that cement giant Lafarge informed France’s intelligence services about its relationship with Daesh in Syria, meaning that French institutions and officials were aware that the company cooperated with the terrorist group. The revelation came a week after French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Daesh’s former fortress, Mosul, where the terrorist group had committed massive atrocities against Iraqi civilians, including Christians, Yazidis and other minorities.
Macron, who has vowed to fight “Islamic terrorism” in Iraq, had previously accused Turkey of supporting Daesh in early December 2019, claiming that Turkish authorities “worked with Daesh intermediaries from time to time.”
The French leader’s accusations were vehemently denied by officials in Turkey, a country that has waged an effective fight against the terrorist group in several cross-border military offensives.
The shocking revelations about the cement giant and the French authorities are serious, as the documents contradict France and Macron’s position on the fight against terrorism. Lafarge has an established network of relationships that it uses in the region to cooperate with terrorist organizations and continue to operate. Documents obtained by the Anadolu Agency (AA) reveal that French intelligence agencies were aware of how the company operated in Syria and chose to use its network to gain more intelligence, without notifying Lafarge that he was committing a crime.
The Anadolu Agency accessed documents showing that cement giant Lafarge was constantly informing French intelligence agencies about its links to the Daesh / ISIS terrorist group. French Supreme Court upheld charges against Lafarge for “terrorist financing” pic.twitter.com/U8j5TdFj7U
– ANADOLU AGENCY (@anadoluagency) September 7, 2021
The disclosures came just a week after Macron’s visit to Daesh’s former stronghold in Iraq, Mosul.
The French president was also angry at his support for YPG, the Syrian wing of the terrorist organization PKK, recognized as a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union and many other countries. Macron has welcomed YPG representatives to the Elysee Palace before triggering another in Turkey, which sees the PKK-linked group’s presence near the southern border as a security threat due to its organic ties to the separatists. of the country.
Lafarge was investigated accused of “participating in crimes against humanity” on the basis that he paid Daesh to carry out its activities in Syria. The former CEO of the company was also accused of paying the terrorist group Daesh to allow the company to continue operating in Syria. The French company was said to have paid Daesh and other militants about $ 5.6 million ($ 46.71 million) between 2012 and 2014 because production at its plant in northern Syria did not interrupted. Lafarge’s Syrian subsidiary, Lafarge Cement Syria, was also believed to have used fake contracts to buy fuel from Daesh.
First contact in 2014
In the new documents belonging to the French state, it is understood that the relationship between Lafarge and the French intelligence service began with an email sent by the company’s security director, Jean Claude Veillard, to a address of the Ministry of Intelligence on 22 January. , 2014.
Veillard stated in his email that Lafarge was still active in Syria and that he needed to establish relationships with “local actors” to continue his work. The security director asked the intelligence service about the risk to executives and headquarters, noting that there had been some negative coverage about the press. In response to Lafarge, the intelligence agent informed him of a date to discuss the situation.
After the scandalous discussion about Lafarge-Daesh relations in France and the reflection of the issue in court, the intelligence officer, called in code AM 02, ruled in court on November 18, 2018.
According to the court transcript, the agent admitted that Lafarge was his source of information in Syria. The intelligence agent explained to the judge how the French secret services took advantage of the Lafarge factory. In the records, the intelligence agent did not rule out Daesh, saying that during the period 2012-2014 Lafarge sent cement to all armed groups in Syria, including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the terrorist group linked to al-Qaeda formally known as the Nusra Front.
“We addressed the purely opportunistic situation, taking advantage of Lafarge’s continued work,” the intelligence officer told the court.
Details of the shipment of cement to Daesh were discussed in correspondence between Veillard and the intelligence service of the French Interior Ministry on September 1, 2014.
“Can you give more details on the cement that will go to Daesh?” asked the French intelligence agent, making it clear that the French state was aware of Lafarge’s relationship with the terrorist organization at the time.
In the documents seen by AA, a surprising finding is that more than 30 meetings took place between Lafarge and the French national, foreign and military intelligence services between 2013 and 2014 alone.
Daesh is known to have built strong shelters and tunnels against U.S.-led coalition forces with the cement provided to it.
Veillard, the company’s head of security, testified before police on November 30, 2017, when Lafarge was accused of committing crimes against humanity by funding terrorist organizations.
According to the transcript obtained by AA, Veillard tried to prove that he had informed the French state and the intelligence agencies of everything he had done during his deposition.
The annexes to the statement included documents relating to the interview with Lafarge’s field security manager, the conditions as they were developed on the ground and the information he received.
It was understood that Veillard shared information about conflicts with French intelligence, updating them on the balance between military and armed groups.
On one of the pages in question was a handwritten note from Veillard in October 2013, which read, “Sent to French Foreign Intelligence (DGSE).”
In France, in 2016, the news was published that Lafarge was funding the terrorist organization Daesh in the Syrian civil war.
According to the French press, the company supplied materials and fuel to the organization, in addition to paying bribes to Daesh to continue working in the Jalabiya region of Syria, a city near Ain al-Arab.
Although in 2017 the company admitted that it had paid armed groups to keep the factory open, it denied the allegations of “participating in crimes against humanity.”
Eight executives of the company, in which an investigation was initiated, were accused of financing terrorism and collaborating in crimes against humanity.
However, the charge of “participating in crimes against humanity” that was filed against the company in June 2018 was dropped in November 2019.
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that reacted to the dismissal of the prosecution took the matter to the highest court in France.
The court is demanding a new investigation
The French court of cassation was expected to make a decision on Tuesday to pave the way for Lafarge to be charged with complicity in crimes against humanity for funding Daesh terrorists. In the ruling, the court said Lafarge should face an investigation into a charge of complicity in crimes against humanity in Syria, which would overturn a previous sentence.
According to another intelligence document revealed earlier this year, French state officials were briefed on payments made by cement giant Lafarge to Daesh terrorists in Syria. The August 2014 confidential document notes that Lafarge had signed an agreement with Daesh to maintain trade operations in Syria, Liberation reports daily. Under the agreement, Daesh terrorists allowed Lafarge to continue operations at the confiscated factory in northern Syria, Jalabiya, in exchange for 13 million euros ($ 15.3 million). Lafarge faces a series of cases for violating the embargo, threatening the lives of its workers and funding a terrorist organization.
Turkey’s counterterrorism operations in northeastern Syria have revealed security threats that arise when terrorist groups usurp infrastructure and manufacturing facilities.
In a speech in 2019, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan again censured the large amount of ammunition and heavy weapons supplied by the Syrian branch of the PKK, the YPG, by Turkey’s allies, particularly by the United States. YPG not only has weapons and ammunition, but also important facilities, such as the vast Lafarge plant in Jalabiya, which the group uses as a base and place of manufacture.
“We are seeing 90-kilometer-long tunnels in northern Syria. How do they build these tunnels? Where does the cement come from to build them? The president asked. “The cement for the construction of the tunnel comes from Lafarge’s French plant in the region,” he said, demanding an explanation from France, one of Turkey’s allies in NATO.