Pol Le Gourrierec
Pol Le Gourrierec (or Le Gourriérec) was a French diplomat. He is most prominently known for an incident during his service as French Ambassador to Pakistan.
Early life
Born in Cléguérec on January 15, 1921,[1] he was fluent in Breton as well as French.[1][2] In January 1945, he was one of the founders, along with poet and editor Ronan Huon, of the Breton language cultural magazine, Tír na nÓg [3][4] which merged in 1948 with Al Liamm.[2]
Diplomatic service
He had an early interest in North Africa.[5] In 1948, he joined the diplomatic service.[2]
He served as an embassy secretary in Morocco in the late 1950s,[6] and was Chargés d'Affaires in Iraq from February to September 1963.[7]: 67 [8]: 77 In the late 1960s, he was Director of North African Affairs, and visited Tunisia in 1969.[9] He served as French Ambassador to Bulgaria from 1971 to 1975,[7]: 46 to Pakistan from 1976 to 1979,[7]: 87 and to the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1979 to 1982.[7]: 102
Pakistan
Background
The French had initially resisted US pressure to cancel a contract to build a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, but the deal collapsed sometime in late 1978 or by February 1979 as the French became concerned about Pakistan's intentions regarding nuclear weapons.[10]: 472 [11]
Incident
On 25 June 1979, as they were driving alone through the town of Kahuta some 25 miles southwest of Islamabad, in a vehicle with a local rather than a diplomatic number plate and without displaying a diplomatic flag, Le Gourrierec and his First Secretary, Jean Forlot, were stopped at a checkpoint. According to Denoël, they were driving to Islamabad, and intended to visit a long-unused military fortress, but accidentally took a wrong turn and passed near a secret nuclear bomb complex.[12]: 191 However, according to several sources, their presence was intentional.[10] There was a physical altercation with five or six men.[10]: 66 [13][14]
Le Gourrierec was severely beaten,[13][15] and sustained a broken tooth, while Forlot had a split skull.[16] The men who assaulted them were not bandits or thugs, as initially suggested by the Pakistani authorities,[12] but were plain-clothed members of the security forces, acting under orders.[13][14] According to Khan, Forlot was passing on information to the CIA and may have been actively spying on its behalf.[13][14][17] Khan suggests that foreigners "got the message" and subsequently avoided the area,[13] but the Yugoslav ambassador later drove slowly along the perimeter wall in a show of solidarity, albeit with a diplomatic flag.[10]
Family
His son, Alain Le Gourriérec,[2] was French Ambassador to Paraguay from 1993 to 1994,[7]: 88 to Chile from 2001 to 2005,[7]: 49 and to Mexico from 2005 to 2008.[2][7]: 81
References
- ^ a b Le Nail B. Des Bretons au Mexique. Portes du larges. 2009. ISBN 9782914612272 page 202.
- ^ a b c d e Le Nail B. [1]
- ^ Bro Nevez: Newsletter of the U.S. Branch, Issues 77-88. The Branch, 2001 [2]
- ^ Nouvelles bilingues Youenn Gwernig, Ronan Huon, Vefa de Bellaing an Here, 2002
- ^ Le Gourrierec P. Deux aspects de la renaissance arabe en Tunisie. École nationale d'administration (ENA). 1947
- ^ http://www.jstor.org/stable/40773143?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
- ^ a b c d e f g Liste chronologique des Ambassadeurs, Envoyés Extraordinaires, Ministres Plénipotentiaires et Chargés d'Affaires de France à l'Étranger depuis 1945. (PDF, in French). Ministry of Foreign Affairs (France). [3] Retrieved 2 Aug 2015.
- ^ Styan D. France and Iraq: Oil, Arms and French Policy-Making in the Middle East. Library of International Relations published by I. B. Tauris, 2006. ISBN 9781845110451
- ^ French Foreign Policy. Ambassade de France, Service de presse et d'information. January to June 1969, page 88. [4]
- ^ a b c d Levy A, Scott-Clarck C: Deception: Pakistan, the United States, and the Secret Trade in Nuclear Weapons. Walker Books, 2007, ISBN 9780802715548
- ^ India warned would 'smash' Pakistan nukes: US files. The Economic Times. PTI Dec 23, 2010. [5]
- ^ a b Denoël Y. 1979. Guerres secrètes au Moyen-Orient. Nouveau Monde éditions, 2008. ISBN 9782847363951
- ^ a b c d e Khan AQ. Unsung heroes. The News International. August 04, 2014 http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-9-265190-Unsung-heroes
- ^ a b c Kemp RS. The Nonproliferation Emperor Has No Clothes. MIT Press. [6]
- ^ National Security Archive's Nuclear Documentation Project. The United States and Pakistan's Quest for the Bomb: Newly Declassified Documents Disclose Carter Administration's Unsuccessful Efforts to Roll Back Islamabad's Secret Nuclear Program The George Washington University. 2010. [7]
- ^ L'Express Paris, Presse-Union. 1979 page 66 [8]
- ^ Abid A. The Secret Documents Recovered from the US Embassy, Tehran. Fore-Runners, Karachi. 1986