Pol Le Gourrierec

Pol Le Gourrierec (or Le Gourriérec, 15 January 1921 – 19 July 1995) was a French diplomat who was best known for an incident during his service as French Ambassador to Pakistan.

Early life

Born in Cléguérec in January 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] He was Chargés d'Affaires in Iraq from February to September 1963.[7]: 67 [8]: 77  He was First Counselor of the Embassy in Warsaw in 1964.[9] In the late 1960s, he was Director of North African Affairs,[10]: 1076  and visited Tunisia in 1969.[11] 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 gradually unravelled sometime in mid to late 1978, certainly by February 1979, as the French became concerned about Pakistan's intentions regarding nuclear weapons.[12]: 472 [13][14]

Incident

On 26 June 1979, Le Gourrierec and his First Secretary, Jean Forlot, were stopped at a checkpoint. 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. 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.[15]: 191  However, according to several sources, their presence was intentional.[12] There was a physical altercation with five or six men.[12]: 66 [16][17]

Le Gourrierec was severely beaten,[14][16] and sustained a broken tooth, while Forlot had a split skull.[18] The men who assaulted them were not bandits or thugs, as initially suggested by the Pakistani authorities,[15] but were plain-clothed members of the security forces, acting under orders.[16][17] According to Khan, Forlot was passing on information to the CIA and may have been actively spying on its behalf.[16][17][19] Khan suggests that foreigners "got the message" and subsequently avoided the area,[16] but the Yugoslav ambassador later drove slowly along the perimeter wall in a show of solidarity, albeit with a diplomatic flag.[12]

Personal life

He died in Puylaroque in July 1995 at the age of 74.[20]

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

  1. ^ a b Le Nail B. Des Bretons au Mexique. Portes du larges. 2009. ISBN 9782914612272 page 202.
  2. ^ a b c d e Le Nail B
  3. ^ Bro Nevez: Newsletter of the U.S. Branch, Issues 77-88. The Branch, 2001 [1]
  4. ^ Gwernig Y, Huon R, de Bellaing V. Nouvelles bilingues. an Here, 2002 [2]
  5. ^ Le Gourrierec P. Deux aspects de la renaissance arabe en Tunisie. École nationale d'administration (ENA). 1947 [3]
  6. ^ Long M. Souvenirs des premières années de l'Indépendance du Maroc 1956 -1961. Conseiller aux affaires juridiques de l'ambassade de France à Rabat. La Revue administrative. Published by: Presses Universitaires de France. 53e Année, No. 314 (MARS AVRIL 2000), pp. 118-125 [4]
  7. ^ 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). [5] Retrieved 2 Aug 2015.
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ Journal officiel de la République française, Volume 96 France. 1964. page 5541. [6]
  10. ^ Documents diplomatiques français: 1968. (2 juillet - 31 décembre) edited by Ministere Des Affaires Etrangeres [7]
  11. ^ French Foreign Policy. Ambassade de France, Service de presse et d'information. January to June 1969, page 88. [8]
  12. ^ 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
  13. ^ India warned would 'smash' Pakistan nukes: US files. The Economic Times. PTI Dec 23, 2010. [9]
  14. ^ a b 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. [10]
  15. ^ a b Denoël Y. 1979. Guerres secrètes au Moyen-Orient. Nouveau Monde éditions, 2008. ISBN 9782847363951
  16. ^ a b c d e Khan AQ. Unsung heroes. The News International. August 04, 2014
  17. ^ a b c Kemp RS. The Nonproliferation Emperor Has No Clothes. MIT Press
  18. ^ L'Express Paris, Presse-Union. 1979 page 66
  19. ^ Abid A. The Secret Documents Recovered from the US Embassy, Tehran. Fore-Runners, Karachi. 1986
  20. ^ MatchID: LE GOURRIEREC Pol