Two French Agents Kidnapped in Somalia — Why Were They There?
On July 14, in the lawless African nation of Somalia, two French men registered as journalists were eating breakfast at the Sahafi Hotel in Mogadishu. Heavily armed gunmen stormed the hotel. According to Reuters, they went room to room looking for the two men. After being located and abducted, the French citizens were turned over to al-Qaeda’s arm in Somalia, a group called al-Shabaab — this according to Lieutenant-Colonel Muhideen Ahmed, a Somalian police official.
To date, they remain hostages.
In a bizarre twist, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner went on record saying that the two men were actually posing as journalists. He said they were in fact “government security advisers” in Somalia on a mission to provide security advice for Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, Somalia’s interim president.
According to Reporters Without Borders, the title “security adviser” is a long stretch. The men were agents with General Directorate for External Security, or DGSE — France’s foreign intelligence agency. France’s DGSE functions like the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or the United Kingdom’s Secret Intelligence Service (MI-6). Reporters Without Borders was quick to condemn the situation:
“Being a journalist is not a cover, it is a profession,” its spokesman said. “We hope these two [French] advisers are freed quickly but we are shocked that they were passing themselves off as journalists. They were on an official mission and had no need of cover. Their behavior endangers journalists in a region where media personnel are already in danger.”
Anyone who recalls why Daniel Pearl was beheaded in Pakistan in 2002 need not wonder why using “journalist” as a cover puts journalists in more danger than they already are. Pearl, a journalist with the Wall Street Journal, was accused of being a spy.
I have two separate comments about this article, and the situation in Somalia regarding these two Frenchmen.
First, I’ve never understood the prohibition held so dear by reporters, that spies can’t masquerade as journalists. Journalists are in the business of gathering, and then publishing information. Spies gather information too, but then pass it on to a government. Anyone who has information they *don’t* want spread around, that they don’t want a spy to pass on to a government, unfriendly or otherwise, won’t want that information on the front page of the paper, either. I’ve always felt that the real reason this “rule” exists is that most intelligence agencies need good press, and if you want that, you’d better do what the reporters want you to: don’t impersonate them. For one thing, most of them find the goals of Western intelligence agencies somewhat repellent; they wouldn’t want to participate, even indirectly, in their success. And the idea that Daniel Pearl was killed because he was thought a spy is silly: that’s window-dressing. He was killed because he was Jewish, and because the Taliban was/is losing the war. That simple. People like that don’t need any other rationale for what they do.
Second, the French intelligence agencies are famous for being somewhat rogue, compared with those in the rest of the world. Back in the early ’60s some of their membership went crazy, over the French withdrawal from Algeria, and tried to assassinate de Gaulle. Some years later they blew up a Greenpeace boat that was being used to protest French nuclear tests in the South Pacific. They tend to go off the leash and do interesting things in the name of national security, and generally they are forgiven (though the guys who tried to kill de Gaulle weren’t, really). Look for the French to try and get their guys back, and work pretty hard at it.
Why were they there? Well, Djibouti, once known as French Somaliland, borders Somalia. The French still have interests in that former colony (apparently French is still an official language along with Arabic). So why is it surprising that both France and the ethnic Somali government of Djibouti would be interested in helping the provisional government of Somalia?
my first impression :
seems you got erronned infos :
“Il semblerait qu’il y ait confusion entre la fonction de ces deux agents en mission officielle et le nom de l’hotel : Sahafi veut dire “journaliste” en arabe. L’hôtel est, de plus, occupé par plusieurs membres du gouvernement somalien et les deux agents y conduisaient une partie des entretiens préparatoires à l’accomplissement de leur mission (formation militaire à Djibouti d’unités somaliennes)”
There seems to be confusion between the function of these two agents on official business and the name of the hotel: Sahafi means “journalist” in Arabic. The hotel is also occupied by several members of the Somali government and the two officers drove some of the talks to fulfill their mission (military training to Somali Djibouti units).
There is in fact a UN protocol- which France and the US both sponsored- which specifically prohibits intelligence operatives using journalistic covers, because of the extra danger that would incur for actual journalists, who already have enough problems in countries run by anti-Western theocracies, etc.
Of course, this isn’t the first time that the French intelligence services have done the opposite of what the French government told them to. (Anyone remember the “Rainbow Warrior”?)
Two agents kidnapped while using a prohibited cover in an unsecured area, without proper backup, and while engaged in a mission with a dubious objective and even more dubious probability of success smacks less of realistic intelligence operations procedure, and more of a Peter Sellers movie. (The difference being, of course, that the usual end result of such botches, in real life, is seldom even remotely funny, especially for the field executives who end up in the lurch.)
I’d say this “mission failure” indicates that French intelligence needs a general housecleaning at the supervisory level- emphasis on replacing any director or case officer who, mentally, in any way resembles Inspector Clouseau.
clear ether
eon
Arrivés à Mogadiscio vers le 5 juillet, via le Kenya, ses deux hommes, civils ou militaires, ne sont pas des espions agissant sous couvert dans le cadre d’une opération clandestine. Ce sont des fonctionnaires envoyés officiellement mais discrètement par la France pour aider les autorités « légales » de Somalie, le « gouvernement fédéral de transition » de l’islamiste « modéré » Sharif Cheikh Ahmed. Leur rôle était double : évaluer les besoins en matière de sécurité du président somalien et servir d’éléments précurseurs pour la formation d’un bataillon militaire. En mai 2009, la France et les Etats-Unis se sont engagés à aider le gouvernement somalien à se doter d’une petite « garde prétorienne » comme le dit Kouchner : Paris et Washington formant chacun 500 hommes, à Djibouti et en Ouganda
…Arrived in Mogadishu to July 5, via Kenya, two men, civilian or military, are not spies acting under cover as part of a clandestine operation. They are civil servants officially but discretly sent by France to assist the legal authority in Somalia, the Transitional Federal Government of the Islamic “moderate” Sheikh Sharif Ahmed. Their role was twofold: to assess the security needs of the Somali president and serve as precursors for the formation of a military battalion. In May 2009, France and the United States pledged to help the Somali government to establish a small “praetorian guard” as Kouchner said Paris and Washington each forming 500 troops, Djibouti and Uganda…
Eon,
I see that any operation where French are involved is an opportunity to ridicule or condamn French.
Now, who complained that these 2 “agents” were usurpating a “journalist” identity ?
Funny –> “Reporters without borders”, but did they cared to go there for infos ? or even to enquiry about that famous “brothel”, Sahafi, apparently an auberge for multiple detective scenarios !
uh, these people are well known for representing some global lefty views, and don’t spit in the soup of their subventionners, hmmm, you want to know from which organisations they get their money ?
Also, tell me which foreigners there, be them journalists, or whatever, aren’t threatened to get rapted !
Taking hostages for ransoms is a traditional and lucre somalian activity
Trahison against each other “groups” is another somalian speciality
Now, I’m telling you a secret, these 2 French were of maghrebin origin !
“The French still have interests in that former colony”
yeah, as so the Americans, hmm, is there any american base there ?
Keep Bill Clinton and the UN out of it. Gad! Think of the disaster.
The French are perhaps the only competent non-Israeli special ops force left in the world. There won’t be any Blackhawk Down with them.
http://www.parismatch.com/Actu-Match/Monde/Actu/Imbroglio-a-Mogadiscio-des-otages-bien-encombrants-116513/
see the Sahafi Hotel “entry-form”, it doesn’t mention that the guis were “journalists”
funny, my posts have been removed, though they were not offencing, but complete infos
…all good in a nice world. I don’t think the Islamists care if the person is a journalist or not. WHY. to them the journalist is a spy ..even when he/she is not a spy. It doesn’t matter if they are spys or journalists …they still are infidels.
These people (islamists) don’t care about our rules, our justice, our values, our anything.
We have been in a war with them since the religion was founded. the only respite was when we were strong and principled. Alas we are neither now.
Incidently many journalists do double duty as spys. some wilfully some not. some consiously some not.
Hm. I don’t understand what’s so suspicious about this. “Journalist” is a venerable cover for intelligence officers, just as “journalist” is often a cover for… journalists. Sarcasm aside, I’m sure there are myriad good reasons to be scouting Somalia – what else can a foreign government do in a place as lawless as Somlia than send covert ops in to get a real look at events? I hope these aren’t the only Western agents in there, although I hope these are the only ones who get caught (and that these are soon released).
The French often do great work in intelligence. I don’t think people should underestimate their purpose or their ability.
One check though – do we know they were white-skinned? When I was last in Paris I saw many, many African French, for example.
I used to work in sillycon valley, the French were always spying, getting caught, getting deported, and come back again with fake passports and ID. For some reason France has a very aggressive spy network in corporate and military circles. Israeli’s are right up there with France running around California’s computer and defense industries.
This was just sloppy, pretty surprising unless it was their intention to get caught.
alex, are you sure you were not seeing “drag queens” ?
umm, talk about your compatriots too, how many were caught lately “spying” on enemis borders ? LMAO
“What was the French president doing sending French intelligence agents to Somalia? It’s a question we need journalists to answer.”
What is the point of this post exactly? No , we don’t need to know what President Sarkozy was doing sending french intelligence agents to Somalia (though I could make an educated guess). If he is sending intelligence agents there – more power to him, about the only western leader with the spine and gumption to call a spade a bloody shovel when it comes to islamic extremism. “The burqa is not welcome in France”? Bravo, President Sarkozy. The last thing we want or need is American journalists pontificating on the issue and putting such agents at risk.
Pelaut,
“the french are the only competent special forces outside of Israel, no blackhawk down with them”
Black Hawk Down happened SIXTEEN YEARS AGO. And it was a colossal failure of politicians and political will to supply and guide that mission, not a failure of military will or competence to perform it.
American special forces are the best in the world, on a par with Israeli and French and anyone else.
I fear today we have yet ANOTHER leader with no political will and no spine, but the competence of our men should not be questioned. IT is almost always the politicians who cause the military to fail, by waffling and wobbling and worrying, losing commitment, losing will.
Dave is right. And thankfully the SECDEF moved on after a demonstrated lack of leadership by making field level decisions he had no business making. Focus on the objectives and let the commander’s figure out how to get the job done.
Marie, thank you for the translations. I’ve found the comments here just as informative as the story – if not more informative!
Dave, I agree with you. You make my point nicely. I don’t short the American military, but I DO go long on the French political will and the competency of their special ops. I use Blackhawk as an example of the American political and general staff perfidy which incapacitates us, AND of the betrayed heroism of the individual American soldier.
Dave, you aren’t entirely right. Check out the following link http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/613twavk.asp, an article by Richard Shultz. While the article is a few years old, based on what I’ve been reading in regards to Afghanistan, it’s still applicable today. Risk aversion isn’t solely the domain of the politicians.
Yes, there is considerable crossover between journalist and intelligence agent/case officer, the line is important. Plenty of options for cover identities without using journalist.
I’m one American who’s very glad to see the french have woken up, if only slightly. Perhaps the Dutch and Brits will follow suit, although I’m not going to hold my breath. The world is a very dark place and only vigilance can keep our land peaceful and the light of civilization on. I only hope we wake up before it’s too late here….
Back in the early ’60s some of their membership went crazy, over the French withdrawal from Algeria, and tried to assassinate de Gaulle
Nope. It is probable that like many other people, including four five star generals, some members of the secret service were involved in the failed coup in 1961 but for the assassination attempts they were perpetrated by civilians and some very junior members of the military (the highest ranked was a lieutenant). None of the perpetrators was connected to the French secret services.
19 Peter,
The French weren’t “asleep”, just that your medias didn’t lightened this active part, but rather focused on the “surrender play” that was fashionable during the past few years, besides these were about to glorify the great America.
How can you construct an effective anti-terrorist organisation if you don’t work for it all the time ?
How can you explain that we avoid terrorist attacks since the nineties ?
The problem of the Brits and of the Dutchs, is multiculturalism that allows creeping sharia inside their countries, when we are strongly against any
ah, JFM, where were you when I badly need you ?
now, I shall shout “De Gaulle” when it’ll happen, and you’ll come around
To Marie Claude
In my land house. No internet, no phone but plenty of the most delicious apples man has ever tasted since that one Eve gave to Adam.
how comes your apples are already ripe ? here it’s in autumn !
well in my father’s orchard in Brittany
uh I forgot to register, my post got swallowed
since the link can’t get through :
“U.S. steps up anti-piracy efforts off Somalia
By The Washington Post
The U.S. Navy is adopting more aggressive tactics to counter piracy off the coast of Somalia, helping last week to make the area free of captured vessels for the first time since February, according to a senior U.S. Navy commander in the region.
The pirates, Somali clansmen and trained fighters armed with AK-47 assault rifles, operate in small skiffs as far as 200 miles offshore, according to the U.S. military. They have hijacked and held as many as six merchant ships for ransoms of millions of dollars since February, the military said.
In the past, the pirates counted on being able to flee into territorial waters, but in recent months U.S. naval ships have gained permission to pursue them and cut off their access to fresh supplies.
“We positioned the ships and helicopters … to have complete visibility between the beach and the pirated vessel,” said Vice Adm. Kevin Cosgriff, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and the U.S. 5th Fleet. Two U.S. ships at a time, each with about 300 sailors, were involved in the operations, part of a broader maritime security mission around the Horn of Africa, he said.
“We told them, “You will not be able to resupply, and if you want to send a boat out to remove yourselves, you have to ask for approval,’” Cosgriff said Friday in a telephone interview from his headquarters in Bahrain.
In addition, the Navy has destroyed the pirate ships “as a repressive measure,” Cosgriff said. “They were disabled” with gunfire, “cut adrift, and sunk as hazards to navigation.”
In the latest incident, the pirates hijacked the Japanese-owned ship Golden Nori in October and released it Wednesday, the last of several captured vessels. The U.S. ships involved in the pursuit included the guided missile destroyer USS Porter, named after Commodore David Porter, known for his counter-piracy exploits in the West Indies in the 1820s.
Cosgriff said that at least 200 pirates operate from three camps along the Somali coast and that until now they had been “modestly successful.”
Typically, the pirates approach the merchant ships, which are usually unarmed, and threaten the crew, demanding ransom and pilfering the ship before they leave. In one incident, pirates shot a crew member and put his body in a freezer. In another, they engaged in a shootout with the crew of a North Korean cargo vessel as it left Mogadishu, the Somali capital. A U.S. ship treated the wounded North Korean crew.”
umm, America is present, don’t complain
how comes your apples are already ripe ? here it’s in autumn !
To Marie Claude:
Here too. It is just this particular variety (no idea of its name) who becomes ripe by about July 15, and unlike what is usual in precocious varieties it tastes like fruits of the Eden garden.
To mods: Please allow this post, it is my last one in the thread, promised!
Somalis are not interested in being domesticated, and neither are they interested in appeasing lousy french spies known for their arrogance and buffy farts. who care if they were spies??????????????? and what difference will it make to the Somalis?????????????????
an invader/foreigner/intruder/missionary groups = criminals
so let them get taxed for coming to Somalia as if it was their backyard. rumours are flying that the AL-SHABAAB have demanded $500 million dollars of randsom for the release of these criminals
Marie,
I speak merely of your country’s election of someone who publicly shows spine. I like Sarkozy far more than my own President, in fact, I’d like to trade you folks. Vocalizing who the enemy is in this conflict is as important as covert action and Sarkozy knows who the enemy is.
I like the talk of the OAS. Having studied the Algerian conflict, I don’t entirely blame the men on the Foreign for their actions. They had won the conflict, shed much blood(their own and the enemy), and then had the rug pulled out from under them. Americans like to blame the politicians for the defeat of Vietnam, but in reality it was the propaganda war that was lost. The veterans of Algeria truly had someone to complain about. Charles stabbed them in the back, no other way to see it.
BTW, what part of France would one find a lastname like mine? Alps? Pyrenees?
clear up typos
“I don’t entirely blame the men on the Foreign for their actions” should have written “I don’t entirely blame the men of the Foreign Legion for their actions”
Fortunately we have a fanax well formated, that rejoyces for these french guis misfortune, but they were doing America’s job too !
you loose the opportunity to STFU
“Their role was twofold: to assess the security needs of the Somali president and serve as precursors for the formation of a military battalion. In May 2009, France and the United States pledged to help the Somali government to establish a small “praetorian guard” as Kouchner said Paris and Washington each forming 500 troops, Djibouti and Uganda…”
Now If I had only to rely on you to help America, I wouldn’t bother
you don’t deserve attention
Peter,
Montbriand is in Brittany too
first the writer, Chateaubriand who lived in a castel in Combourg (department 35) and is burried in St Malo tiny island, “le petit Be” (I believe)
and the small city Chateaubriand (in the department 44)
well Algeria war wasn’t that simple deal, as reported, many factors were determinating, too long to relate here.
I guess this is the version you had on your side.
no wonder capitalism is based on bullying
why not send french spies to north korea!
my friends, if this is the sort of democracy you love to preach, then its not worth a toilet paper
Somalis are able to fix their own problems whether its in the form of jihadism, islamism, shabaabism, secularism and all the other none-sense isms that might be associated with your Buffy super-egos.
we would love to welcome you to Somalia’s beautiful costs only IF you appreciate the current events in Somalia and their dimensions (not from a western perspective but rather from a SOMALI perspective)
you are after all and resources, but in the meantime you want to genocide the SOMALI race simply because they have refused to be domesticated by your unrealistic policies = labeling tactics
we will give you the oil, if you begin negotiating with the SHABAAB (after all they control 80% of Somalia’s landmass)
we want ISLAMIC STATE with A SECULAR GOVERNMENT
but if you wish to Christianize the entire 20 million population, then you are out of your mind.
the shabaab are willingly to shake the hand of an “infidel” provided the “infidel” understands the reality on the ground.
or
just NUKE the entire Somali race and only then can you swallow the country peacefully.
the bulk of the Somali population is against foreign intervention, even your fellow Somali friends who spy on your behalf are themselves leaking your information and under such circumstances all your efforts are completely wasted.
by the way is it hate against the Somali race that drives your blogs or ignorance, because, we don’t hate the West and wonder why they keep suffocating our country.
recently uncle sam (god bless him), shipped 100 tones of ammunition to Somalia, the best gift we have received from the uncle for the last 20 years, other than that it was the normal silent genocide (expired food, dumping nuclear waste, and other collateral damages)
if uncle and his associates are smart and want to really reduce radicalism in Somalia, let him become merciful and compassionate. we are not arabs, we are CUSHITES
in africa you have
1. nilotes (southern sudan and around lake victoria). Obama is half nilote
2. bantus (negroes)
3. cushites (somalis, ancient PUNT)
an old Somali proverb says
“if you refuse me to consume that piece of meat, then I will put it to the sand in order for you not to have it”
if you want the oil in the country and the beautiful cost MINUS islamists, then you better allow us to join the rest of the civilized world and return the HAWD GRAZING LAND (OGADEN) from ethiopia.
no other demands
god bless you mis-informed creatures
De Gaullllllllllllllle !!!!
j’ai un idiot à nos trousses OLMAO
HMMM, JFM you still can rest
maintenant que j’ai lu le post, c’est un villan looter from Somalia that is on
Fanax, did you ask yourself once, why your neighbours from Djibouti and Ethipia don’t like you ? and it’s not from yesterday, but from ages !
None wants to make a genocide there only that your country becomes a sane country, for the population first, cuz she is paying the high price of egocentric bellicouse warlords
Don’t worry, you’ll get what you deserve at time
Somalia is a great country and the people there are lovely.
the western countries are responsible for the suffering of the Somalis and has nothing to do with “radical islam”, and the natural response you get from SOMALIS is “F*CK YOU”
The Hawd Grazing land (Ogaden)is a prime example of the injustices committed by the west, and yet you still expect to easily drill oil and squander the wealth of the Somalis without paying a price!