What do secret agents do, “in real life”? To this question that everyone has already asked themselves, The Man from Tripoli (Mareuil Editions) sheds new light. In this book to be published on May 3, Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-François Lhuillier, agent of the DGSE for twenty-five years, reveals, under his real name, his mission for nearly three years in Libya, from July 2009 to March 2012. From the return to grace to the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, the spy makes us follow, day by day or almost, his many maneuvers. Recruitment of sources, manipulation games with the regime’s hierarchs, attempts at reversal, but also support for the anti-Gaddafi rebellion and identification of intoxications – devious – of the power in place… The testimony of the retired soldier, trained in the 1st regiment of marine infantry paratroopers, incubator of the special forces, offers an exceptional overview of the work of the French secret service, in this case that of a “head of post” abroad.
We shudder when Erard Corbin de Mangoux, the head of the DGSE, shakes hands with Abdallah Senoussi, the head of military intelligence, sentenced to life imprisonment in France for his role as the mastermind of the attack on flight UTA 772, which killed 170 people in 1989. Underground diplomacy has its reasons which go beyond common law. We tremble, as in a spy novel, when the staff of the intelligence service undertakes a delicate attempt to recruit Moussa Koussa, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, during thirty-six hours of real-false negotiations in Djerba , in Tunisia. An operation mounted with the assistance of Souheil Rached, the most discreet intermediary of the regime, presented as close to Claude Guéant. Many of the actors in this book are also quoted today in the file of the Libyan financing of the presidential campaign of Nicolas Sarkozy, in 2007.
We discover, dumbfounded, too, how Jean-François Lhuillier receives, on February 25, 2011, the instruction… to destroy all the sensitive materials of the French Embassy, in view of an evacuation. Mission only half-accomplished, since at the headquarters of the DGSE, the technical management is worried about what has become of the “injectors”, top secret electronic boxes allowing communications to be encrypted, which no one has ever spoken to. spy. All the more annoying since the keys of the embassy have been handed over… to the Russians! A flash operation of the Action service is considered, then abandoned. In a lighter way, we have fun with the friendly relations between foreign secret agents, who sometimes exchange information – non-strategic – around a good table. So much so that in Tunis, after the start of the insurrection – largely galvanized by the Qatari channel Al-Jazeera, according to the official – it was his British counterpart who informed Jean-François Lhuillier of the presence of members of the management DGSE operations alongside the Libyan rebels.
One of the many revelations of the book, since this open secret has never been officially recognized by the French government. A sign, also, that the compartmentalization of information between directions of the DGSE is not a legend. The ex-secret agent is worried about it, moreover, and documents the existence of counterproductive service battles. However, he denies the rumor that Gaddafi was killed by French spies. Jean-François Lhuillier had the names of sensitive sources replaced by pseudonyms; he did not have his book proofread by the DGSE but insisted on informing his former service two weeks before its publication. Information received with understandable vigilance by the intelligence agency, which will read a demanding tribute to the quality of French espionage. Senior officials discovered on this occasion, it seems, this literary project: like what, even spymasters cannot have their ears everywhere.
The Koussa mess
[Dix jours après le début de l’intervention française en Libye, Erard Corbin de Mangoux, le directeur de la DGSE, espère obtenir la défection de Moussa Koussa, le ministre des Affaires étrangères. De vraies-fausses négociations secrètes sont organisées à Djerba, en Tunisie, pour habiller l’opération, imaginée avec l’intermédiaire libanais Souheil Rached.]
According to the initial scenario, Koussa was to confirm his determination during the first interview session and return a few days later to board the special plane reserved for him. His fleeting reactions also gave the impression that he knew the intentions of the French, without approving them. Was it a misunderstanding or was it an illusion? The short session the next day, March 30 in the morning, only served to confirm the conclusions of the day before: continue the talks the following Saturday by coming up with successful proposals. But the real outcome remained unresolved.
At the time of parting, the French CEO, on the threshold of the show, presented Moussa Kousssa with the offer for which he had come. For a moment the Libyan was seen stepping back, hunched shoulders and pale-faced, as if desperate, then stumbling away, muttering incomprehensible words, Souheil at his heels. Had he refused? The Lebanese, quickly back, made reassuring remarks: his friend had just confirmed his desire to defect. Relief in the French camp! On this point, Souheil was telling the truth. But not entirely, a specialty at home. He had forgotten to specify when, where and how it could take place. The Director General, somewhat annoyed at not having been able to establish a more intimate contact with the Minister, returned to France, realizing with bitterness that this trip did not seem to have obtained the expected result. Anesthetized by the last soothing words of the Lebanese, he could not imagine for a second the news that would await him on his arrival… A few hours later, Moussa Koussa took a commercial flight from Djerba to London where he immediately obtained political asylum.
The Jasmine Enigma
[Jean-François Lhuillier remarque des étrangetés dans le profil de Jasmin, un haut fonctionnaire libyen considéré comme une source de très grande valeur par la DGSE.]
Studying Jasmin’s file during my preparation for leaving for the post, I was the only one to notice a weakness that had not been seen, or that had been silenced. […] The very first meeting between Jasmin and the assistant of the station had not been completely fortuitous, the pretext of the neighborhood was exaggeratedly invoked. Admittedly, the Libyan lived in the same district, but in a remote way and, being a residential sector, no favorable place, such as shops or cafes for example, was there. He had no plausible excuse to stroll down this quiet street, not even a dog to walk! His presence therefore seemed to be the result of a voluntary approach with the aim of provoking a first contact. In terms of counterintelligence, that changed everything, especially about his real motivations. […]
Hence this legitimate question: Isn’t Jasmin a Libyan man? […] La Boîte did not complain about the production of Jasmin and seemed to take little interest in the reservations I expressed, perhaps finding myself too demanding. The Central was rather conservative, unbolting a statue there was frowned upon. If there was a problem, it could only be a question of a quality of treatment, in a word it was the treating officer who was responsible for it.
Pact with the rebels
[En mai 2011, l’espion a un rendez-vous décisif avec des rebelles libyens dans un bar-boîte de nuit de Tunis.]
The arrival in force of the Libyan fighters provoked in me a kind of excitement, I had the impression of feeling adrenaline running through my veins. This meeting broke with the canons of the traditional manipulation of a human source, generally one-on-one, to which I was accustomed. The meeting that evening went beyond that. I found myself more in the conspiracy, in the secret assembly of a network of revolutionaries from whom I had to collect information by giving them support that I knew to be extremely parsimonious. A Dostoyevsky atmosphere floated in this place of pleasure! Conversely, the evening insurgents expected everything from me, seeking to obtain massive aid without being aware that the information was essential to give credibility to their reality and their influence on the ground. This first interview served to explain the terms of the equation to them, to bring them gently to real life, that of the Intelligence Department!
Exfiltrated Saleh family
[En septembre 2011, la DGSE organise l’exfiltration de la famille de Bachir Saleh, directeur de cabinet de Mouammar Kadhafi, en échange de son accord de favoriser le basculement du pouvoir.]
That evening, welcoming us, Bachir Saleh seemed relaxed and satisfied. He could be since it was the big night, that of the departure of his family for France. Surrounded by his children who came and went without worrying too much about our presence, he seemed relieved. He had the demonstration that his French friends, Dominique de Villepin and Claude Guéant, kept their word. Iskander Djouri [NDLR : Alexandre Djouhri]their mutual friend, with whom he spoke regularly, had indeed offered him his private jet to evacuate them, but to accompany them to Tunisia, to Djerba where the plane was, while he had no documents of identity, ran significant risks as to the secrecy of the company that the French wanted absolute.
La Boîte, on the orders of the political authorities, was going to study several scenarios then implement the exfiltration of his relatives by a risky and costly clandestine operation, mobilizing human, maritime and air resources. A few days were enough to prepare the chosen option. The Action service was a past master in the art of these techniques, especially since the presence of Gaddafi’s adviser near a beach held by a friendly katiba facilitated a discreet evacuation by sea. darkest of the night that the SA team members came silently to the villa to look for the happy fugitives, stopping the babbling of the youngest, in particular of the last-born, Tara, a cheerful and mischievous little girl whom her father saw move away visibly moved.
On September 14, Bachir Saleh’s family was safe somewhere in France without the slightest indiscretion leaking out.
The Man from Tripoli. Secret Agent Memoirs, by Jean-Francois Lhuillier. Mareuil Editions, 357 pages, €21.90.