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] 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]

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

  1. 1 2 Le Nail B. Des Bretons au Mexique. Portes du larges. 2009. ISBN 9782914612272 page 202.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Le Nail B
  3. ↑ Bro Nevez: Newsletter of the U.S. Branch, Issues 77-88. The Branch, 2001
  4. ↑ Gwernig Y, Huon R, de Bellaing V. Nouvelles bilingues. an Here, 2002
  5. ↑ Le Gourrierec P. Deux aspects de la renaissance arabe en Tunisie. École nationale d'administration (ENA). 1947
  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
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 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). 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.
  10. ↑ Documents diplomatiques français: 1968. (2 juillet - 31 décembre) edited by Ministere Des Affaires Etrangeres
  11. ↑ French Foreign Policy. Ambassade de France, Service de presse et d'information. January to June 1969, page 88.
  12. 1 2 3 4 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.
  14. 1 2 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.
  15. 1 2 Denoël Y. 1979. Guerres secrètes au Moyen-Orient. Nouveau Monde éditions, 2008. ISBN 9782847363951
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 Khan AQ. Unsung heroes. The News International. August 04, 2014
  17. 1 2 3 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
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