Word: mitterrand
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...Charles Pasqua, Senate whip for the neo-Gaullist Rally for the Republic party, stepped up to the rostrum. Shaking one fist in the air and pointing his other hand accusingly at the government's front bench, Pasqua launched into one of the strongest attacks yet against President Francois Mitterrand's four-year-old Socialist government. "If it is proved that the French secret services are | implicated in this affair," he proclaimed, "then the responsibility could not be sought anywhere except at the level of the Premier. Who is to believe that the military can act without orders? France...
...response to the scandal, President Mitterrand appointed Bernard Tricot, 65, a highly respected aide to President Charles de Gaulle 17 years ago, to head an official commission of inquiry. As the accusations and conjectures multiplied, Tricot discreetly interviewed Premier Laurent Fabius, Vice Admiral Pierre Lacoste, head of the DGSE, and other high-ranking government and military officials. Tricot's mission is to find out who sank the Rainbow Warrior and who gave the orders to do it. His eagerly awaited report is expected to be issued this week...
...Mitterrand has promised to punish those found responsible, and there is wide speculation that among them will be Defense Minister Charles Hernu, one of Mitterrand's close friends and asso ciates. Hernu, whose ministry has responsibility for the security agency, told journalists last week that his "conscience is clear." He was not, he later told intimates, "even dreaming of the possibility of resigning...
When French President Francois Mitterrand attended the biennial Paris Air Show in 1981, many of the bombs, cannons and rockets had to be hidden, and advanced Mirage 2000 jet fighters streaked overhead stripped of their air-to-air missiles. Things were different when Mitterrand visited the current air show and viewed the lethal products of France's armaments industry, from a variety of missiles to armed Mirages. The episode was evidence of how Mitterrand and his ruling Socialists have gone from criticizing France's arms trade as unprincipled to promoting a business that is sorely needed to boost exports. Declared...
Before leaving for Paris, Mitterrand conceded that disagreement remained on Star Wars, but warned against drawing "excessive conclusions." While acknowledging obstacles, he also insisted that "the Franco-German relationship is, to the Chancellor's eyes and mine, fundamental for the success of Europe." In the absence of firm agreements, it seemed that the two leaders had fallen back on a bottom-line goal: to limit damage and ensure that the current discord does not widen...