Word: rainbows
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...republic. Since then, however, the party has lost much of that self-assurance, as voters have become disillusioned by the country's lagging economy and by suspicions that the government of President Francois Mitterrand has been trying to cover up its involvement in the July sabotage sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, flagship of the antinuclear Greenpeace movement. Opinion polls show that the voters are turning away from the Socialists to the conservative opposition parties. To many political observers, it now appears more than likely that the party will go down to defeat in legislative elections next March, which could force...
Perhaps nothing has had such a corrosive effect on the public's view of the Socialists as recent disclosures about the government's role in the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, in which a crew member was killed. For weeks the government denied any involvement in the bombing of the ship, which had been docked in the harbor of Auckland, New Zealand, before it was to lead a protest against French nuclear testing on Mururoa Atoll. Under persistent pressure from the French press, Premier Fabius was eventually forced to admit that French intelligence agents had indeed been ordered to blow...
...worst political crisis to hit the four-year-old government of Socialist President Francois Mitterrand seemed to be turning into a nightmare. For weeks French officials had denied charges that the Paris government was directly involved in the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, flagship of the Greenpeace environmental movement, in Auckland, New Zealand, last July 10. Nonetheless, a police investigation in New Zealand and a stream of press revelations in France steadily increased suspicions that Mitterrand and his advisers had indeed played a role in the affair. Early last week, after forcing the resignations of France's Defense Minister...
...Underwatergate affair." But after repeated denials of official involvement, Fabius' reversal provoked widespread skepticism. A Sofres-Le Figaro poll taken just before the Premier's midweek TV appearance indicated 52% of the French people believe that Mitterrand and Fabius knew beforehand about the plan to blow up the Rainbow Warrior. Fully 78% condemned the decision to sabotage the ship...
There is little chance the agents who actually carried out the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior will ever face trial in New Zealand. French law forbids their extradition, and the Mitterrand government, so far at least, refuses to name them. But in the arena of French politics, the prosecution of Laurent Fabius and Francois Mitterrand may have just begun. At week's end DGSE Director Imbot issued an ominous warning: "There has been a plot to destabilize and destroy the intelligence services. I have now sealed off those services. From now on, anything you hear in the press does...