This can probably help -
Intelligence, N. 88, 16 November 1998, p. 6
FRANCE - PIERRE-HENRI BUNEL
The inconsistencies that have characterized the secret
interrogation and arrest for treason of French army officer,
Major Pierre-Henri Bunel, 46, are a clear warning that more is
involved in this NATO spy case than anyone wants to say. A
good example is the presentation of the case by "Le Monde"
which first described Bunel as a French-English-Arab
interpreter during the 1991 Gulf War and Middle East specialist
"while not being considered an intelligence professional" (4
November). In fact, Bunel is an intelligence officer who
received a medal for an undisclosed successful spy operation.
On 5 November, "Le Monde" announced that US intelligence
services -- and not French intelligence as Paris would have it
-- first warned French officials of Bunel's work for Serbian
KOS intelligence officer, Lieut. Col. Jovan Milanovic. The
next day, quoting French Defense Minister, Alain Richard, "Le
Monde" stated the Mr. Richard's intelligence advisor, Gen.
Philippe Rondot -- known to be a pro-NATO and non-Gaullist
Middle East specialist -- first warned about Bunel, adding, on
10 November, that it was Gen. Rondot's "personal contacts"
outside French services that gave the information to the
general, a roundabout way of saying that no one wants to reveal
how the affair surfaced.
Another inconsistency in the Bunel case is the absolute silence
of NATO nations, and particularly the US, concerning possible
"lax French security". Usually there is a barrage of such
articles when this type of case surfaces. For some reason,
this time there has almost been "sympathy" -- "it can happen to
all of us" -- for the French military and France. According to
a rumor in French intelligence circles, this relative
condolence is due to the fact that the Bunel affair could be
more embarrassing to other allied intelligence services than to
French services if it is laid out for public examination. The
more "offensive" rumors hint that Brunel fell for a "false
flag" recruitment or "sting" operation that may involve the US.
If this were true, it would go a long way to explain the US
press' "kid gloves" treatment of the affair.
The other major inconsistency is the initial and deep
involvement in the affair of Direction de la Protection et de
la Securite de la Defense (DPSD), formerly Securite Militaire.
Bunel was caught "red-handed" with a "smoking gun" with a clear
case of treason to which he openly admitted. Such cases are
the brief of French civilian DST internal security, which now
has the case in hand. But it was the DPSD which first
confronted Bunel, shipped him off from his NATO job in Brussels
to Mont Valerien in France to secretly interrogate him for
several days before turning him over to the DST. This was not
necessary since Bunel was cooperating with the investigation
... unless he and the DPSD were on to something even more
delicate than "normal" treason. This reinforces the above
rumor of an allied "sting" operation "gone wrong" and Bunel
supposedly did reply "Yes" when the DPSD asked him if he felt
he had been manipulated by another intelligence service other
than the Serbian KOS. In such delicate cases, one cannot apply
the old adage, "Time will tell". Indeed, in France and abroad
many are hoping that time will bury the Bunel affair.