France made deal with Abu Nidal terrorist group in 1982.

[Dan193]

http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/attentat-de-la-rue-des-rosiers-le-pacte-secret-passe-avec-les-terroristes-08-08-2019-8130903.php
Attack on the rue des Rosiers: the secret pact with the terrorists
37 years after the bombing of the Rue des Rosiers in Paris, the former head of the French intelligence has admitted before a judge to have negotiated an agreement with the group responsible for the killing.
By Vincent Gautronneau and Jérémie Pham-Lê
August 8, 2019

"We had a sort of verbal deal saying to them: I do not want any more attacks on the French soil and in return, I let you come to France, I guarantee you that nothing will happen to you. This shock sentence, released last January 30, in the office of the judge in charge of investigating the attack on the Rue des Rosiers, emanates from an octogenarian. But not just any Face rimmed with wrinkles, but memory intact, Yves Bonnet, former boss of the Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DST), is spilling over the attack that bloodied a Jewish establishment in the heart of the Marais in 1982, a few months before its taking office at the head of the secret service.

For the first time, the former spy master recognizes in court the existence of a secret agreement between France and Abu Nidal, a terrorist group potentially responsible for the killing. An oral pact ignored by the numerous investigators and magistrates who have succeeded each other for three decades on this insoluble issue. On record, Yves Bonnet confirms a "commitment given to representatives of Abu Nidal not to be prosecuted in France" and abroad.

37 years ago, on August 9, 1982, it was 1:15 pm when at least three terrorists armed with machine guns sow death in the restaurant Jo Goldenberg, a figure of the Jewish quarter of Paris. Three minutes later, after throwing a grenade and firing, they fled. Six dead and 22 wounded lie on the ground. Very early in the investigation, the responsibility of the group Abu Nidal is evoked. The bullets found on site are from Maszynowy wz models. 63, a signature of the extremist organization.

"Attacks in Italy, it did not concern me"
Despite these strong suspicions, the former head of the DST agrees to organize a clandestine meeting with the group Abu Nidal shortly after the attack. "It was my collaborators who saw them at the time, details Yves Bonnet before the judge. I will not denounce them. It is I who take responsibility for the agreement. The senior retired official does not detail the identity of the terrorists seen by his collaborators but, according to him, it was not the killers of the rue des Rosiers, but their "stooges".

The pact is sealed: members of Abou Nidal refugees abroad are allowed to "come to France, without risk" to be prosecuted; in return, they undertake "not to engage in any violent action". The DST even allowed two of the organization's terrorists to visit, in prison, in France, the two perpetrators of the murder of a representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Paris.

"And it worked, there was no more attacks from late 83, 84 and until the end of 1985," is satisfied Yves Bonnet audition, which refutes the term "collaboration" and prefers the one of "non-aggression". "After committing attacks in Italy, for example, it did not concern me as long as there was nothing on French soil

How much credit to this late confession, 37 years later? Contacted by the Parisian, Yves Bonnet assumes this pact, intended according to him to "ensure the safety of the French". To try to form an opinion, the investigating magistrate also summoned, on February 6 and 14, Jean-François Clair and Louis Caprioli, two former counter-terrorism officials at the DST. But both took refuge behind the "defense secret" regarding the agreement. "I do not deny that there were contacts [with Abu Nidal], it would be lying," was content to declare the first. Was the Presidency of the Republic aware of this secret agreement? Yves Bonnet affirms that he "said everything" to Gilles Menage, then director of cabinet of François Mitterrand, but that officially "the Elysée did not know anything" ...

"It becomes a state affair"
The victims, they are shocked that France was able to negotiate with those responsible for the attack on the rue des Rosiers. "If such an occult agreement has been passed, it becomes a state affair," says Avi Bitton, civil party lawyer. A parliamentary inquiry must be created, not just on the Rue des Rosiers file. Have such pacts been made with other organizations? It's possible when you see the actions of the Lafarge company in Syria ... "" It's a shame, also ton Yohann Taieb, close to a victim. Can we imagine the secret services negotiating today with Daesh? "

In parallel, the investigation has since identified four former members of Abu Nidal refugees in Jordan, the Palestinian territories and Norway. They are subject to international arrest warrants, but the French justice fails to obtain their extradition. "My clients only want one thing: a lawsuit," says Romain Boulet, civil party lawyer. The file can now evolve only through the diplomatic channel. "