Secret Support and Overt War; What Is Behind the Mysterious Relationship Between France and ISIS?

European political circles were shocked after the disclosure of documents proving the involvement of the French security and intelligence services, called the Directorate General of External Security (DGSE), in covering up a major French company’s support for ISIS with funds and supplies, which was later used in fortifications.

This incident in which the French judiciary is investigating and preoccupies public opinion, it raises many questions about France's policy, which have always restricted the Muslims in their lands, and established laws and special intelligence units to target them, such as “Saruman”, under the umbrella of avoiding terrorism and extremism.

France is one of the main allies in the long-running war waged by the global coalition led by the United States against ISIS, which spread years ago in Syria and Iraq, its fighter planes are used to bombard Syrian regions, its heavy artillery also supports the Kurdish fighters, and it has special forces on the land.

 

'Lafarge' Documents

Apparent contradictions hide many intersections between what the French government declares to combat extremism represented by ISIS, then its security and economic arms get involved in supporting it.

On August 7, 2021, the official Turkish Anadolu Agency revealed documents proving that French intelligence knew that Lafarge had financed ISIS with cement.

The documents received are correspondence and documents of French institutions show that the Elysee and the military and security institutions have an existing relationship between ISIS and the French company (Lafarge) active in Syria.

Lafarge paid 13 million euros to armed groups in Syria, such as ISIS between 2013 and 2014, to ensure the continuity of work in its factories in the country.

It was not satisfied with that, according to the French judiciary, the organization bought large quantities of cement from Lafarge, and it used it to build strong fortifications against the forces of the global coalition, in which France is a main member.

This made the situation surprising, especially since the documents confirmed that Lafarge had strong support from the French intelligence service.

 

Lafarge's Setback

The French Lafarge was not just an ordinary company among the thousands of companies that are widespread in the country; rather, it is a global cement giant, which was founded in Paris in 1833.

It is a French joint stock company specializing in cement, concrete and building materials, a subsidiary of the global “LafargeHolcim” Group.

The number of employees of the company is 63,000, and its branches are located in most countries of the world. Its annual profits in 2014, when it supported ISIS, amounted to more than 12 billion euros, according to the annual report.

On August 7, 2021, the French Court of Cassation overturned the decision of the Court of Appeal in Paris to invalidate the accusation against Lafarge of complicity in crimes against humanity in the investigation of its activities in Syria until 2014.

The ruling issued by the highest French judicial body was a big setback for the company accused of paying millions of euros to armed militias, including ISIS, for the continuation of work in its cement factory in northern Syria at the beginning of the conflict.

Lafarge had admitted, after an internal investigation, that its Syrian subsidiary had paid money to armed groups to continue their activities in the country after 2011.

But it rejected the portfolio of charges brought against it in the investigations in front of the French judiciary.

The statement of the French Court of Cassation directed against the company said: “It is sufficient to pay millions of dollars, knowingly, to a criminal group, to give the character of collusion, notwithstanding that the objective of the interested party (Lafarge) was to engage in commercial activity.”

But the worst thing is that the French intelligence was fully aware of the company's relationship with the organization; however, it covered up the situation, and the company did not warn of the consequences of the matter.

 

Destruction of Syria

France has carried its contradictions from covert support to ISIS to overt bombing.

For example, on April 14, 2018, France used important and advanced military technologies, it included 9 hunting planes and 5 first-class frigates, it also launched, for the first time, cruise missiles to strike sites inside Syria, along with the United States and Britain.

At that time, the French armed forces fired 12 missiles, out of a hundred, targeting Syria, these include 3 marine missiles, the “MDDN” model, which has a range of 1,000 km, it is characterized by high accuracy, and was launched by a multi-mission frigate, according to information provided by the Elysee and the Ministry of Defense.

The frivolous French policy towards Syria has motivated many to criticize it, among them is the senior officer of the French army, Colonel Francois Rege Logier, where it launched a sharp attack and harsh criticism of his country's government towards its strategy in Syria.

Colonel Logier participated in the fighting inside Syrian territory, he was responsible for directing the French artillery that supported Kurdish-led groups.

In October 2018, Logier wrote an article for the French National Defense Review, in which he said: “The coalition could have eliminated the hardened fighters, whose number does not exceed two thousand fighters, they lack air cover or modern technological equipment, much faster and much more efficient by only sending a thousand soldiers.”

This article caused great embarrassment to the French government, and on February 16, 2019, the French military announced in a text message, “Sentencing for Officer Logier is being studied.”

The French officer did not know at that time that his country, which is one of the main allies in the war against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, was involved in one way or another in supplying and supporting it with funds, and what fortifications required.

 

Supporting Terrorists

The recent French involvement in the case of supporting ISIS opens the door to the file of Paris supplying other militias with weapons, equipment, expertise and logistical support inside Syria, in a war that has killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and resulted in a refugee crisis unprecedented since World War II.

In particular, the French government has a large hand in supporting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), both of which are considered terrorist organizations by Ankara, which has led to constant tension in the structure of Turkish-French relations.

Under the title “The Elysee Palace Maintains Strong Relationships with the Kurds of Syria,” the French Intelligence Online magazine, concerned with intelligence affairs, published a report on March 10, 2021, on the links between the armed Kurdish organizations in Syria and the French state led by President Emmanuel Macron.

On March 29, 2018, Macron received a delegation from the PKK/YPG organization, then the presidency published a statement in which it said: “The president desires to establish a dialogue between the (Kurdish-majority) Syrian Democratic Forces and Turkey, with the support of France and the international community.”

The French involvement in Syria became evident on December 25, 2018, when Washington announced the withdrawal of 2,000 American soldiers deployed in Syria fighting alongside an Arab-Kurdish alliance dominated by the YPG.

Here, Macron expressed his deep regret about the US withdrawal, he stressed that his country remains involved in the global coalition.

The French contradictions did not stop there, as the director of the Counter-Terrorist Financing Service at the French Ministry of the Interior, Bruno Dahl, announced on December 12, 2017, that the agency’s plan to monitor and track ISIS financiers.

Dahl said at that time: “There is a real strategic bet with the fragmentation of the terrorist organization ISIS, it consists in locating the new fundraisers in order to try to track the locations of the spread of the organization and its members in the future.”