Pol Le Gourrierec

Pol Le Gourrierec (or Le Gourriérec, 15 January 1921 – 19 July 1995) was a French diplomat who was best known for an incident during his service as French Ambassador to Pakistan.

Early life

Born in Cléguérec in January 1921,[1] he was fluent in Breton as well as French.[1][2] In January 1945, he was one of the founders, along with poet and editor Ronan Huon, of the Breton language cultural magazine, Tír na nÓg [3][4] which merged in 1948 with Al Liamm.[2]

Diplomatic service

He had an early interest in North Africa.[5] In 1948, he joined the diplomatic service.[2]

He served as an embassy secretary in Morocco in the late 1950s.[6] He was Chargés d'Affaires in Iraq from February to September 1963.[7]: 67 [8]: 77  He was First Counselor of the Embassy in Warsaw in 1964.[9] In the late 1960s, he was Director of North African Affairs,[10]: 1076  and visited Tunisia in 1969.[11] He served as French Ambassador to Bulgaria from 1971 to 1975,[7]: 46  to Pakistan from 1976 to 1979,[7]: 87  and to the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1979 to 1982.[7]: 102 

Pakistan

Background

The French had initially resisted US pressure to cancel a contract to build a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, but the deal gradually unravelled sometime in mid to late 1978, certainly by February 1979, as the French became concerned about Pakistan's intentions regarding nuclear weapons.[12]: 472 [13][14]

Incident

On 26 June 1979, Le Gourrierec and his First Secretary, Jean Forlot, were stopped at a checkpoint. They were driving alone through the town of Kahuta some 25 miles southwest of Islamabad, in a vehicle with a local rather than a diplomatic number plate and without displaying a diplomatic flag. According to Denoël, they were driving to Islamabad, and intended to visit a long-unused military fortress, but accidentally took a wrong turn and passed near a secret nuclear bomb complex.[15]: 191  However, according to several sources, their presence was intentional.[12] There was a physical altercation with five or six men.[12]: 66 [16][17]

Le Gourrierec was severely beaten,[14][16] and sustained a broken tooth, while Forlot had a split skull.[18] The men who assaulted them were not bandits or thugs, as initially suggested by the Pakistani authorities,[15] but were plain-clothed members of the security forces, acting under orders.[16][17] According to Khan, Forlot was passing on information to the CIA and may have been actively spying on its behalf.[16][17][19] Khan suggests that foreigners "got the message" and subsequently avoided the area,[16] but the Yugoslav ambassador later drove slowly along the perimeter wall in a show of solidarity, albeit with a diplomatic flag.[12]

Personal life

He died in Puylaroque in July 1995 at the age of 74.[20]

His son, Alain Le Gourriérec,[2] was French Ambassador to Paraguay from 1993 to 1994,[7]: 88  to Chile from 2001 to 2005,[7]: 49  and to Mexico from 2005 to 2008.[2][7]: 81 

References
  1. Le Nail B. Des Bretons au Mexique. Portes du larges. 2009. ISBN 9782914612272 page 202.
  2. Le Nail B
  3. Bro Nevez: Newsletter of the U.S. Branch, Issues 77-88. The Branch, 2001
  4. Gwernig Y, Huon R, de Bellaing V. Nouvelles bilingues. an Here, 2002
  5. Le Gourrierec P. Deux aspects de la renaissance arabe en Tunisie. École nationale d'administration (ENA). 1947
  6. Long M. Souvenirs des premières années de l'Indépendance du Maroc 1956 -1961. Conseiller aux affaires juridiques de l'ambassade de France à Rabat. La Revue administrative. Published by: Presses Universitaires de France. 53e Année, No. 314 (MARS AVRIL 2000), pp. 118-125
  7. Liste chronologique des Ambassadeurs, Envoyés Extraordinaires, Ministres Plénipotentiaires et Chargés d'Affaires de France à l'Étranger depuis 1945. (PDF, in French). Ministry of Foreign Affairs (France). Retrieved 2 Aug 2015.
  8. Styan D. France and Iraq: Oil, Arms and French Policy-Making in the Middle East. Library of International Relations published by I. B. Tauris, 2006. ISBN 9781845110451
  9. Journal officiel de la République française, Volume 96 France. 1964. page 5541.
  10. Documents diplomatiques français: 1968. (2 juillet - 31 décembre) edited by Ministere Des Affaires Etrangeres
  11. French Foreign Policy. Ambassade de France, Service de presse et d'information. January to June 1969, page 88.
  12. Levy A, Scott-Clarck C: Deception: Pakistan, the United States, and the Secret Trade in Nuclear Weapons. Walker Books, 2007, ISBN 9780802715548
  13. India warned would 'smash' Pakistan nukes: US files. The Economic Times. PTI Dec 23, 2010.
  14. National Security Archive's Nuclear Documentation Project. The United States and Pakistan's Quest for the Bomb: Newly Declassified Documents Disclose Carter Administration's Unsuccessful Efforts to Roll Back Islamabad's Secret Nuclear Program The George Washington University. 2010.
  15. Denoël Y. 1979. Guerres secrètes au Moyen-Orient. Nouveau Monde éditions, 2008. ISBN 9782847363951
  16. Khan AQ. Unsung heroes. The News International. August 04, 2014
  17. Kemp RS. The Nonproliferation Emperor Has No Clothes. MIT Press
  18. L'Express Paris, Presse-Union. 1979 page 66
  19. Abid A. The Secret Documents Recovered from the US Embassy, Tehran. Fore-Runners, Karachi. 1986
  20. MatchID: LE GOURRIEREC Pol
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