Mossad Tried to Recruit French Agents during Syria Op

Local Editor

The "Israeli" Mossad has tried to infiltrate its French counterpart and recruit double agents from France's spy agencies, according to an explosive report by the French daily Le Monde.

In a three-part series on Sunday, the paper published details of an internal report by the General Directorate for Internal Security [DGSI], France's domestic spy agency, in which it is revealed that agents from both services working on a joint operation launched in 2010 to collect information about Syria's WMD capabilities, developed unauthorized and inappropriate relationships.

These relationships were uncovered by another French spy agency tasked with keeping tabs on Mossad agents working in Paris, where a Syrian engineer was brought being worked by the "Israelis" as an intelligence source.

The engineer's arrival in France, according to Le Monde, came after a two-year effort by the Mossad working with a source in Damascus who convinced the engineer to try new horizons and set up an import-export company in Paris.

An "Israeli" agent, posing as an Italian businessman, provided the Syrian engineer with business contacts and advice while extracting information, Le Monde reported, as did the French agencies which clandestinely facilitated visa procedures and opened other doors in the business world. The French agents also provided logistical support and surveillance.

The information obtained by the "Israeli", given to the French and the Germans, led the European Union in 2011 to freeze the assets of the Syrian Center for Scientific Study and Research, responsible for developing and producing chemical weapons.

According to the report, throughout the operation, dubbed "Ratafia," the "Israeli" agents took advantage of the close rapport with their French counterparts to try to recruit them, using money and expensive gifts.

One French agent was spotted showing up for Shabbat dinner at the home of the Mossad's Paris chief, identified in the report by the initials, D.K. Later, that agent did not disclose to his superiors that after an approved trip to Dubai, he made his way to "Israel" with his family to meet "Israeli" agents in Occupied al-Quds.

These exchanges were uncovered by a branch of the DGSI, the domestic service charged with information security.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team