The murder of a former French spy hinders an investigation into an assassination attempt in Congo-Brazzaville



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A former French intelligence agent involved in a murder project of a Congolese dissident was found murdered. The body of Daniel Forestier was discovered March 21 in Ballaison, near the Swiss border, riddled with bullets, according to information published in the French media. Last September, Forestier was charged with an badbadination plan of Ferdinand Mbaou, opponent of Denis Sbadou-Nguesso, president of Congo Brazzaville.

Forestier's body was discovered near a vehicle in a secluded car park on the shores of Lake Geneva, between the city of Thonons-les-Bains and Geneva, according to reports in the newspaper. The world newspaper. He was hit five times, including once in the head.

The former officer of the Directorate General of External Security (DGSE) was indicted last year, along with another former French intelligence agent, for conspiracy and possession of explosives. as part of a plot to kill the former Congolese army general. DGSE is the French equivalent of the US Central Intelligence Agency or MI6 of the United Kingdom.

The world reported Tuesday that an investigation had been opened by the Attorney General's Office on the badbadination of Forestier, describing the crime as a revenge murder by professionals. The French newspaper stated that there was still no link between the murder of Forestier and the crime of which he was accused.

Forestier and his ex-spy Bruno Susini had acknowledged their involvement in the planning of the plot against Mbaou, according to the Directorate General of Internal Security (DGSI), the French agency responsible for internal intelligence operations. The DGSI had discovered the plot and contacted the prosecutor's office in Lyon.

The former officer, aged 58, had spent 14 years in the service action of the DGSE, a division charged with planning and carrying out clandestine and secret operations, including black-and-white operations . Forestier reportedly led a group planning to badbadinate Mbaou, longtime opponent of Denis Sbadou-Nguesso, of Congo Brazzaville.

Forestier had carried out screening missions in May and June 2018 in the Paris region, but had nevertheless indicated that the "project was not feasible".

Murder disrupts ongoing investigation

"With his death, an essential part of the evidence and a version of the truth have disappeared," said Vincent Brengarth and Henri Thulliez, lawyers for the Mbaou company.

"It is now more than ever essential that the investigation be expedited so that the authorities can determine who was responsible for the attempt to badbadinate Mr. Mbaou," said the lawyers in a statement seen by RFI.

Cédric Huissoud, a lawyer working for Forestier, did not want to answer questions about the death of his client, according to Le Monde. The former French spy had published books on his spy exploits, describing himself as having carried out several missions in France and abroad.

He lived in Lucinges, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, after leaving the DGSI to become an elected member of the city council. Lucinges mayor Jean-Luc Soulat said in a social media article that Forestier was "very involved" in the life of the city, adding that the council had learned of his death with "great sadness".

The alleged plot led by Forestier was not the first badbadination attempt of longtime Congolese dissident, Mbaou. In November 2015, gunmen fired on Mbaou's back as he was leaving his home in Bessancourt, north of Paris – he still has a bullet in his chest.

Mbaou was the former director of presidential security of President Pascal Lissouba between 1992 and 1997, before exiling himself in France when Sbadou-Nguesso took power during a brief civil war but bloody.

Forestier is expected to be buried Saturday at the Cranves-Sales Catholic Church.

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