Former Secretary of State Laurent Nuñez, 56, will take over the leadership of the Elysée's counter-terrorism task force, according to a source familiar with the matter.
As National Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism Coordinator (CNRLT), placed with the President of the Republic, he will replace Pierre de Bousquet de Florian, who has become director of the cabinet of the new Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin.
Laurent Nuñez will have a team of around thirty specialists and will continue to attend the Defense Council, which meets weekly around the President. Former boss of the DGSI, he thus finds his field of predilection: intelligence.
"He does not see himself returning to politics"
The new minister Gérald Darmanin did not seem to wish to keep a secretary of state by his side, unlike Christophe Castaner. Opinion revealed in late June that the relationship between the two men had worsened. "By returning to the administration, Mr. Nuñez does not see himself returning to this stage in politics and a fortiori as elected," commented a prefectural source with AFP.
This "task force" which, like the National Intelligence Coordination (CNR), is placed with the President of the Republic, is responsible for the strategic management of intelligence services. Its main role is to filter information from intelligence services to keep the President informed and to advise. It was a campaign promise from Emmanuel Macron who had committed to setting up an anti-Daesh task force.
Laurent Nuñez, enarque, was police prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône from 2015 to 2017 before becoming head of the DGSI (Director General of Internal Security), then Secretary of State to the Minister of the Interior in 2018.
