France is providing intelligence to Egyptian authorities which is used by Cairo to target traffickers on the Egyptian-Libyan border, not jihadists as expected, online investigative media Disclose said on Sunday, citing "
confidential defense documents
" testifying to the deviation of this mission.
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According to Disclose, the French intelligence mission "
Sirli
", started in February 2016 for the benefit of Egypt in the name of the fight against terrorism, was hijacked by the Egyptian state, which uses the information collected to carry out air strikes on vehicles of suspected smugglers.
"
In principle, the mission (...) consists of scanning the western desert to detect possible terrorist threats from Libya
", using a light surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft (ALSR) rented from the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DRM), writes Disclose, specializing in embarrassing revelations for the French armies.
“
Theoretically, the data collected should be cross-checked in order to assess the reality of the threat and the identity of the suspects. But very quickly, the team members realized that the intelligence provided to the Egyptians was being used to kill civilians suspected of smuggling. A drift of which they will alert their hierarchy at regular intervals
, ”in vain, continues the online media, despite several blunders in the field. According to documents obtained by Disclose, "
French forces were involved in at least 19 bombings against civilians, between 2016 and 2018
".
The DRM and the Air Force are worried about the excesses of the operation, as evidenced by a note sent to the Elysee Palace on November 23, 2017, quoted by Disclose: "
Due to lack of surveillance means, the identification pick-ups cannot be carried out without any other element of assessment than the initial overflight of which they were the subject. Also, the identification of certain vehicles and the resulting interdiction strikes could be subject to caution
”.
Another note dated January 22, 2019, for the attention of the Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly, before an official visit to Egypt with Emmanuel Macron, reports “
proven cases of destruction of objectives detected by the French aircraft
” and considers "
Important to remind the partner that the ALSR is not a targeting tool
".
However, no agreement will be signed or the mission called into question, assures Disclose, which affirms that "
the French army is still deployed in the Egyptian desert
".
Solicited by Disclose, the Élysée, the Ministry of the Armed Forces, the DRM and the staff did not comment.
Solicited on Sunday afternoon, the Ministry of the Armed Forces as the Elysee did not want to speak at this stage.