Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1050749
2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 11 NOVEMBER 2018 RUTHVILLE is a terraced house in a quiet residential neighbourhood in Balzan, just a block away from the Infetti football ground. Situated in Triq il-Kannizza- ta, the house could pass off as a normal building in a neigh- bourhood that includes two large secondary schools and a confectionary just around the corner. But two years ago, this two- storey building with an under- lying garage served as a base station for a French spy opera- tion on Libya. That operation ended in trag- edy on the morning of the 24 October, 2016 when a small aircraft crashed on the road be- tween Safi and Kirkop. The aircraft, a Fairline Merlin, had just taken off from Malta International Airport. Eyewitnesses recounted how the aircraft was ascend- ing when it nosedived into the ground and exploded upon im- pact. All five people on board died. A government statement had said the Frenchmen formed part of a French customs sur- veillance operation over Libya that had been going on for five months. However, the French customs later denied it was involved in any such operation, with French newspaper Le Monde reporting that the men on board were secret agents. The French defence ministry later confirmed that some of the men on board were opera- tives but the whole incident re- mained shrouded in mystery. The names of the deceased were never made public, ex- cept that of the captain, Fabien Pierret, who was a private con- tractor tasked with flying the aircraft. Now, new information that has become available to Mal- taToday indicates that the five people on board the plane formed part of a nine-man cell based in the Balzan house. The secret agents, acting for the French government, were flying reconnaissance missions over Libya to specifically track the movement of French arma- ments sent to the North Afri- can state. A source close to the inves- tigation said the house was rented to the nine people for €20,000 a year. MaltaToday can reveal the names of three other peo- ple killed in the crash, two of which were members of the DGSE, France's external intel- ligence agency. Who was on the plane? Captain Fabien Pierret and first officer Marcel Bourret flew the aircraft on that fateful day. They were both contrac- tors of CAE, the Luxembourg company specialising in aerial surveillance that designed and owned the aircraft. They were working for GAM56, the transportation unit of the French secret ser- vice. The three other crew mem- bers on the plane – Alexandre Chaissant, Vincent Pouplet and a third person whose name is not available to MaltaToday – were members of the DGSE, France's external intelligence agency. Pouplet was specialised in electronic warfare and geospa- tial intelligence. And his specialisation ap- pears to have been key to the operation based in Balzan. Tracking French weapons The source who spoke to MaltaToday said that testimo- ny gathered by inquiring mag- istrate Doreen Clarke painted a classic spy film atmosphere in the house. Agents sitting behind their computers would receive "live footage" from the aircraft and process the information. "Contrary to what had been said in public, the aircraft wasn't carrying out surveil- lance of human and drug traf- ficking routes, but making sure that French weapons were be- ing supplied to the right peo- ple in Libya," the source said. In 2014, France secured $9.1 billion in arms exports, an all- time high. All this despite the UN arms embargo on Libya, prevent- ing the supply of weapons to any faction in Libya unless ap- proved by the Sanctions Com- mittee of the UN Security Council. MaltaToday cannot confirm whether these weap- ons were government property or whether they were supplied by private entities. What is cer- tain, however, is that the spoor of moving weapons was be- ing tracked by French spies in Balzan. Police officers and court ex- perts who visited the Balzan NEWS French spies, Libya, and an New information that has reached MaltaToday reveals how French secret service agents used Malta as a base to monitor the delivery of weapons to Libya. DAVID HUDSON reports What the French investigation said about the plane crash • Immediately after the crash, the alarm was triggered by the landside crew of the airliner and this was relayed by the control tower to the fire service; the investigators expressed astonishment at the fact that the Maltese air traffic controller was not the first to report the event. • The two engines of the aircraft were sent to France for inspection but results were inconclusive; this was done, the investigators said, because Malta was non- resourceful in this department. • The crash was likely caused by a technical malfunction, but only a flight data recorder could have enabled the BEA-É to confirm this hypothesis; regrettably, the aircraft was not equipped with this technology. • The report calls for the investigation into why the controller in the control tower at the time of the accident was not the first person to detect said accident Reaction to the French findings • The source close to the investigation told MaltaToday that American experts had told Maltese counterparts that they did not believe the aircraft was not supplied with black boxes • The source said that CAVOK, the CAE subsidiary group that examined the engines, was not forthcoming with the Maltese authorities and that the documents outlining the cause of the crash were sequestered by the French investigators — it was never a question of lack of Maltese resources • The same source said that the part in the French report that suggests the aircraft was not supplied with recorders is a deliberate fabrication since an eyewitness known to MaltaToday had seen them prior to going missing shortly after French experts came to the island The officers were working for GAM56, the transportation unit of the French secret service, DGSE Secret base: this Balzan house was used by French secret service personnel to monitor their Libya missions