The Lafarge cement plant at the heart of an extensive survey

File Photo, AFP
An association of anti-corruption demand that the ex-minister of france, Laurent Fabius to be heard in the matter.

AFP

Friday, 13 October 2017 20:20

UPDATE
Friday, 13 October, 2017 23:26

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Paris (AFP) – The NGO Sherpa has requested a hearing by the justice of the ex-minister of foreign Affairs of france Laurent Fabius in the investigation Lafarge, the cement in question to have indirectly financed, in particular, the organization of the jihadist islamic State (IS) in Syria, has it learned Friday.

The association of anti-corruption, which had filed a complaint with eleven former employees of the syrians of the cement plant, requested that the current chairman of the constitutional Council, Laurent Fabius, the former French ambassador in Syria Eric Chevallier, and the current diplomat responsible for the syrian issue at the Quai d’orsay (French ministry of foreign Affairs), Franck Gellet, are heard by the judges of instruction, said Marie-Laure Guislain, senior legal counsel within the NGO.

Broad survey

Lafarge, a company of which the Québec Paul Desmarais Jr. is a director and shareholder, is at the heart of an investigation on the links that he was able to talk with armed groups in Syria, including the AE, to continue to operate its cement plant Jalabiya (northern Syria) in 2013 and 2014, despite the conflict. In September 2014, the AES had finally taken hold of the site.

Heard by the customs court in charge of the investigation, carried out since June by three other judges, former officials of the cement companies have said that this willingness to remain at all costs in the countries at war had received the endorsement of the French authorities.

“The Quai d’orsay said that it is necessary to hold, that it will sort itself out. […] We were going to see, every six months, the ambassador of France to Syria and no one has told us : “Now you must go,'” “, has told Christian Herrault, former deputy director general, operational, according to a source close to the folder.

“The judicial inquiry will shed light on these allegations,” responded a spokesperson for the Quai d’orsay.

According to a former head of the group, the branch of syria, Lafarge, Lafarge Cement Syria (LCS), would have paid “in the order of $ 20,000” per month to the organization of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi for this last lets move the trucks of the cement.

To date, four former employees of the syrians were questioned by the magistrates.

Power Corp and Paul Desmarais Jr

Remember that Power Corporation, controlled by the Desmarais family, is an indirect shareholder of the weight in the giant cement LafargeHolcim. Paul Desmarais Jr, co-ceo of Power Corp, also serves on the board of directors of Lafarge since 2008.

— With The Journal