FRANCE :
Events surrounding last week's indictment of a French gendarmerie colonel, Jean-Michel Mechain, on charges of allegedly harming French interests by leaking confidential documents point up deep flaws in the way the French military operates. The flaws directly affect defense minister Alain Richard and his military security service, Direction de la Protection et de la Securite de la Defense (DPSD).
The minister's staff tend to pass off Mechain who had been sent to Kosovo as legal adviser, as a loose cannon poorly rated by his peers. But statements gleaned appear to prove otherwise. For instance, gendarme major Alexis Jaraud, based at the defense ministry in Paris, described Mechain as an effective intelligence operative who succeeded in "dovetailing information gleaned in the field, and in serving as a hub for intelligence."
During his stay in Kosovo Mechain, aged 46, specialized in the fight against Albanian gangsters, the main obstacle to the restoration of rule of law in the province. A representative of the OSCE in Pristina who worked with him, Alexandra Ducreux, described Mechain as "quite brilliant intellectually and highly active."
She added that he indeed worked on occasion as a legal adviser but operated more as "a cultural counselor," spearheading a number of initiatives in that capacity. For instance, on Jan. 14 he invited the former soccer star Jean Tigana to meet with Serb and Albanian players.
The function of "cultural councilor" is often used by the French as a cover for intelligence activity. And that cover appears to have enabled Mechain to cultivate relations with local inhabitants and thus glean information about the gangs. In addition, such work corresponds perfectly to his career profile. The job he held prior to his stint in Kosovo ? he headed the analysis and planning department at the Direction Generale de la Gendarmerie -- clearly indicates he is an experienced officer specializing in the collection and processing of information. Even during his stay in the province, nothing serious occurred to suggest he lost his marbles.
On the contrary, Eric Chevalier, special advisor to U.N. high representative Bernard Kouchner, said Mechain's military superiors were on the point of promoting him to general. Despite such inconsistencies, a few tangible facts have emerged. According to highly reliable sources at the U.N. mission in Kosovo, Mechain met with Kouchner in early February to warn him French army officers in Kosovo were in open revolt against him because of Kouchner's supposedly "anti-Serb" leanings. Mechain also handed Kouchner a series of documents concerning the Albanian gangs. The two apparently had a strong argument and Kouchner refused to discuss any of the points brought up by Mechain even though the same sources said the two liked one another and usually got on well.
Inexplicably, shortly before the incident, on Nov. 4 in Paris, the general staff refused to allow Mechain to take part in a meeting on the Albanian Mafia at the defense ministry. This despite the fact Kouchner had asked him specifically to attend.
Shortly afterwards, leaks began to appear in the French press about the hostility of the French military leadership in KFOR towards both Kouchner and the methods employed by gendarmes in Kosovo. The defense ministry's staff asked Claude Ascenci, head of DPSD, to look into Mechain's relations with the press. Directly under the minister's authority, the DPSD espouses a rather obsolete culture that focuses on the fight against subversive agents, a culture inherited from the Algerian war. It often targets investigative journalists and their sources.