Watching the World Former Elf chief's 'secret service'

WithDavid Knottfrom London
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During Christmas, TV stations schedule blockbuster movies, with lots of action and explosions, to watch as we supinely digest a mixture of rich foods and festive lubricants.

Well, I bet nothing on seasonal TV will match for excitement an oil industry story that has been unfolding in the pages of the French press.

The story concerns a hand-written "confession," published Dec. 12 in the weekly news magazine L'Express.

It was said to have been written by Loik Le Floch-Prigent, president of Elf Aquitaine SA during May 1989-August 1993.

L'Express said the confession was written before Le Floch-Prigent was put in preventive custody on July 5, charged with misuse of Elf money while he was in charge.

Le Floch is accused of bailing out-to the tune of 787 million francs ($150 million)-a friend of his who was head of a large clothing manufacturing group; showering largesse on his former wife; providing large commissions to go-betweens when Elf took control of U.K. assets of Occidental Petroleum Corp. and bought Spain's Ertoil SA, and more.

Origins

Elf was founded as a state concern in 1962 by a group of petroleum engineers under the leadership of Pierre Guillaumat.

Le Floch claims the purpose was to provide the right wing Gaullist administration then in power with "a real secular arm, in particular in Africa."

Since then, Elf has acted as "a petroleum ministry," said Le Floch, and as a kind of "intelligence service" in oil countries. Guillaumat, he claimed, had belonged to France's secret service and had set up within Elf an organization with "real specialists...Nothing happens in oil countries, in particular in Africa, of which the origin was not Elf."

Le Floch continued, "Oil and Elf have been-and remained until 1993-France's ambassadors in Africa," while Elf "appointed" President Bongo in Gabon and President Biya in Cameroon and had control over Congo even when it had a Marxist government.

Le Floch said Elf also had taken a foothold in Angola and Nigeria and, more recently, in Chad at the request of the French government, "who wished to extend its sphere of influence through strong economic ties."

Mystery

Le Floch was appointed by socialist former President Francois Mitterand, but he said Gaullist networks continued to prevail within Elf and in Africa.

He said their identity and organization were still a mystery to him when he left Elf.

Since 1993, Elf has been fully privatized under the leadership of current President Philippe Jaffre. Le Floch-Prigent, meanwhile, was transferred to be president of Gaz de France.

Yet Jaffre was appointed by Prime Minister Edouard Balladur in August 1993, said Le Floch, "because Balladur wanted to duplicate those networks of influence" in Africa.

Asked to comment on Loik Le Floch-Prigent's confession, Elf declined, stating that "all this" belonged to the group's past.

Le Floch-Prigent was released from custody Dec. 24.

But there are apparently many in France who believe that Judge Eva Joly, who indicted and jailed him, may have triggered a series of embarrassing revelations about Elf's workings.