French government tried to blame MI6 for sinking of the Rainbow Warrior

Newly released documents have revealed that the French government tried to blame the British intelligence service MI6 for the sinking of the Greenpeace flagship, the Rainbow Warrior, in a campaign of "misinformation and smears" that infuriated the Thatcher government.

French secret agents planted bombs on the Rainbow Warrior in a New Zealand harbour, killing one of the crew. The scandal rocked the French government, which denied any involvement for more than two months, and denying responsibility for what amounted to an act of state terrorism. The documents, released under the Freedom of Information Act to the Guardian, revealed how French attempts to incriminate M16 damaged relations between the two countries.

France blamed MI6 for Rainbow Warrior (The Guardian, 28 November 2005)

0 comments: