Eurasia Press & News
Bruno Lafont says the French intelligence service was behind the decision to continue operations in Syria and pay off ‘terrorist groups’ like ISIS
In an interview with Liberation published on 31 March, Bruno Lafont, the former CEO of Lafarge, accused French intelligence of having infiltrated the company in Syria, where it collaborated with extremist groups, including ISIS.
“The French authorities have encouraged us to maintain our activities in Syria,” he said in the interview.
Bruno Lafont was among eight Lafarge executives who stood trial for their alleged crimes against humanity and the financing of extremist groups, including ISIS, as well as having endangered employees’ lives.
The French industrial company’s factory continued its operation in Syria despite extremist groups taking over large swathes of the country until finally shutting down its factory in Jalabiya, Aleppo, in September 2014.
On 18 October 2022, Lafarge, which became part of Swiss-listed Holcim in 2015, pleaded guilty to US charges that it made payments to extremist groups in Syria.
However, after a long silence, the former CEO now claims that the French intelligence service gave the orders to continue operations.
“It is clear that between the story we told at the beginning, the one that says that Lafarge, for purely lucrative reasons, would have financed terrorist groups in Syria between 2013 and 2014, and what we discover today, the situation is totally different,” he said.
“We learn that there was a special relationship between the French State and its services, and Lafarge (…). One of the reasons the state took an interest in us was that the factory site was really a strategic location for the anti-terrorist coalition and for France. This is why, I believe, that the authorities encouraged us, at least, to maintain our activities in Syria,” he added.
Lafont is now hoping to be able to make a statement in a French court, which previously accused and sentenced him for allegedly paying between 4.8 to 10 million Euros to extremist groups in Syria in 2013 and 2014.
After the Swiss group Holcim took over Lafarge, the company agreed to pay a fine of $778 million to the US and plead guilty to supporting terrorist organizations.
