Whatever the case, the DST monitored him closely. One Sunday in August, they followed him to a charming village in the Parisian suburbs. Once there, Paques attitude began to be a little strange, almost as if he seemed to be waiting for something, or someone. Suddenly, the police watched on as a car arrived that was easily identifiable as belonging to the Soviet Embassy. Inside, the recognised two men who were deemed to be KGB agents under diplomatic cover. However, it could just be a coincidence...
Then something strange happened: a police car drove into the village and the Soviets suddenly scarpered. If the KGB agents had been under diplomatic cover, they would have had nothing to fear from the presence of the police. In reality, the men must have known that they were under surveillance by fellow spies, not just by the ordinary police.
As for Paques, he continued to walk around the village streets, before later returning to his home in Paris. However, he was arrested the following evening by DST officers and taken to the rude des Saussaies, where for half an hour he denied having any connection with the Soviets. Then suddenly, he submitted a remarkable confessional dossier that ran to nearly a dozen pages.
He admitted to being in contact with the Russians and that it was them who had happened to give him the information. However, none of the information related to secrets concerning national defence or the higher interests of the country. In his own way, Paques was an idealist: by collaborating with the KGB he always believed that he was working for peace. He claimed that he had acted no differently to General de Gaulle, who had always defied the Americans, and had consequently decided to approach the Russians. He even claimed that during the Berlin Crisis, he had played an essential role in safe-guarding peace by informing Moscow that the Americans were prepared to use nuclear weapons if Khrushchev did not back down.
He explained that he had been recruited during the war while he was in Algiers. It was true that while many Free French could be found in that country at the time, some had become agents for the Soviets or other organisations. In any case, Paques declared that it was he who had taken the initiative to approach them, underlining the fact that they were our allies. He informed them of the USA's aggressive intentions, who according to him, intended to attack the USSR after Hitler had been defeated.
In short, Paques maintained that he had never intended to go against France and had never given the Soviets any information that might cause any damage, just trifles such as information on politicians etc. If this is true, why was the case blown out of all proportion? Was it because they were finally happy to have uncovered the mole? Even if, to most intelligent people, it was only a really small one? In reality, Georges Paques merely served as a scapegoat who had been arrested instead of another person, who was clearly the real spy.
There are two facts that support this theory. Firstly, Golitsyn had defected before Georges Paques joined NATO. In which case, how could Golitsyn have known about the handing over of the NATO documents, when Paques was not even there at the time. When one closely examines the circumstances in which Paques was discovered and arrested, it becomes clear that it was cleverly organised plot by the Soviets.
The story that Paques had apparently left-wing views is a fabrication. This great servant of the state had always been right-wing, even if he was not indifferent to more progressive views. Such stories were merely spread around so that the DST would investigate him. The story of his ‘appointment' in the village also does not appear to be a genuine operation. In fact the idea of meeting in a near-deserted village where any movement could attract attention is strange, especially when there are so many places in a busy city where one could meet discreetly. As for the car from the Soviet Embassy, this was merely to compromise Paques and alert the police officers from the DST.
It is almost certain therefore that the Soviets were the ones who gave up Paques. The discovery of his small dealings with the East allowed them to create a smokescreen around the real traitor, the one who was actually spying on NATO.
The real spy was actually a Canadian named Hambleton, who was discovered and arrested much later, in England. The French had been exploited, or at least it seemed that they had been. The Russians, however, were not the only masters of such a game: the Americans controlled all of Golitsyn's statements, never allowing him to be left alone with the French agents. It is not unlikely that his friends at the CIA persuaded Golitsyn to feed them false information. This was no doubt in order to disrupt the French intelligence services by creating an atmosphere of distrust, but also to embarrass General de Gaulle, whose foreign policy was seriously beginning to worry Washington.
In any case, Georges Paque's speedy and rather sloppy trial, which was often held behind closed doors, did not reveal any convincing proof of his guilt - an additional argument for all those who believed the senior official should be excused.
Andre Frossard
61
As for the political documents that the accused is alleged to have supplied to the Russian government, the best way to keep them safe from prying eyes was certainly not to entrust them to the deputy head of the press office, whose role would not have been enough to prevent them from being reported. If there were secret documents, then they are not secret to the Russians anymore, so why the closed doors? And if it was just worthless bit of paper, then why have a trial?
Chapter 11
Cohen: the Damascus Hanging
For the Israelis he was a national hero. A true legend. A man who died in service to his country during a
