Roger Auque

Roger Henri Auque (January 11, 1956 – September 8, 2014) was a French journalist, war correspondent, diplomat and spy.[1] He served as France's Ambassador to Eritrea from 2009 to 2012.[2]

Auque was born in Roubaix, France, on January 11, 1956. His father was a Gaullist, while his mother, whose maiden name was Baudry, was a French Communist.[2] Roger Auque identified with the French right and became a member of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).[2]

Auque began his career as a freelance reporter in the late 1980s during the Lebanese Civil War.[2] He worked closely with member of Lebanon's Phalange political party during the war.[2] He also became friends with Uri Lubrani, the Israeli governor of coordinator of South Lebanon from 1983 to 2000.[2]

Auque was arrested by Hezbollah in January 1987 after being suspected of espionage activity on behalf of the Israelis.[2] He was one of the first Western journalists and espionage agents to be held by Hezbollah during the war.[2] Auque was held with another French journalist, Jean-Louis Normandin, of Antenne 2 TV (present-day France 2).[2] In a 2014 interview with Le Parisien, Normadin recalled their captivity, "We met in the trunk of a car in Beirut, later we have been freed together, on the same evening..... He was a charmer...always keep smiling... [with] sincerity, enthusiasm, energy."[2] Auque became a devout Catholic after receiving a Bible from one of his captors.[2] Both Auque and Normandin were freed in November 1987 following negotiations and financial payments from then French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac and Interior Minister Charles Pasqua.[2]

Auque authored two books, including an autobiographical account of his captivity by Hezbollah. Ronen Bergman, an Israeli journalist, documented Auque's 1987 captivity in a chapter of his book, The Secret War With Iran: The 30-Year Clandestine Struggle Against the World’s Most Dangerous Terrorist Power, which was published in 2008.[2]

Roger Auque was sent to Rome as a reporter for RTL following his release.[2] He also covered stories in the Middle East, Africa, and Yugoslavia. He authored pieces on Israeli affairs for several French magazines, including Le Figaro Magazine, Paris Match, and VSD.[2] He covered the Iraq War from Baghdad for Yediot Aharonot using the pen name, Pierre Baudry (Baudry is his mother's maiden name).[2] He worked in Baghdad until 2006 when he returned to Beirut for two years.[2]

In 2008, Auque returned to France to pursue politics and diplomacy. He was elected a Paris municipal councilor in 2008 as a member of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).[2] Auque served as the French Ambassador to Eritrea from 2009 to 2012.[2] He became friends with the Israeli Ambassador to Eritrea, Guy Feldman, during his tenure.[2]

Roger Auque died from brain cancer on September 8, 2014, at the age of 58. He had been treated at Val-de-Grâce military hospital during his illness.[2][3] He revealed in a book that was published posthumously in 2015 that he had been a Mossad agent.[4][5]

Family

He is the father of Vladimir Auque and of Carla Auque.

In 1989, he is said to have fathered a child with Yann, the daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen. This daughter, Marion Maréchal-Le Pen, elected deputy in 2012, was born out of wedlock and subsequently recognized by Yann's husband, Samuel Maréchal, a fact only revealed publicly in 2013 in a book by Christine Clerc titled Les Conquérantes.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Zilberstein, Lior (2015-02-17). "The Israeli agent behind enemy lines". Ynetnews.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Stritch, Joseph (2014-09-10). "Obituary: Roger Auque, war correspondent, hostage, diplomat, adventurer". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2014-10-04.
  3. ↑ Ayad, Christophe (2014-09-11). "Roger Auque, journaliste et diplomate". Le Monde. Retrieved 2014-10-04.
  4. ↑ Asa Winstanley (20 February 2015). "Spies posing as journalists endanger us all". Middle East Monitor. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  5. ↑ Blandine Le Cain (6 February 2015). "Les confidences posthumes de l'ex-otage au Liban Roger Auque". Le Figaro. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  6. ↑ "L'identité du véritable père de Marion Maréchal-Le Pen dévoilée". Le Parisien.
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