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Maltese Plane crash victims' identities remain shrouded in secrecy
[TimesofMalta] As the dust settles on Monday’s plane crash, the names of the five French victims remain conspicuous by their absence. It is standard procedure for the names of passengers who perish in aviation disasters to be released by authorities, once their next-of-kin have been notified and given time to digest the terrible news. This did not happen following Monday's crash: why? The answer to that question lies in the crew members' ties to French spy agency DGSE. Three of the dear departed were directly employed by the agency, the French defence ministry confirmed in the hours following the crash; the other two were employed by CAE Aviation, the firm that leased the plane to the French government. French military tradition demands absolute secrecy when it comes to the nation’s intelligence operatives, even after their death. In part, the reticence to name names is down to the secretive nature of DGSE missions. But safety concerns also play a part, said a former French defence official who spoke on condition of anonymity. "DGSE missions often involve high-level targets, and revealing agents’ identities, even after their death, exposes their relatives to unnecessary risk," they said. "They could easily become targets for retaliatory attacks." The absolute silence surrounding the victims’ identities mirrors what happened last July, when three DGSE agents were killed after their helicopter was shot down over Benghazi in eastern Libya. Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2016-10-27 |
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