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

Life and career

Auque was born in Roubaix, France, on 11 January 1956. His father was a Gaullist, while his mother (née 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 security belt 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 8 September 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 published posthumously in 2015 that he had been a Mossad agent.[4][5]

Family

He is the father of Vladimir Auque, Carla Auque and Marion Maréchal-Le Pen.[6][7]

His daughter Maréchal-Le Pen was a member of the National Front party. She was born in 1989, to Yann le Penn, daughter of National Front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, and was raised within Yann's marriage to Samuel Maréchal, a fact only revealed publicly in 2013 in a book by Christine Clerc titled Les Conquérantes.[8] In 2012, Maréchal-Le Pen was elected France's youngest MP ever.[9] Marion Maréchal sued French weekly newsmagazine L'Express for a "serious invasion of her privacy," and won her case in April 2015.[10][11][12]

References

  1. ^ Zilberstein, Lior (17 February 2015). "The Israeli agent behind enemy lines". Ynetnews.com. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Stritch, Joseph (10 September 2014). "Obituary: Roger Auque, war correspondent, hostage, diplomat, adventurer". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  3. ^ Ayad, Christophe (11 September 2014). "Roger Auque, journaliste et diplomate". Le Monde. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  4. ^ Le Cain, Blandine (6 February 2015). "Les confidences posthumes de l'ex-otage au Liban Roger Auque". Le Figaro. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  5. ^ Zilberstein, Lior (17 February 2015). "The Israeli agent behind enemy lines". Ynet News. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  6. ^ Fair, Vanity; France, Condé Nast Digital. "POUVOIR". Vanity Fair (in French). Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  7. ^ "Il évoque Marion Maréchal-Le Pen, sa fille - Les confidences posthumes de Roger Auque". Paris Match (in French). 4 February 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  8. ^ "L'identité du véritable père de Marion Maréchal-Le Pen dévoilée". Le Parisien. 7 November 2013.
  9. ^ The next Le Pen: 25-year-old ‘true darling’, Politico, by Nicholas Vinocur, 20 Apr 2015
  10. ^ "Marion Maréchal-Le Pen attaque L'Express". LExpress.fr (in French). 8 November 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  11. ^ Wallerand de Saint Just. "Communiqué de Presse de Wallerand de Saint Just, Avocat de Marion Marechal Le Pen". RN - Rassemblement National (in French). Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  12. ^ Chrisafis, Angelique (16 April 2015). "Marion Maréchal-Le Pen: the young face of France's far right". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
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