over. Now to the tools. Using his shears, he makes a hole in the corrugated iron roof, cuts out a square, clears away the insulation materials, slides out the false ceiling, jumps down into the building and replaces the metal square. The alarm is only wired to the doors and windows. He takes a map and an electric torch out of his pocket, gets his bearings and goes straight to the boss’s office. All along one wall are metal lockers filled with files. The locks are no problem. It’s midnight, and Moricet gets down to work.
Tuesday 3 December
Moricet skims through the various customer files, classified in alphabetical order. He quickly finds confirmation of what the Syrians had told him: large numbers of French and Israeli weapons, fixed up and modified for the Christian militia in Lebanon, the Horn of Africa, with Francophone sub-Saharan Africa the biggest customer, and of course, as it happens, the most interesting. At the centre of the network is the Franco-Lebanese Djimil family. Seven brothers, Shia Muslims, who emigrated in the early 1950s to Côte-d’Ivoire because the Christians controlled all the power in Lebanon. They soon made their fortune. One of them, living in Sierra Leone, organises diamond smuggling, controls virtually half of the country’s output, and is now one of the richest men in Africa. A devout Muslim, he finances the works of the entire Shia community in sub-Saharan Africa and maintains close relations with the ayatollahs and the Iranian regime. Another brother, Mohamed Djimil, who stayed in Côte-d’Ivoire, specialises in importing arms. And perhaps also heroin, which often goes hand in hand, but of that, of course, there is no trace in Camoc’s correspondence. Huge arms shipments, one average-sized cargo plane a week. Nothing on the ultimate destination, and Camoc only knows Djimil, the middle man. But Moricet has a clear picture of the chain: French mercenaries, African guerrillas, presidential bodyguards and, further afield, South Africa, still under embargo. And of course, Francophone Africa means that there’sprobably an RPR connection. Besides, it’s public knowledge that the Djimil brothers in Côte-d’Ivoire regularly finance the RPR’s electoral campaigns. This could be a serious lead. But at the same time, is it really new? It is only confirmation of what had seemed probable from the start.
Anyway, Bornand wants names, I can always give him these, they’re credible. Then it’s up to him to do what he wants. I’ve fulfilled my contract. It’s two a.m., the airfield is very quiet, may as well carry on ferreting around
.
The next file, a reply from Aurelio Parada, Brazil. Yes, he does have thirty-three toys of superior size and quality, Frenchmade, in working order, from the Argentinean army.
Exocets
, thinks Moricet.
Camoc is ratcheting up its activities
. In the same file, Mohamed Djimil confirms to Camoc that he’ll take the thirty-three toys in question, and is immediately transferring the agreed deposit in dollars to Camoc’s Swiss bank account. Finally, Parada informs him of the despatch of the toys to the Comores, on 15 November 1985. Moricet feels a rush of excitement.
Comores, Denard, French mercenaries in sub-Saharan Africa, Djimil – you can bet the Exocets will end up in Tehran. The opening up of a new arms supply route to Iran, now that’s a valuable piece of information. And Camoc is playing a part in the operation. A political manoeuvre? Bornand can make what he likes of it, not my problem.
What do I do? Do I take the documents and get out, or do I pick up the boss, as planned?
It’s four o’clock in the morning. He decides to stay. He crams the files that interest him into a plastic bag, drags a chair over so it will be hidden behind the door when it opens, takes his revolver out of its holster, lays it on his knee, rests his head against the wall, and dozes off.
At eight o’clock, the office slowly comes to life, they’re not earlyrisers in these
Tuesday 3 December
Moricet skims through the various customer files, classified in alphabetical order. He quickly finds confirmation of what the Syrians had told him: large numbers of French and Israeli weapons, fixed up and modified for the Christian militia in Lebanon, the Horn of Africa, with Francophone sub-Saharan Africa the biggest customer, and of course, as it happens, the most interesting. At the centre of the network is the Franco-Lebanese Djimil family. Seven brothers, Shia Muslims, who emigrated in the early 1950s to Côte-d’Ivoire because the Christians controlled all the power in Lebanon. They soon made their fortune. One of them, living in Sierra Leone, organises diamond smuggling, controls virtually half of the country’s output, and is now one of the richest men in Africa. A devout Muslim, he finances the works of the entire Shia community in sub-Saharan Africa and maintains close relations with the ayatollahs and the Iranian regime. Another brother, Mohamed Djimil, who stayed in Côte-d’Ivoire, specialises in importing arms. And perhaps also heroin, which often goes hand in hand, but of that, of course, there is no trace in Camoc’s correspondence. Huge arms shipments, one average-sized cargo plane a week. Nothing on the ultimate destination, and Camoc only knows Djimil, the middle man. But Moricet has a clear picture of the chain: French mercenaries, African guerrillas, presidential bodyguards and, further afield, South Africa, still under embargo. And of course, Francophone Africa means that there’sprobably an RPR connection. Besides, it’s public knowledge that the Djimil brothers in Côte-d’Ivoire regularly finance the RPR’s electoral campaigns. This could be a serious lead. But at the same time, is it really new? It is only confirmation of what had seemed probable from the start.
Anyway, Bornand wants names, I can always give him these, they’re credible. Then it’s up to him to do what he wants. I’ve fulfilled my contract. It’s two a.m., the airfield is very quiet, may as well carry on ferreting around
.
The next file, a reply from Aurelio Parada, Brazil. Yes, he does have thirty-three toys of superior size and quality, Frenchmade, in working order, from the Argentinean army.
Exocets
, thinks Moricet.
Camoc is ratcheting up its activities
. In the same file, Mohamed Djimil confirms to Camoc that he’ll take the thirty-three toys in question, and is immediately transferring the agreed deposit in dollars to Camoc’s Swiss bank account. Finally, Parada informs him of the despatch of the toys to the Comores, on 15 November 1985. Moricet feels a rush of excitement.
Comores, Denard, French mercenaries in sub-Saharan Africa, Djimil – you can bet the Exocets will end up in Tehran. The opening up of a new arms supply route to Iran, now that’s a valuable piece of information. And Camoc is playing a part in the operation. A political manoeuvre? Bornand can make what he likes of it, not my problem.
What do I do? Do I take the documents and get out, or do I pick up the boss, as planned?
It’s four o’clock in the morning. He decides to stay. He crams the files that interest him into a plastic bag, drags a chair over so it will be hidden behind the door when it opens, takes his revolver out of its holster, lays it on his knee, rests his head against the wall, and dozes off.
At eight o’clock, the office slowly comes to life, they’re not earlyrisers in these
Similar Books
![[Atlantean's Quest 03] Redemption](https://fs.ageofbook.com/457519/thumbs/152x264/atlanteans-quest-03-redemption.jpg)
