French 'spy' sent home from U.S.

French spy suspect kept behind closed doors

PARIS, France -- A French military attache has been recalled home and re-assigned after becoming embroiled in a U.S. spying allegation.

French army spokesman Brigadier-General Alain Raevel said the officer, Colonel Marc Wood, "had committed what we consider a blunder."

He declined to comment on French press reports that Wood, a nuclear weapons specialist, had been accused of passing on confidential U.S. documents to India, which is seeking to create a nuclear deterrent despite U.S. efforts to halt proliferation.

Raevel said Wood had been prevented from leaving French embassy premises in Washington for some time but the case was now settled with U.S. authorities.

"Col. Wood had to be called back to France because of a blunder which he made and because of U.S. pressure," Raevel added.

Asked how Wood, a Frenchman of "Anglo-Saxon origin", left the U.S., Raevel replied: "Well, he wasn't spirited out in a trunk. He left once the U.S. let him out."

It is the latest in a string of espionage incidents between the U.S. and France.

Several members of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency based in Paris under diplomatic cover were expelled several years ago after French authorities alleged they had been trying to recruit senior French Government officials to spy against France.

Reuters contributed to this report.

France urges anti-U.S. spy measures
October 12, 2000

Embassy of France - Ambassade de France - Washington DC
Central Intelligence Agency

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