René Audran (1929 – Jan 25, 1985) was a senior official of the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

who was responsible for managing the country's foreign arms sales. He is known for being assassinated on 25 January 1985 by the armed group

Action directe ''Action Directe'' (; AD, "direct action") was a French far-left militant group which committed a series of assassinations and violent attacks in France between 1979 and 1987. Members of Action directe considered themselves libertarian commu ...

(AD) in front of his residence in

La Celle-Saint-Cloud La Celle-Saint-Cloud () is a commune in the Yvelines department of the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is a western suburb of Paris, from the center. Population Transport La Celle-Saint-Cloud is served by two stations on th ...

Background

Audran was a 1950 graduate of the École Polytechnique. At the time of his death, René Audran had attained the rank of Engineer General of the

Corps of Armament The Corps de l'armement, or ''corps des ingénieurs de l'armement'' is a Technical Grand Corps of the French State (''grand corps de l'Etat''), aimed at providing the French Armed Forces with all appropriate Military technology, equipment and at su ...

. He was the Director of International Affairs (DAI) at the General Delegation for Armament (DGA). Audran was shot eight times in front of his home. He had been involved in arms sales to Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War, which arose suspicions that the Iranian government was involved in his assassination. His assassination occurred a year before Action directe's killing of industrialist

Georges Besse Georges Besse (25 December 1927 – 17 November 1986) was a French businessman who led several large state-controlled French companies. He was assassinated outside his Paris home by the terrorist group Action directe. At the time of his death he ...

who had been involved in nuclear cooperation with Iraq as well. After his death, Audran was awarded the ''Citation à l'ordre de la Nation''. Members of

were tried and convicted of his murder in 1987.

References

External links

Archives sur la mort de René Audran sur le site de l'INA

Reportage de France 2 relatant les fonctions de vendeur d'armes de René Audran en Irak
1929 births 1985 deaths Assassinated French politicians Assassinated military personnel Autonomism Communist terrorism École Polytechnique alumni French generals French terrorism victims People murdered in France Place of birth missing Terrorism deaths in France {{France-mil-bio-stub