Roger Auque
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Roger Henri Auque (11 January 1956 – 8 September 2014) was a French
journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...
, war correspondent, and diplomat, and
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i spy. He served as France's Ambassador to Eritrea from 2009 to 2012.


Life and career

Auque was born in
Roubaix Roubaix ( or ; nl, Robaais; vls, Roboais) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial commune in the Nord department, which grew rapidly in the 19th century ...
, France, on 11 January 1956. His father was a
Gaullist Gaullism (french: link=no, Gaullisme) is a French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic. De Gaulle with ...
, while his mother (née Baudry) was a French Communist. Roger Auque identified with the French right and became a member of the
Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement (french: link=no, Union pour un mouvement populaire, ; UMP, ) was a centre-right List of political parties in France, political party in France that was one of the two major party, major contemporary political pa ...
(UMP). Auque began his career as a freelance reporter in the late 1980s during the
Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...
. He worked closely with member of
Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
's
Phalange The phalanges (singular: ''phalanx'' ) are digital bones in the hands and feet of most vertebrates. In primates, the thumbs and big toes have two phalanges while the other digits have three phalanges. The phalanges are classed as long bones. ...
political party during the war. He also became friends with
Uri Lubrani Uriel Lubrani (; October 7, 1926 – March 5, 2018) was an Israeli diplomat and military official. In 1964, he joined the diplomatic corps of the Foreign Ministry, and was appointed ambassador to Uganda and non-resident ambassador to Burundi and ...
, the Israeli governor of coordinator of
South Lebanon Southern Lebanon () is the area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. The two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s. The Rashaya and Western Beqaa Districts, the southernmost distric ...
security belt from 1983 to 2000. Auque was arrested by Hezbollah in January 1987 after being suspected of espionage activity on behalf of the Israelis. He was one of the first Western journalists and espionage agents to be held by Hezbollah during the war. Auque was held with another French journalist, Jean-Louis Normandin, of Antenne 2 TV (present-day
France 2 France 2 () is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4 and France 5. France Télévisions also participates in Arte and Euronews. Since 3:20 CET on 7 A ...
). 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…
ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...
sincerity, enthusiasm, energy." Auque became a devout
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
after receiving a
Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...
from one of his captors. Both Auque and Normandin were freed in November 1987 following negotiations and financial payments from then
French Prime Minister The prime minister of France (french: link=no, Premier ministre français), officially the prime minister of the French Republic, is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of the Council of Ministers. The prime minister i ...
Jacques Chirac and Interior Minister Charles Pasqua. Auque authored two books, including an autobiographical account of his captivity by Hezbollah.
Ronen Bergman Ronen Bergman ( he, רונן ברגמן; born June 16, 1972) is an Israeli investigative journalist and author. He is a senior political and military analyst for ''Yedioth Ahronoth'', Israel's largest-circulation daily. Bergman has written for ' ...
, 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. Roger Auque was sent to Rome as a reporter for RTL following his release. He also covered stories in the Middle East, Africa, and
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
. He authored pieces on Israeli affairs for several French magazines, including ''
Le Figaro Magazine ''Le Figaro Magazine'' is a French language weekly news magazine published in Paris, France. The magazine is the weekly supplement of the daily newspaper ''Le Figaro''. History and profile The magazine is the first supplement of ''Le Figaro'' n ...
'', ''
Paris Match ''Paris Match'' () is a French-language weekly news magazine. It covers major national and international news along with celebrity lifestyle features. History and profile A sports news magazine, ''Match l'intran'' (a play on '' L'Intransigeant ...
'', and '' VSD''. He covered the
Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image ...
from Baghdad for
Yediot Aharonot ''Yedioth Ahronoth'' ( he, יְדִיעוֹת אַחֲרוֹנוֹת, ; lit. ''Latest News'') is a national daily newspaper published in Tel Aviv, Israel. Founded in 1939 in British Mandatory Palestine, ''Yedioth Ahronoth'' is the largest paid n ...
using the pen name, Pierre Baudry (Baudry is his mother's maiden name). He worked in Baghdad until 2006 when he returned to Beirut for two years. In 2008, Auque returned to France to pursue politics and
diplomacy Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. ...
. He was elected a Paris municipal councilor in 2008 as a member of the
Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement (french: link=no, Union pour un mouvement populaire, ; UMP, ) was a centre-right List of political parties in France, political party in France that was one of the two major party, major contemporary political pa ...
(UMP). Auque served as the French Ambassador to Eritrea from 2009 to 2012. He became friends with the Israeli Ambassador to Eritrea, Guy Feldman, during his tenure. 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. He revealed in a book published posthumously in 2015 that he had been a Mossad agent.


Family

He is the father of Vladimir Auque, Carla Auque and Marion Maréchal-Le Pen. 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 Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (, born 20 June 1928) is a French far-right politician who served as President of the National Front from 1972 to 2011. He also served as Honorary President of the National Front from 2011 to 2015. Le Pen graduated fro ...
, 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''. In 2012, Maréchal-Le Pen was elected France's youngest MP ever. Marion Maréchal sued French weekly newsmagazine '' L'Express'' for a "serious invasion of her privacy," and won her case in April 2015.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Auque, Roger 1956 births 2014 deaths Deaths from brain cancer in France French journalists French war correspondents French city councillors Ambassadors of France to Eritrea Union for a Popular Movement politicians French people taken hostage People of the Lebanese Civil War French Roman Catholics French male non-fiction writers Foreign hostages in Lebanon Israeli spies War correspondents of the Iraq War