Ex-Lafarge CEO claims French intelligence sought employee informants
Frederic Jolibois, who led Lafarge Cement Syria (LCS) from 2014 to 2016, said the DGSE “even contacted me to recruit former employees as informants” after the company lost control of its cement plant to ISIS in September 2014.
The testimony comes as Lafarge and eight former executives face trial for allegedly financing a terrorist organization between 2013 and 2014 to keep the Syrian factory operational. The proceedings also examine whether the company violated EU embargo regulations by continuing financial dealings in ISIS-controlled territory.
Judges focused on how Lafarge handled staff evacuations as ISIS advanced. Jolibois said he later learned that the company’s internal security committee knew that groups receiving protection payments had “terror” links. He criticized the emergency planning, saying the evacuation “was organized very poorly.”
According to his account, all but 27 workers—who stayed to cool the plant’s reactor—were evacuated before September 19, 2014. ISIS attacked the site later that day, leading to the loss of control over the facility. Jolibois added that he continued liaising with the company’s former security director, Jean-Claude Veillard, and French intelligence officers to provide updates about the plant and employees, interacting with three DGSE officers based in two Middle Eastern countries.
Ahmad Al Jaloudi, a former Jordanian security officer for Lafarge and also a defendant, testified that he warned superiors as early as May 2014 that ISIS was only 60 kilometers away and posed an imminent threat. “I told Mr. Veillard that I expected Daesh to attack the plant at any moment, and he did nothing,” he said.
Receiving no instructions, Al Jaloudi created his own evacuation plan by September 2014 and traveled to Paris on September 15 to present it. However, he said that three minibuses intended for evacuation were blocked by another armed group when ISIS attacked days later.
The case has drawn global attention since 2021 when documents emerged alleging that Lafarge financed ISIS “with the knowledge of French intelligence.” Several senior figures, including former CEO Bruno Lafont, have been charged in the ongoing investigation.
In October 2024, French investigative judges confirmed that Lafarge Group and four former executives would face trial for financing a terrorist organization and violating EU embargo rules by maintaining financial and commercial ties with ISIS and other militant groups.
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