Roger Auque
French journalist and diplomat (1956–2014)
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Key Takeaways
- Roger Henri Auque (11 January 1956 – 8 September 2014) was a French journalist, war correspondent, diplomat and Mossad spy.
- Life and career Auque was born in Roubaix, France, on 11 January 1956.
- Roger Auque identified with the French right and was a member of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).
- He worked closely with members of Lebanon's Phalange political party during the war.
- Auque was arrested by Hezbollah in January 1987 after being suspected of espionage activity on behalf of the Israelis.
Roger Henri Auque (11 January 1956 – 8 September 2014) was a French journalist, war correspondent, diplomat and Mossad spy. He served as France's Ambassador to Eritrea from 2009 to 2012.
Life and career
Auque was born in Roubaix, France, on 11 January 1956. His father was a Gaullist, while his mother (née Baudry) was a French Communist. Roger Auque identified with the French right and was a member of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).
Auque began his career as a freelance reporter in the late 1980s during the Lebanese Civil War. He worked closely with members of Lebanon's Phalange political party during the war. He also became friends with Uri Lubrani, the Israeli governor of coordinator of South Lebanon 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). 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… [with] sincerity, enthusiasm, energy." Auque became a devout Catholic after receiving a Bible from one of his captors. Both Auque and Normandin were freed in November 1987 following negotiations and financial payments from then French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac and Interior Minister Charles Pasqua.
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