Action Direct #CR0000821 (Also... Some alternate names are aliases, other are names for specific subgroups or cells). Direct Action Accion Directe Source: EuroTer, Interpol, MI-6 Type: Political terrorist organization Scope: Sporadic attacks against French targets in France and throughout Europe, including well planned and executed bombings and assassinations. Affiliations: The international wing of the AD allied itself with the German Red Army Faction (RAF) [#CR0001960] and possibly the Belgian Combatant Communist Cells (CCC) [#CR0002689]. The AD also is believed to have ties with other West European and Middle Eastern terrorist groups: The AD may have contacts with the Italian Red Brigades [#CR0000659]. There is evidence the AD provided explosives to the Irish National Liberation Army [#CR0000632]. The AD also is alleged to have cooperated with the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Faction [#CR0000972] on several attacks carried out in France. [EuroTer] Personnel: Less than 50 (believed) [MI-6] Operating Since: 1979 Structure: Scattered cells of operatives numbering between five and ten members. Leaders: Jean-Marc Rouillan [#LL4298210], Nathalie Menigon [#LL4509008], Joelle Aubran [#LL4908223], George Cipriani [#LL4911809] (all arrested by the French police in February 1987) Regis Schleicher [#LL5192739] (sentenced to life imprisonment in June 1987) Mas Frerot [#LL4423009], Frederic Oriach [#LL4619270], Andre Oliver [#LL4789129] (arrested in 1986) Eric Moreau [#LL5197829] now believed leader. Legitimate Connections: Unknown Resources: The AD has financed its operations primarily through bank robberies and has used a wide variety of military weaponry and explosives in its attacks. [Interpol] Suspected Criminal Activity: May 1979—Machinegunned the building of the National Council of French Employers in Paris. March 1980—Bombed and completely destroyed the police station in Toulouse. May 1980—Injured eight with a bomb at Orly Airport in Paris. April 1981—Wounded a policeman in an attack on a Paris bank. December 1981—Bombed a toy store, a Rolls Royce dealership, an exclusive restaurant, and a clothes store. June 1982—Bombed the American School in Paris and the European Headquarters of the World Bank. August 1982—Machinegunned an empty Israeli Embassy auto, and bombed a Jewish-owned hardware store and bank. September 1983—Killed 1 and injured 23 with a bomb at the Marseilles Trade Fair. November 1983—Injured one in a church bombing in Paris. July 1984—Claimed responsibility for the bombing of the Industry Ministry in Paris. August 1984—Wounded seven in the bombing of the European Space Agency. The French- based Direct Action claimed responsibility for this July 19th bombing of the Industry Ministry in Paris. January 1985—Murdered French General Rene Audran, shooting him eight times (apparently a joint operation with the German Red Army Faction). The international wing of the AD and the RAF may have conducted joint operations such as the January 1985 assassination of French General Rene Audran and the August 1985 bombing of Rhein Main Air Base. Evidence uncovered in AD safehouses revealed strong logistical and perhaps even operational links between the AD and the RAF. June 1985—Attempted to kill General Henri Blandin, Comptroller General of the Armed Forces, in Paris. April 1986—Attempted to murder Guy Brana, vice president of the French Employers' Union. May 1986—Believed to have been responsible for bombing the Headquarters of Interpol in suburban Paris. July 1986—Claimed responsibility for bombing the offices of the special anticrime squad of the French Judicial Police in Paris. July 1986—Employed a car bomb against the Paris Headquarters: of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. November 1986—Murdered Georges Besse, Chairman of Renault, with gunfire. November 1986—Bombed the National Immigration offices in Paris. December 1986—Killed a chauffeur while attempting to assassinate former Justice Minister Alain Peyrefitte with a bomb attached to his car. January 1987—Planted a grenade near the Paris apartment of the judge presiding over the Schleicher trial; it was discovered and disarmed. [EuroTer] Additional Commentary: The Action Direct is believed to have evolved from French radical groups in the 1970s it's anarchistic orientation has led it to develop a highly decentralized organization in which specific terrorist acts are planned and conducted by terrorist cells operating in relative isolation. The AD is believed to be divided into two wings, one international and one domestic, with the domestic wing being less violent. The international wing, based in Paris and allegedly Belgium, headed by Rouillon, has perpetrated several sophisticated bombings and assassinations targeting individuals and institutions associated with the military and with West European industry, as well as institutions symbolizing both European cooperation and US-European ties. The domestic wing seems to prefer exclusively French targets and usually bombs unoccupied buildings. The group seeks to disrupt society through direct action by destroying its institutions and the men who serve it and by relying on the people's forces. As well as furthering class confrontation between the masses and Western imperialism, and oppose the US presence on the continent which is viewed as causing the Americanization of Europe. The AD has not conducted an attack since the arrest of the international wing's Leadership: cadre in February 1987. The group is believed to have been severely crippled by police successes in 1986 and 1987. The new leadership is busy recruiting and training new operatives to begin it's operations once again. [Interpol]
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