It was meant to be the French FBI — a secretive intelligence agency fighting terrorism. But it is more likely to be known as the Federal Bureau of Insurrection after a public protest scheduled for today.
Agents are to demonstrate at the headquarters of the Central Directorate of Interior Information (DCRI) outside Paris amid discontent over labour relations and alleged political interference. Commentators said that while strikes and protests were a feature of French life it was the first time they had heard of one involving the country’s spies.
The action has been called by the National Union of Police Officers, which is well represented among the 3,100 agents at the DCRI, to mark its disapproval of “human resources management”.
Union representatives say young officers are taking command posts ahead of experienced intelligence agents.
But critics say that the roots of the discord lie in President Sarkozy’s decision in 2008 to create the DCRI by merging two domestic agencies into what he hoped would be the equivalent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
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Mr Sarkozy was accused of trying to keep political control of the new agency when he appointed Bernard Squarcini, a close associate, as its director.
The attacks intensified when Mr Squarcini ordered officers to find out who was behind unsubstantiated rumours that Mr Sarkozy was having an affair with one of his ministers, and that Carla Bruni, his wife, was sleeping with a singer. Mr Squarcini’s detractors said that he was diverting agents from more important tasks, such as keeping track of al-Qaeda.
He drew further criticism when he was placed under formal investigation for allegedly obtaining the telephone records of a journalist at Le Monde without authorisation from a magistrate.
Mr Squarcini, who has refused to resign over the row, was seeking to identify the source of stories about an inquiry into claims that Mr Sarkozy had received illegal political funds.