PARIS

A former chief executive officer of French cement maker Lafarge’s Syrian subsidiary has told a Paris court that France’s external intelligence agency (DGSE) attempted to recruit former company employees as informants during the conflict in Syria.

Frederic Jolibois, who headed Lafarge Cement Syria (LCS) between 2014 and 2016, said the DGSE contacted him directly after the company lost control of its cement plant to the ISIS (Daesh) terror group in September 2014.

“The DGSE even contacted me to recruit former employees as informants,” he said.

The comments came as Lafarge and eight of its former executives are standing trial for allegedly financing a terrorist organization through a scheme between 2013 and 2014 in order to keep its Syrian factory operating.

The case, being heard at the Paris Criminal Court, is also examining whether the company violated European Union embargo regulations by maintaining financial dealings in ISIS-controlled territory.

Evacuation under scrutiny

At Wednesday's hearing, judges focused on how the company managed the evacuation of staff from its cement plant in northern Syria as ISIS advanced on the region.

Jolibois claimed that he later learned that Lafarge’s internal security committee was aware that groups receiving protection payments had “terror” links.

He criticized the company’s emergency planning, telling the court that the evacuation of the factory employees “was organized very poorly.”

According to his testimony, all but 27 workers—who remained to cool the plant’s reactor—were evacuated before Sept.19, 2014.

He said ISIS attacked the site later that same day, prompting the company to lose control of the facility.

Following the attack, he said he remained in contact with Lafarge’s former security director, Jean-Claude Veillard, and members of French intelligence to provide ongoing information about the plant and its employees.

He said he liaised with three DGSE officers based in two Middle Eastern countries.

Security warnings ignored, court hears

Ahmad Al Jaloudi, a former Jordanian security officer for the company and also a defendant, told the court that he had warned his superiors as early as May 2014 that ISIS had surrounded the area and was only 60 kilometers (37 miles) away.

“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 said he drafted his own evacuation plan by September 2014 and travelled to Paris on Sept. 15 to present it.

But he testified that three minibuses designated for the evacuation were blocked by another armed group when ISIS launched its attack days later.

Previous revelations

The case has drawn international attention since 2021, when Anadolu published documents alleging that Lafarge financed ISIS “with the knowledge of French intelligence.”

Several senior figures, including former CEO Bruno Lafont, were subsequently charged in the long-running investigation.

In October 2024, French investigative judges confirmed that Lafarge Group and four former executives would stand trial for financing a terrorist organization and violating EU embargo rules by maintaining financial and commercial ties with ISIS and other militant groups.