ATHENS

French authorities encouraged us to maintain our operations in Syria, a former CEO of cement giant Lafarge said on Friday.

“One of the reasons the state took an interest in us was that the factory site (in Syria) was really a strategic location for the (anti-Daesh/ISIS) coalition and for France. This is why, I believe, that the authorities encouraged us, at least, to maintain our activities in Syria,” Bruno Lafont said in an interview with Liberation, a daily newspaper in France.

Claiming that the company was infiltrated by French intelligence, he maintained that he knew nothing about the payments which were made to Daesh/ISIS terrorist group in return for allowing the factory to continue its operations.

Lafarge opened a €680 million ($670 million) cement plant in the Jalabiyeh region of northern Syria in 2010.

From 2013 to 2014, the company is said to have paid terrorist groups around $5.9 million.​​​​​​​

In 2021, Anadolu obtained documents revealing that France's intelligence agencies were fully aware of ties between the terror group and Lafarge.

Ahead of a decision by a French court in September 2021, which paved the way for Lafarge to be indicted for "complicity in crimes against humanity" in Syria, Anadolu published the documents belonging to French intelligence.​​​​​​​