Antoine Argoud (26 June 1914 – 10 June 2004) was a

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...

officer specializing in

counter-insurgency Counterinsurgency (COIN) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the activities of guerrillas or revolutionar ...

during the

Algerian War of Independence The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...

. Argoud's opposition to Algerian independence from France resulted in his joining of the

Organisation armée secrète The ''Organisation Armée Secrète'' (OAS, "Secret Armed Organisation") was a far-right French dissident paramilitary organisation during the Algerian War. The OAS carried out terrorist attacks, including bombings and assassinations, in an atte ...

(OAS) and support for its use of violence in opposition to this policy. Argoud was twice placed on trial and convicted (the first ''

in absentia is Latin for absence. , a legal term, is Latin for "in the absence" or "while absent". may also refer to: * Award in absentia * Declared death in absentia, or simply, death in absentia, legally declared death without a body * Election in abse ...

'') of attempting to assassinate

French President The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is ...

Charles de Gaulle. Following the second trial Argoud was sentenced to life imprisonment, but released as part of a general amnesty in 1968. On his release, he went on to live in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

as a consultant to the Portuguese Army. He returned to France in 1974. On 25 February 1963, when Antoine Argoud was hiding in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

after the failed 22 August 1962, assassination attempt on de Gaulle, he was kidnapped by French secret police CRS agents at the Eden-Wolff hotel, and smuggled to France, where he was interrogated. His revelation allowed the secret service to arrest

Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry (; 19 October 1927 – 11 March 1963) was a French Air Force lieutenant-colonel and military air-weaponry engineer. He was the creator of the Nord SS.10/SS.11 missiles. He attempted to assassinate French President ...

and other assassins.

Bibliography

* André Cocastre-Zilgien ''L'affaire Argoud. Considérations sur les arrestations internationalement irrégulières'', Pédone, 1965

External links

Argoud charged over de Gaulle plot
1914 births 2004 deaths People from Darney French Army officers French Army personnel of World War II French military personnel of the Algerian War Members of the Organisation armée secrète {{France-mil-bio-stub