Bob Denard
Robert Denard (born Gilbert Bourgeaud;[1]: 133 [2] 7 April 1929 – 13 October 2007) was a French soldier of fortune and mercenary. He served as the de facto military leader of the Comoros twice with him first serving from 13 May 1978 to 15 December 1989 and again briefly from the 28th of September to the 5th of October in 1995. Sometimes known under the aliases Gilbert Bourgeaud and Saïd Mustapha Mhadjou, he was known for having performed various jobs in support of Françafrique—France's sphere of influence in its former colonies in Africa—for Jacques Foccart, co-ordinator of President Charles de Gaulle's African policy.
Having served with the
Born a Roman Catholic, Denard converted first to Judaism, then to Islam, and finally back to Catholicism again. He was polygamously married seven times, and fathered eight children. Denard had a swashbuckling, larger-than-life image as the South African journalist Al J Venter called him "a warrior king out of Homer" who achieved the dream of every mercenary by conquering the Comoros in 1978, which he ruled via a puppet president until 1989.[5] Venter believed Denard to be the most successful of the mercenaries in Africa, and certainly one of the best known.[5]
Early career
After having served with the
He began his mercenary career, which was to span three decades, in
In mid-1963 he was in
After about eighteen months Denard returned to the
A year later Denard sided with Katangan separatists and Belgian mercenaries led by
Denard was involved in mercenary activity in
Denard is known to have participated in conflicts in
The Comoros
He was most active in the Comoros, making four separate attempts to overthrow the government of this small island group. On orders from Jacques Foccart, he ousted the first president, Ahmed Abdallah, who had just unilaterally proclaimed the Comoros' independence on 6 July 1975. Ahmed Abdallah was replaced by Ali Soilih.[citation needed]
He then failed at a coup in Benin in 1977 and carried out some operations in Rhodesia from 1977 to 1978 as part of the Rhodesian Army's short-lived French-speaking unit, 7 Independent Company.[7] With the support of the Rhodesian government,[14] he returned to the Comoros with 43 men on 13 May 1978 and carried out a coup against president Ali Soilih, who had turned toward socialist policies. Soilih was killed under mysterious circumstances on 29 May 1978.[15] The official story that Soilih was "shot while trying to escape" is not generally believed.[16] Helped by Denard, Ahmed Abdallah took the presidency back. For eleven years (1978 to 1989),[7] Denard headed Abdallah's 500-strong presidential guard and had strong influence and business interests in the archipelago, marrying and converting to Islam and eventually becoming a citizen of the country. He adopted the Islamic name Said Mustapha Mhadjou upon his conversion.[4]
The Comoros also served as his logistic base for military operations in
1989 coup and subsequent trial
This section needs additional citations for verification. (September 2016) |
In 1989, fearing a probable coup d'état, president Ahmed Abdallah signed a decree ordering the Presidential Guard, led by Denard, to disarm the armed forces. Shortly after the signing of the decree, a military officer allegedly entered president Abdallah's office and shot him, injuring Denard at the same time. A few days later, Denard agreed to leave the Comoros after meeting French businessman Jean-Yves Ollivier, and was evacuated to South Africa by French paratroopers.[7][17]
Denard then waited in the Médoc region, in France, for his trial for the murder of president Ahmed Abdallah in 1989. With his lieutenant Dominique Malacrino, he had to face charges in May 1999 for his role in the 1989 coup, in which, according to the French prosecution, president Ahmed Abdallah was killed on the orders of Denard because he was about to remove Denard as head of the presidential guard. The prosecution said Ahmed Abdallah was shot on orders from Denard during a faked attack on his palace on the night of 26 November 1989. But a few days before the trial, Abdallah's family dropped their suit, and finally Denard and Dominique Malacrino were acquitted because of lack of evidence.[8] The Comoros experienced its twentieth coup attempt since independence on the day that the trial began.[18]
Afterward, president
1995 coup and subsequent trial
On the night of 27 September 1995 Denard launched a fourth coup
Later trials and death
In 2001, Guido Papalia, Italian attorney of Verona, prosecuted Denard for having tried to recruit mercenaries in the far-right Italian movement (through Franco Nerozzi) in order to make a coup against Colonel Azali Assoumani, the current president, also opposed to his return to the Comoros.
On 9 March 2006, attorney Olivier Bray asked for five years of prison for the 1995 coup d'état against Said Mohamed Djohar under the code-name "Eskazi", and sentences between one and four years for his 26 accomplices. During the three-week-long trial, Denard and his accomplices tried to convince the court that they had acted with implicit support of French authorities. Dominique Malacrino talked about the "numerous phone calls of
In June 2006 Denard, who by then was suffering from
His death was announced by his sister on 14 October 2007.[23] In 2011, his story was the basis of the film Mister Bob.
Religious beliefs
Born a Catholic, Denard converted to Judaism in Morocco, then to Islam in the Comoros, and finally back to Catholicism.
See also
- History of Comoros
References
- ^ Rosen, Fred (5 April 2005). Contract Warriors: How Mercenaries Changed History and the War on Terrorism. Alpha.
- ^ "French mercenary Bob Denard dies". 14 October 2007.
- ^ a b c d Obituary: Bob Denard, BBC, 14 October 2007
- ^ a b c d e f "Bob Denard a toujours agi pour le compte de l'Etat français", interview with Xavier Renou in Le Monde, 15 October 2007 (in French)
- ^ a b Venter 2006, p. 15.
- ^ Bat, Jean-Pierre. "La garde présidentielle de Bob Denard: Un mercenariat à la française (1961-1989)?" [Bob Denard's presidential guard: A French-style mercenarism (1961-1989)?] (PDF). Revue d'histoire (in French). 2019/1 (141). Sciences Po: 143–157.
- ^ a b c d e "L'ancien mercenaire Bob Denard est mort" [Former mercenary Bob Denard dies]. Le Figaro (in French). 14 October 2007. Archived from the original on 11 September 2023.
- ^ a b c François Dominguez and Barbara Vignaux, La nébuleuse des mercenaires français, Le Monde diplomatique, August 2003. (in French) (Arabic and Portuguese translations)
- ^ a b John Lichfield Bob Denard The Independent, October 16, 2007
- ^ Nicholson, Sophie (October 16, 2007). "Bob Denard: French mercenary behind several post-colonial coups". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 November 2023.
- ^ "Congo Arrests European Mercenaries", Milwaukee Sentinel, July 28, 1966, p. 2
- ^ p. 217 Ventner, Al. J. Biafra's War 1967–1970 Helion and Company Limited. 2015 [ISBN missing]
- ^ a b Bob Denard, chien de guerre Archived October 1, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, L'Humanité, 4 May 1999 (in French)
- ISBN 978-1-84415-694-8.
- ^ "A man and his dog". Time. August 21, 1978.
- ^ Hebditch, David & Connor, Ken How to Stage a Military Coup: From Planning to Execution New York: Skyhorse Publishing Inc. page 136.
- ^ "COMOROS ISLANDS : SAID HILALI - Issue 570 dated 10/04/1993 - The Indian Ocean Newsletter". The Indian Ocean Newsletter. 1993-04-10. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
- ^ "Comoros country profile". BBC News. 2018-07-20. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
- ^ "Putsch aux Comores : cinq ans de prison requis contre Bob Denard". Le Monde (in French). March 9, 2006.
- ^ French 'dog of war' spared jail, BBC News Online, June 20, 2006.
- ^ a b Bob Denard est condamné à cinq ans de prison avec sursis, Le Monde (originally published on 21 June 2006, actualized on 14 October 2007). (in French)
- ^ "Décès de l'ancien mercenaire Bob Denard", Agence France-Presse, October 14, 2007 on-line Archived October 16, 2007, at the Wayback Machine .
- ^ French mercenary Bob Denard dies, BBC News, October 14, 2007.
- ^ Robert Young Pelton The World's Most Dangerous Places: 5th Edition, Robert Young Pelton, Collins Reference, 2003, p. 270: "Denard has seven wives and has at various times converted to Judaism (in Morocco) and Islam (in the Comoros) and then back to Catholicism." [ISBN missing]
- ^ Gabriele Adinolfi, The leave Parisian Bob Denard, in Century Italy, 19 October 2007.
Bibliography
- ISBN 0-224-03307-7
- ISBN 0750962887
- Venter, A.J. (2006). War Dog: Fighting Other People's Wars: The Modern Mercenary in Combat. New Delhi: Lancer. ISBN 8170621747..