Former culture minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres (pictured) was questioned on Tuesday over alleged kickbacks from the 1994 sale of submarines to Pakistan, suspected of having been used to fund a campaign for an ally of President Nicolas Sarkozy.
In today's international papers, we look at who's profiting from the Arab spring, why the Notting Hill carnival is more important than ever this year, and if the media coverage of Hurricane Irene was a fuss about nothing.
In the absence of sanctions, Russia is "obliged to fulfil" its arms contracts with Syria despite international pressure, the head of the Russian arms export agency, Anatoly Isaikin, said on Wednesday.
The Syrian opposition is fighting online as well as in the streets, via cyber activism. Next, arms dealers in Lebanon witness a boom in business thanks to ongoing protests in neighbouring Syria. Finally, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is caught in a power struggle with the religious establishment.
UN officials have apologised to Belarus for wrongly accusing the country of violating an embargo on the sale of weapons to Ivory Coast, where violence has flared in the wake of a disputed presidential election.
INTERNATIONAL PAPERS, Fri., 18/2/2011: We look at coverage of the continuing unrest in the Middle East, including criticism of the British government for allowing the sale of crowd control weaponry to Bahrain and other Arabic countries last year. Also, Ben Ali and Mubarak’s ill-health; a private navy to combat Somali pirates and how hibernating bears could be key to space travel…
France said it had halted the sale of arms and riot equipment to Egypt Saturday, as new protests urging Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down hit Paris. France was criticised for exporting similar products to Tunisia during its own unrest.
A court in Paris has heard appeals for former interior minister Charles Pasqua (photo) and several other people convicted for their role in an arms trafficking scandal involving prominent politicians, businessmen and members of the Parisian elite.
France and Russia will jointly build two French Mistral-class warships, French President Nicolas Sarkozy's office announced Friday. France's NATO allies have expressed concern about arming Russia with modern Western weaponry like the ship.
