The french compan­y's previo­us chief also admits buying oil from Kurdis­h and Islami­st groups­PARIS: Three top officials of Swiss-French cement-maker Lafarge were charged on Friday with indirectly financing militants through the company’s activities in war-torn Syria, one of their lawyers and judicial sources said. Lafarge stands accused of paying the Islamic State group and other militants through a middleman in order to allow the company’s factory in Jalabiya, northern Syria, to continue to operate. Frederic Jolibois, who took over as manager of the factory in 2014, was charged with financing terrorism and violating an EU embargo on Syrian oil, his lawyer Jean Reinhart said. Bruno Pescheux, Jolibois’ predecessor as factory chief between 2008 and 2014, and Lafarge security boss Jean-Claude Veillard were also charged for financing terrorism as well as “endangering others’ lives”. The militants, who have since lost huge swathes of territory in international military offensives, eventually took over the Jalabiya plant in September 2014.

Source: The Express Tribune December 02, 2017 11:15 UTC