René Imbot

Two years later he reached the normal French army retirement age, but after the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior caused Admiral Pierre Lacoste to lose the position,[1] Imbot took over as head of Overseas Intelligence ("Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure" / DGSE).

In September 1944, he joined the "marche de la Corrèze" regiment and took part in the liberation struggle in the Belfort region.

In January 1952, he was promoted to the rank of captain and assigned to the 4th Infantry Regiment of the Foreign Legion in Morocco, where he remained till 1954.

In 1958, he went off to undertake a further training at the United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas (USA).

He was now appointed Overseas Intelligence ("Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure" / DGSE) by President Mitterrand.

The appointment came amidst widesparead calls for reform of the service in the wake of the Rainbow Warrior affair which had triggered the resignation of his predecessor in the role, Pierre Lacoste.

In a memorably forceful presentation he stated his determination to "cut off the rotten branches" ("couper les branches pourries"), having identified "a truly malign conspiracy to destabilise the [intelligence] services" ("une véritable opération maligne de déstabilisation de nos services").