Djibouti murder probe continues

PARIS (AFP) - The French foreign ministry has been searched as part of a probe into the death 12 years ago of a French judge in Djibouti, the ministry said. The charred body of Bernard Borrel, who had been working as an adviser in the Djibouti justice ministry, was found in a ravine in October 1995.

A Djibouti enquiry ruled that it was suicide, but French investigators believe Borrel may have been the victim of a political assassination. Borrel’s widow accuses Paris - which has a strategically important military base in Djibouti - of wanting to bury the case. Last October the Paris court of appeal authorised a probe to determine whether the foreign ministry sought to pressure the judiciary to hand over the case file to the Djibouti authorities in early 2005.

Foreign ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said the magistrates were looking for details on a ministry statement made in January 2005, in which it said the files would shortly be transferred to Djibouti. French judge Sophie Clement refused to hand over the details, arguing it would compromise her investigation. "I have no comment to make on an ongoing judicial investigation," Mattei added. French judges have repeatedly summonsed Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh and other senior Djibouti officials to appear as witnesses in the investigation, without result.