French Defense Aide Killed; Terrorists Claim Responsibility

A French Defense Ministry official was ambushed and shot to death Friday night in front of his suburban home, and the left-wing terrorist group Direct Action claimed responsibility.

The victim was Rene Audran, 56, deputy director of international affairs for the ministry.

Initial reports said he was struck by at least six bullets as he returned to his home in La-Celle-Saint-Cloud, just west of Paris.

The ministry announced the death of Audran, the father of two children, but gave few details. It said he worked in the armaments division and that one of his main duties was supervising arms sales contracts.

Reports from the scene said the killer or killers were waiting in ambush for him to return from work.

An anonymous caller to Agence France-Presse, the French news agency, said Direct Action had carried out “the execution” of Audran.

It quoted the caller as reading a statement and then saying, “Signed commando Elizabeth von Dick, member of the RAF (Red Army Faction), killed at Nuremberg in 1978.”

Von Dick was killed by German police in her Nuremberg apartment in May, 1978.

Defense Minister Charles Hernu, in a statement released by the ministry, expressed “profound emotion” at the “cowardly assassination.”

“I named . . . Audran to his post less than a year ago. It is an important post. I am losing a colleague in whom I have complete confidence. I’m overwhelmed,” the statement said.

Direct Action was outlawed by the French government in 1982.