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Jean-Bernard Mérimée (4 December 1936 – 2 May 2023) was a French diplomat. In 2005 he admitted to accepting bribes in connection to the Oil-for-Food Program.

Career

Jean-Bernard Mérimée was a graduate of the Institute of Political Studies of Paris and the National School of Administration. He was based in London (1966-1972), Abidjan (1975-1978) and held various positions at headquarters before being appointed Head of Mission of cooperation in Ivory Coast (1975-1978). Mérimée served as ambassador to Australia (1982-1985), India (1985-1987) and Morocco (1987-1991).

In 1986, Mérimée was received into the Legion of Honour as a Knight.

Mérimée was Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations Security Council from 1991 to 1995, including at the time that United Nations Security Council Resolution 986 was passed to permit the import of petroleum and petroleum products originating in Iraq, as a temporary measure to provide for humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people, establishing the Oil-for-Food Program.

From 1995 to 1998 Mérimée was French ambassador to Italy.

Mérimée was retired from the French Foreign Ministry in 1999 and began working for a Moroccan Banking enterprise, BMCE, owned by Othman Benjelloun. In 2002 he accepted bribes amounting to over USD100,000 whilst a special adviser to Kofi Annan.

References

1. "Relevé des fichiers de l'Insee".
2. "LES VOEUX DE L'AMBASSADEUR". Le Courrier Australien (in French). NSW, Australia. 10 December 1981. p. 1.
3. "French envoy". The Canberra Times. ACT, Australia. 13 December 1981. p. 3.
4. "Jean-Bernard Merimee". Le Courrier Australien. NSW, Australia. 18 January 1991. p. 8.
5. "New envoy named". The Canberra Times. ACT, Australia. 16 March 1985. p. 3.
6. "A L'Honneur". Le Courrier Australien (in French). NSW, Australia. 10 December 1986. p. 8.
7. Meyer, Jeffrey A.; Callifano, Mark G. (2006). "Saddam's Slush Fund". Good Intentions Corrupted: The Oil-for-Food Program and the Threat to the U.N. USA: PublicAffairs. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-58648-472-9.
8. Soussan, Michael (2010). "Saddam's Secret List". Backstabbing for Beginners: My Crash Course in International Diplomacy. Nation Books. pp. 270–271. ISBN 978-1-56858-441-6.
9. Harris, Francis; Rennie, David (19 November 2005). "Top French envoy took bribes from Saddam". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 25 November 2005.

• 1936 births
• 2023 deaths
• Ambassadors of France to Australia
• Ambassadors of France to Italy
• Ambassadors of France to India
• Ambassadors of France to Morocco
• Knights of the Legion of Honour
• Permanent Representatives of France to the United Nations
• Politicians from Toulouse