France casts doubt on ex-ABC consultant

[tocqueville]

By JOHN LEICESTER, Associated Press Writer
Fri Sep 14, 7:01 PM ET

PARIS - The French Defense Ministry on Friday debunked the credentials of a former ABC News consultant who claimed to have worked as an adviser to the ministry, saying the man was just an intern for five months.

Alexis Debat, who was fired by the TV network last year, quit a Washington think tank on Wednesday after being accused of faking an interview with Barack Obama.

Previously, he had been identified in stories by a range of media, including The Associated Press, as a former French Defense Ministry official or analyst. The National Interest, an online publication he wrote for, identified him as a "former adviser to the French minister of Defense on Transatlantic affairs."

But the ministry said Friday that the only trace it could find of Debat in its records was a five-month internship at a ministry advisory office in 2000 and one month of military service.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070914/ap_on_re_eu/fake_interviews_9

[Amonester]

1. Duh... De batte saw a golden opportunity and lied trying to become

a have-more...

Nothing new.

Chalabi tried it before (and suckceeded...).

Too bad, Debate... T'as perdu, menteur.

[Spazito]

2. Gosh, I see ABC is as thorough at looking into the resumes of

consultants as they are in investigating the bush cabal, how surprising, not.