The Associated Press
P A R I S, Oct. 21 — France has alerted Interpol about a French army deserter who is known as a marksman and is missing in North America. A Defense Ministry spokesman said there was speculation of a link to the investigation into the Washington-area sniper.
The 25-year-old second lieutenant, who was not identified, did not return to class in September at the elite military school, Saint-Cyr Coetquidan in Brittany, in western France, after going on vacation in August, officials said.
... The deserter was given permission for an August trip to the United States and Canada, said Bureau. Police sources said he had planned a trip to Chicago.
RTL radio reported the deserter was of Yugoslav origin, but Bureau could not confirm that, saying that he had to be a French citizen to attend the military school.
After the missing officer never showed up for school in September, the gendarmerie, a force under the Defense Ministry, sent a note last week to the Interior Ministry. Interpol was then contacted, said Bureau.
Meanwhile, police sources in Paris said earlier yesterday the sniper could be a 25-year-old French deserter from officer training school.
France has alerted Interpol about the army deserter, who is known to be an excellent marksman.
The cadet has been missing since early September from the elite military school, Saint-Cyr Coetquidan, in Brittany, eastern France, after going on vacation in August, officials said. When he left the school, he reportedly told friends that he was heading for Canada.
Interpol was notified of the disappearance of the officer, a normal procedure, and a judicial investigation was opened, which is also normal, said Defence Ministry spokesman Jean-Francois Bureau.
Bureau acknowledged there was some speculation of a connection with the sniper investigation, but he said that was just hypothetical at this point.
"We have no certitude of a link," he said in a telephone interview. However, "this soldier has a very, very good reputation as a marksman."
And since the September 11 terror attacks on the United States, "these are things we follow very closely," he added.
Interpol, the international police agency based in the French city of Lyon, said it refuses to comment on active cases.
The deserter, not identified by name, was given permission for an August trip to the United States and Canada, said Bureau. Police sources said he had planned a trip to Chicago.
RTL radio reported the deserter was of Yugoslav origin, but Bureau could not confirm that, saying that he had to be a French citizen to attend the military school.
The missing officer never showed up for school in September. The gendarmerie, a force under the Defence Ministry, sent a note last week to the Interior Ministry. Interpol was then contacted, said Bureau.
Bureau cast doubt on reports in the French media that students at Saint-Cyr alleged they recognised their comrade in an unofficial police composite drawing of the sniper reportedly shown on French television.
I'm not sure, but it seems that it might be someone by the name of Georges Radosavljevic. He appears on this list of people admitted to the Ecole Militaire Interarmes in 2001. His last name is Slavic, and I've been told that there are reports that the missing marksman's first name is Georges (although I haven't seen these reports myself).