Operation Gladio: Encyclopedia II - Operation Gladio - The Order of the Solar Temple mystery

Operation Gladio - The Order of the Solar Temple mystery

It has been alleged by various sources, among whom François-Xavier Verschave, a critic of French colonialism, that the "collective suicides" allegedly committed by various Order of the Solar Temple (OST) members, in December 1995 in the Vercors region of France, were connected to Gladio. The thesis of the suicide has been heavily contested by family of the victims Alain Vuarnet, René and Muguette Rostan, Willy and Giséla Schleimer and their lawyer, Alain Leclerc. According to a Reuters cable dated March 22, 2004 (19:03:46), the lawyer explained that he had two documents upholding the thesis of a murder.

One document was a copy of an April 21, 1997 letter adressed by a lawyer office to a bank, concerning the distribution of 17 millions Francs (about 2,5 millions Euros) between various personalities and political parties, the OST and the Rosicrucian Order AMORC (Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis), an organization suspected of links with the OST. In his demand for more investigation, Dr. Leclerc wrote: "If the document is true, it shows that the Order of the Solar Temple was in activity after the last March 22, 1997 massacre (the "collective suicide" of five adepts in Canada) and that the responsibles of this organization are still alive". However, court refused further expertise: thus, it hasn't been possible to verify the validity of this document.

The second document is a juridical statement of Dr. Jean-Marie Abgrall, a specialist of sects accused of violation of the secret of investigations. In this document, "he states, goes the Reuter cable, as he had already done in declarations to Le Point and to Nice Matin in February 2003, that the Renewed Order of the Solar Temple ("Ordre Rénové du Temple" - ORT ^[20]), ancestor of the OTS, had relations with Gladio network... Jean-Marie Abgrall would also talk about relations between the AMORC, of which he once was a member, and the French networks in Africa, so-called "networks Foccart" ^[21]." Lawyer Leclerc, also quoted by the REUTERS cable, said that psychiatrist Jean-Marie Abgrall "reveals... that the Order of the Solar Temple, as the AMORC and the ORT, were created and controlled by French and foreign secret services". Those informations weren't given at the time of investigations; the lawyer thus asked that Dr. Abgrall be heard by the judge.

A third document was sent by the French secret services (RG) to the judge, discrediting the family of the victims' claims and demands for further investigations. If Jean-Marie Abgrall's claims of relationship between the ORT (OST's ancestor) and Gladio may seem far-fetched, Propaganda Due's juridically proven involvement in Gladio's strategy of tension inclines one to keep open various possibilities during investigations. Furthermore, connections between ORT founder Luc Jouret and far-right Belgian activist Jean Thiriart have been alleged by others sources; together, they had found in the 1970s a far-right party which was controlled by Belgium's branch of Gladio (See above). In any cases, the mass suicides haven't been clearly explained, let alone financial links concerning those various sects. ^[22][23]

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The Order of the Solar Temple mystery", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki