PARIS, Oct 6: Members of the French elite went on trial on Monday for illegal arms sales to Angola in the 1990s.

The son of late president Francois Mitterrand is included among the accused.

But a lawyer representing the Luanda government said he would ask the court to throw out the case by invoking French confidentiality laws protecting military secrets of foreign countries.

Angola is opposed to “public discussion of information in a foreign court” that concerns its state interests and national security, said lawyer Francis Teitgen.

Dubbed “Angolagate”, the trial into the arms-to-Angola scandal could throw a spotlight on alleged high-level French involvement in weapons deliveries, in violation of a UN arms embargo.

The trial centres on $790 million arms bought in eastern Europe from 1993 to 1998, at the height of the war pitting Luanda against Jonas Savimbi’s UNITA rebels.

Judges accuse Angolan President Eduardo Dos Santos of turning to two businessmen for military supplies after France refused to sell him a shipment of tanks in violation of a UN arms embargo.

In all, 42 defendants went on trial but much attention will focus on French businessman Pierre Falcone and Israeli-Russian billionaire Arcady Gaydamak who shepherded the arms deals.

Both face 10 years in jail for influence-peddling and illegal arms sales.—AFP