February 27 1963; Antoine Argoud, President De Gaulle's arch enemy and a former colonel in the French Army was charged with an assassination attempt on the president. Argoud was, the only active member of the Algerian Secret Army (OAS) , an organisation opposed to Algerian independence that has used violent methods to promote its cause. He was found by police yesterday tied up and badly bruised in the back of a blue van in central Paris after a tip-off.

He claimed he was kidnapped from Munich, Germany, by the French secret service, known as Les Barbouzes (the Bearded Ones). But the man who phoned police about Argoud's whereabouts claimed to be a member of the OAS. He told the police: "Argoud has betrayed us. He has failed in all the tasks which he should have organised - especially the attempt on the life of President de Gaulle at the Petit Clamart last August. You can pick him up now. He is very near you." The blue van was found just yards from the Quai des Orfèvres, the French equivalent of Scotland Yard.