By Gianluca Lo Nostro
PARIS, Feb 11 (Reuters) - France's foreign minister has notified prosecutors about a middle-ranking French diplomat who has ties to Jeffrey Epstein and is suspected of transferring United Nations documents to the late convicted sex offender.
The name of Fabrice Aidan appears in more than 200 documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice, including emails he sent to Epstein between 2010 and 2016 from both his personal and U.N. accounts.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said his ministry had initiated its own administrative investigation and disciplinary proceedings against Aidan, and described the allegations as "extremely serious".
Prosecutors in Paris will decide whether to open a criminal investigation.
Reuters was unable to reach Aidan for comment via his X handle. His LinkedIn account appeared to have been deleted, Reuters' online searches found.
The U.N. documents in question include U.N. Security Council briefings and reports. A readout of a call between former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Turkey's foreign minister that Aidan sent to a superior was then forwarded to Epstein.
Reuters could not immediately determine the classification status of the documents.
The U.N. in Geneva did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
CODE TO EPSTEIN'S PARIS APARTMENT
"These emails, including the transfer of U.N. documents, are staggering," Barrot told RTL radio. He said he had learned of Aidan's actions on Tuesday via a report published by French investigative website Mediapart.
Aidan joined the Foreign Ministry around 2000. He is identified by the ministry as a "principal secretary of foreign affairs currently on personal leave and working outside the ministry."
His work at the ministry included a spell at the U.N. in New York from 2006 to 2013, Mediapart said.
In one email exchange, Aidan asked Epstein whether he could have the entrance codes to the financier's luxury apartment in Paris - a request Epstein responded to favourably.
Gerard Araud, France's ambassador to the United States at the time, said on X that he had sent Aidan back to France. He did not say why but referred to the existence of an FBI file on Aidan, of which he gave no details.
MACRON 'APPALLED' BY FINDINGS
President Emmanuel Macron is "appalled by the recent findings," a source close to the French leader said.
Government spokesperson Maud Bregeon said "judicial bodies must take up this case if they so wish. All light must be shed on this appalling and far-reaching affair."
The release of a cache of new files in the U.S. this year has revealed a host of new Epstein connections with politicians, royals and the ultra-rich across Europe and the U.S.
In France, former culture minister Jack Lang stepped down from the Arab World Institute, a foreign ministry-backed cultural organisation, after his name appeared hundreds of times in the documents.
(Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro and John Irish; Additional reporting by Dominique Vidalon and Elizabeth Pineau; Editing by Richard Lough and Timothy Heritage)
