Alliance Base Alliance Base was the cover name for a secret Western Counterterrorist Intelligence Center ( CTIC ) that existed between 2002 and 2009 in Paris . The existence of CTICs were first revealed by Dana Priest in a November 17 , 2005 " Washington Post " article , while she referred to the Alliance Base in a July 2 , 2005 , article . The name was chosen in reference of Al Qaeda , which means " The Base " in Arabic . It was headed by a French General assigned to the Directorate - General for External Security ( DGSE ) , and largely funded by the CIA ' s Counterterrorist Center . It hosted officers from Great Britain , France , Germany , Canada , Australia and the United States and was used for intelligence exchange and operational planning . Its existence was confirmed on 8 September 2006 by Christophe Chaboud , chief of the UCLAT ( " " Unité de Coordination de la Lutte contre le Terrorisme " " , " Fight against Terrorism Coordination Unit " ) , in an interview to RFI . Although intelligence exchange between intelligence agencies has become more and more widespread in the last decade , in particular following the September 11 , 2001 attacks , this organisation also engaged in operations . International cooperation between intelligence agencies . Its existence was first revealed by a November 17 , 2005 , article by Dana Priest in " The Washington Post " , who also broke the story concerning the existence of the CIA ' s " black site s " . In the article , both the CIA and the French government declined to comment on Alliance Base , while all intelligence officers requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the project , in particular relating to its political and judicial dimensions . " No country wanted to be perceived as taking direction from the CIA , " wrote Dana Priest , while France was the only European state willing to engage in more than simple information exchange . " To play down the U . S . role , the center ' s working language is French , " told an anonymous source to the Washington Post investigative reporter . " The base selects its cases carefully , chooses a lead country for each operation , and that country ' s service runs the operation . " Furthermore , this cooperation permits " German case officers to read information from their own country ' s law enforcement authorities " , which is prohibited by German law . Alliance Base also takes advantage of the " harsh laws " of France concerning anti - terrorism . French magistrates are allowed to detain people suspected of " conspiracy in relation to terrorism " while gathering evidence . According to the top anti - terrorist magistrate , Jean - Louis Bruguière , he has in the past ordered the arrest of more than 500 suspects , some with the assistance of US authorities . Dana Priest cited him as saying : " I have good connections with the CIA and FBI . " Dana Priest described the working of Alliance Base , writing that " The CIA brings money from its classified and ever - growing ' foreign liaison ' account — it has paid to transport some of France ' s suspects from abroad into Paris for legal imprisonment ' [ thus rendering them to France ] — and its global eavesdropping capabilities and worldwide intelligence service ties . " France , on the other hand , " brings its harsh laws , surveillance of radical Muslim groups and their network in Arab states , and its intelligence links to its former colonies " . By handing out information to its counterparts , French intelligence agencies helped the US to convict Ahmed Ressam , arrested in 1999 , as well as Zacarias Moussaoui , who lived a long time in France . In the days following the attacks , President Jacques Chirac issued an edict to French secret services ordering them to share information with US counterparts " as if they were your own service , " according to two officials who read it and were cited by Dana Priest . According to the " Washington Post " investigative reporter , the arrest of Christian Ganczarski , alleged to be an important Al Qaeda responsible , was one of the 12 major operations it has engaged in during its first years . Since the end of 2001 , France has detained about 60 suspects , some with the help of the CIA , according to a CIA veteran cited by Priest . Pierre de Bousquet de Florian , director of the Directorate of Territorial Surveillance ( DST ) , said " There ' s an easy exchange of information . The cooperation between my service and the American service is candid , loyal and certainly effective . " Jean - Louis Brugière , on the other hand , was quoted by Dana Priest as saying that " The relations between intelligence agencies in the United States and France has been good , even during the transatlantic dispute over Iraq , for practical reasons " . John E . McLaughlin , former director of the CIA , has claimed that the cooperation between the DGSE and the CIA " is one the best of the world " . Christian Ganczarski and Ahmed Medhi . Christian Ganczarski , a German convert to Islam , took an Air France flight from Riyadh on June 3 , 2003 , back to Germany , with a change of planes in Paris . But he was secretly followed on board by an undercover officer . In Paris ' airport , a senior CIA officer was waiting for him , while French authorities separated him from his family and arrested him , on charges of association with terrorists . This operation was conceived at the Alliance Base . On May 20 , 2003 , Alliance Base learned that Ahmed Mehdi , who lived near Ganczarksi in Germany , was about to travel for a 14 - day vacation to La Réunion , a French island in the Indian Ocean . Although the German BND thought that he was planning an attack , they had not enough evidence to arrest him . The CIA arranged someone to suggest that Mehdi stop in Paris on his way to La Réunion . The French services clandestinely helped him to have a visa , while the Germans monitored calls and contacts . On June 1 , 2003 , he was arrested by French authorities at Charles de Gaulle International Airport and sent to Fresnes Prison . Two days later , Ganczarksi was also there . Following interrogations of both men , investigators suspected that they had links with the Hamburg cell , which plotted the September 11 attacks . Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy implicitly referred to Alliance Base on June 11 , 2003 , declaring to the National Assembly that " This arrest took place thanks to the perfect collaboration between the service of the great democracies . "