Spies charged over murder plot

Three French intelligence agents have been charged with attempted murder and conspiracy for allegedly plotting to kill a female hypnotherapist who worked as a corporate coach. The suspects are soldiers from the Action Division, an elite military unit specialising in covert missions outside France, controlled by the DirectorateGeneral for External Security (DGSE), the French equivalent of MI6. Two of them, named as Pierre B and Karl E, aged 28 and 25, were arrested carrying guns in a stolen car in Paris last month, and the third, aged 26, was arrested a few days later. The first two told police they were on an official mission, having allegedly been ordered to eliminate a 54-year-old hypnotherapist specialising in corporate coaching. The hypnotherapist told detectives she was extremely shocked that someone had wanted to kill her. She suggested that the plot could have been motivated by professional rivalry among coaches and psychotherapists.