PARIS - An inquiry into a network of expensive call girls used by rich Gulf princes is worrying the French government, concerned about its commercial interests there, the daily Le Maride reported yesterday. The newspaper said the Paris prosecutor's office had restricted investigations by a magistrate, Mr Frederic N'Guyen.
Le Maride said a former French gendarmerie captain, Mr Paul Barril, once a member of an anti terrorist unit under the late president, Mr Francois Mitterrand, that engaged in illegal phone tapping, was implicated in a huge international pimping network. Mr Barril became a security agent for the Emir of Qatar after he was dismissed from the Elysee palace unit.
Mr N'Guyen had sought to question Mr Barril, after he was named by one of the suspects in the prostitution network, judicial sources said.
