The man who headed the French secret service when the Rainbow Warrior was bombed in Auckland has died almost 35 years after the debacle.
Admiral Pierre Lacoste died in a retirement home in Paris on Monday (local time), French media is reporting.
He would have celebrated his 96th birthday next week.
Lacoste, a well-known figure in the French intelligence service, was the leader of the Direction Generale de la Securite Exterieure (DGSE) from 1982 and during the Rainbow Warrior debacle in July, 1985.
![The Greenpeace protest vessel Rainbow Warrior lying partly submerged at Marsden Wharf in Auckland after an explosion ripped through the hull on July 11, 1985. Photo / NZH Ben Motu](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/VM4ATCWIBCXFVKMQEPQC37ZWS4.jpg?auth=b432302bb31ac24be1b25da1c250aa48de5b63e2c635b720324f806db512ca74&width=16&height=14&quality=70&smart=true)