Nevertheless, once the putsch started, strong rumours that Challe was seen accompanied by senior United States officers in uniform were lent tendentious support by the fact that the United States Military Attaché in Paris happened, quite fortuitously, to be in Algiers on that critical day of 22 April. As far afield as Tunis there were also rumours that the C.I.A. had promised Challe United States recognition if they succeeded — in order to keep the Communists out of North Africa. Any hopes, however, that all this may have engendered in the bosom of the conspiracy were to be swiftly dashed when the United States Ambassador to Paris, General James M. Gavin (himself a former para of utmost distinction), firmly assured de Gaulle that if any rebels attempted to land on French bases where there were American troops, these would at once open fire. In retrospect, the notion of C.I.A. involvement in the putsch seems to have been largely a canard launched by the Communist Press in France and Italy.

Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Alge…, loc. 1354