Miterrand's son charged in arms sale

PARIS, April 6 (UPI) -- French prosecutors have charged 42 people, including the son of former President Francois Mitterand, with selling arms to Angola.

Prosecutors charged that the defendants sold almost $800 million in weapons to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Angola, the Angolan president's Cuban- and Soviet-backed forces, during the 26-year civil war that ended in 2002, the BBC reported.

Also charged with Jean-Christophe Mitterand, who faces bribery counts, were a former close adviser to the late French president, Jacques Attali, and the ex-interior minister, Charles Pasqua, the BBC reported. All three deny the charges.

The investigation into the arms sales has centered on two businessmen -- now missing -- whom prosecutors believe sold weapons to President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos of Angola to help him fight the rebel Unita forces backed by the United States and white-ruled South Africa.