FRENCH intelligence has been implicated during a court case in which cement giant Lafarge has been accused of crimes against humanity involving alleged payments to armed groups in Syria, including Isis.

The country’s Court of Cassation ruled on Tuesday that the French company could face charges after it was accused of paying nearly €13 million (£11m) to jihadist groups to keep its factory running when conflict began in 2011.

It overturned a previous decision by a lower court that had dismissed claims brought against Lafarge — which merged with Swiss company Holcim in 2015 — by human rights groups.