Alliance Base was the cover name for a secret Western Counterterrorist Intelligence Center (CTIC) that existed between 2002 and 2009 in Paris. The existence of CTICs were first revealed by Dana Priest in a November 17, 2005 Washington Post article, while she referred to the Alliance Base in a July 2, 2005, article. The name was chosen in reference of Al Qaeda, which means "The Base" in Arabic. It was headed by a French General assigned to the Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE), and largely funded by the CIA's Counterterrorist Center. It hosted officers from Great Britain, France, Germany, Canada, Australia and the United States and was used for intelligence exchange and operational planning. Its existence was confirmed on 8 September 2006 by Christophe Chaboud, chief of the U