Editing Safari Club (section)

==Overview==
The Safari Club was a covert alliance of intelligence services formed in 1976 to conduct clandestine operations, primarily in Africa, during a period when the U.S. Congress had imposed significant restrictions on the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) following scandals like Watergate and revelations of CIA abuses by the Church and Rockefeller Commissions. Its formal members included pre-revolutionary Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and France, with the group maintaining informal connections with the United States, South Africa, Rhodesia, and Israel. Initiated by Alexandre de Marenches, head of France’s external intelligence agency (SDECE), the Safari Club aimed to counter Soviet influence and communism in Africa and the Middle East. The group’s charter, signed on September 1, 1976, emphasized fighting Soviet-backed revolutionary movements, particularly in Africa.