Lafarge scandal points to difficulty of operating in war zones

CEO to resign as firm's managers paid armed groups for safe passage of workers, factory supplies

As Syria began to descend into a bloody civil war, a cement plant in the embattled northeast run by one of France’s largest industrial companies was operating at full speed.

While fighting among Syrian rebels, the Syrian army and the Islamic State drove other foreign companies out of the country, the plant, operated by Lafarge SA, was curiously able to tough it out for years: From its opening in 2010 through to 2014, cement continued to pour from its mills in Jalabiyeh, a town near the Turkish border.

On Monday, the company announced that its chief executive, Eric Olsen, would resign after