Some spy news in the shadow of WikiLeaks’ revelations

Katia Zatuliveter

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
The WikiLeaks revelations continue, and so does the global news storm concerning the whistleblower site. Obviously, the news value of the WikiLeaks disclosures is unquestionable. However, there are notable intelligence-related developments taking place outside the now-familiarWikiLeaks context. Take for instance the recent arrest of what appears to be a Polish spy in Limassol, Cyprus. The unidentified man, who was reportedly detained in the vicinity of a Greek-Cypriot military base on the island, was carrying “a camera containing photos of National Guard posts, a laptop, two mobile phones, five memory cards, a GPS system and three pairs of binoculars”. Another interesting development concerns the arrest on espionage charges of Katia Zatuliveter, a Russian citizen who works as an assistant to British Member of Parliament Mike Hancock. Zatuliveter is expected to be deported on the basis of evidence gathered by MI5, Britain’s counterintelligence service, which has apparently been monitoring her for several months. Interestingly, Mr. Hancock, who is a member of the British House of Commons’ Defence Select Committee, is standing by his assistant. Meanwhile, the Embassy of the Russian Federation in London has refused comment. Last, though certainly not least, British intelligence commentator Gordon Thomas has penned an interesting article on last week’s bomb attacks that targeted two Iranian nuclear scientists in Tehran. The author of Secret Wars alleges that employees of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad “exchanged high-fives at their work stations” at the news of the two near-simultaneous attacks, which killed Majid Shahriari and injured Fereydoon Abbasi Davan. Thomas also cites “insiders” in claiming that several Mossad employees sent each other the message: “The Chief’s Last Hit” —an apparent reference to Meir Dagan, who is preparing to step down after eight years as the agency’s Director. These developments may not be as newsworthy as the stream of WikiLeaks disclosures, but they are most certainly worth a look.