intelNews.org

We have spies, but not troops in Pakistan, says US

December 25, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Predator drone

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
American spies, but not combat troops, are active on Pakistani soil, according to Washington’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Speaking last Tuesday on PBS’ Charlie Rose, Richard Holbrooke said “there are no American troops in Pakistan”, but that the US has “members of our intelligence services in every country in the world”. Asked to clarify whether “[n]o members of the American military or CIA are in Pakistan”, the American diplomat responded: “I only said there are no American troops in Pakistan”. His comments appear to contradict several reports in Western media that US military forces are secretly operating in Pakistan, including a report last February in The New York Times, which stated that over 70 US “military advisers […] and technical specialists” were helping Pakistan’s armed forces fight the Taliban and al-Qaeda in the remote Pakistani areas bordering Afghanistan. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Afghanistan, CIA, News, Pakistan, Predator drones, Richard Holbrooke, United States, War on Terrorism

News you may have missed #0231

December 24, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Chinese honey trap methods net another victim. This time it was M.M. Sharma, an Indian diplomat posted with India’s mission in China, who reportedly had an affair with “a Chinese female spy”. She managed to gain access to his personal computer and “peruse [classified] documents without any restraint”. London’s ex-deputy mayor, Ian Clement, must feel better knowing he is not alone.
NSA’s $1.9 billion cyber spy center a power grab. Extensive –if a little ‘light’– analysis of the US National Security Agency’s planned new data storage center in Utah, by Chuck Gates of Deseret News.
Connecticut police spying on Democratic Party activists? Kenneth Krayeske, a political activist and free-lance journalist is suing the Connecticut State Police, claiming that officers engaged in “political spying [by using] cloaked Connecticut State Police addresses [to] subscribe to e-mail bulletin boards and lists […] that contain political information relating to the Green Party, the Democratic Party” and independent political activists.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Analysis, Camp Williams (Utah), China, civil liberties, Connecticut, Connecticut State Police, databases, Democratic Party (US), domestic intelligence, espionage, Green Party (US), honey traps, Internet, Kenneth Krayeske, M.M. Sharma, News, news you may have missed, NSA, Pakistan, political activism, Utah

Venezuelan-Dutch spat over Caribbean islands spying

December 24, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Antilles

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
A diplomatic rift between Venezuela and Holland that began three years ago has flared up again, after Caracas accused the Dutch government of helping the US spy on Venezuela. Speaking last week at the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez said the US had been granted use of Holland’s Caribbean possessions to spy on Venezuelan communications and to “prepare a possible military attack against his country”. He was referring to Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire, the three Netherlands Antilles islands closest to the Venezuelan coast. The Dutch government has authorized the US military to use civilian airports on the islands, which form a self-governing overseas possession of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference, Aruba, Bonaire, Caribbean, Copenhagen (Denmark), Curacao, Denmark, Hugo Chávez, Maxime Verhagen, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, News, United States, US Department of State, Venezuela

News you may have missed #0230

December 23, 2009 by intelNews 3 Comments

Ukrainians claim netting ‘spies among diplomats’. In the last 6 months of 2009, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has “exposed 7 spies among diplomats”, according to its director, Valentyn Nalyvajchenko. He apparently cited “a case of a Russian spy who was charged with obtaining defense industry secrets for a Chinese special service”. If anyone out there has information on this case, please contact us.
France launches new spy satellite. France has launched a military spy satellite, Helios 2B, part of a boost in spending on independent surveillance. The satellite can reportedly tell whether a truck convoy is moving or halted and whether a nuclear reactor is operational or not.
Seized N. Korean weapons destined for Middle East: US spy chief. An illicit North Korean arms shipment seized in Thailand last week was destined for the Middle East, US director of national intelligence Dennis Blair, has claimed. Blair’s comment, which was meant to tout improved cooperation among America’s 16 intelligence agencies, was the first official confirmation of the US role in the case.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with China, Dennis Cutler Blair, DNI, espionage, France, Helios 2B, News, news you may have missed, North Korea, Russia, satellite reconnaissance, Security Service of Ukraine, Thailand, Ukraine, United States, Valentyn Nalyvajchenko, weapons smuggling

Is CIA collaborating with Palestinian spy agencies?

December 23, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

West Bank

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
A British newspaper has alleged that Palestinian security agencies in the West Bank are working with the CIA so closely that CIA officials “consider them as their property”. London-based quality broadsheet The Guardian said that CIA agents routinely advise and supervise the work of the two main security agencies of the Fatah-aligned Palestinian National Authority, namely the General Intelligence service and the Preventive Security Organization. The trouble with this arrangement is that both services have been documented to resort to severe torture of West Bank members of rival Palestinian group Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2006. And the CIA has had more than a little trouble with torture in recent times. So is the CIA guiding overzealous Palestinian National Authority security agents in extracting intelligence by torturing Hamas sympathizers? Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Adnan Damiry, CIA, Fatah, Gaza Strip, General Intelligence (Palestinian National Authority), Hamas, intelligence cooperation, interrogation techniques, Israel, Mahmoud Abbas, News, Palestine, Palestinian National Authority, Paul Gimigliano, Preventive Security Service (Palestinian National Authority), Sa'id Abu-Ali, Salam Fayyad, Shin Bet, torture, West Bank

News you may have missed #0229

December 22, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

Russians claim outing ‘100 spies’ in Novosibirsk in 2009. Siberian scientific centers in Novosibirsk, and especially in its suburb of Akademgorodok, nicknamed “science city” by the Russians, are noted for their research in the fields of oil and gas geology, nanotechnology, creation of new materials, and biochemistry, among other subjects. See here for previous intelNews reporting on this issue.
Obama proposes liaison exchange with North Korea. US President Barack Obama has proposed setting up a liaison office in North Korea –something like a US Interests Section– in a letter to leader Kim Jong Il. Such a move would help augment the US’ meager intelligence gathering in North Korea.
Estonian phone, web data tapped by Swedish intelligence? The Estonian Security Police (KaPo) has cautioned Estonian telecommunications users to avoid discussing “sensitive subjects” by phone and on the Internet, after an Estonian newspaper revealed that large chunks of Estonia’s telecommunications traffic pass through Sweden before reaching the outside world.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Akademgorodok, Barack Obama, communications interception, diplomacy, espionage, Estonia, FSB, KaPo (Estonia), Kim Jong Il, News, news you may have missed, North Korea, Novosibirsk, Russia, Security Police (Estonia), Sweden, telecommunications

US media under-report US missile attack on Yemen

December 22, 2009 by intelNews 3 Comments

Airstrike victims

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Last Friday, a handful of US websites reported “an airstrike” in Yemen against “a leading al-Qaeda figure there”. The incident, which made headline news along the Arab peninsular, was quickly forgotten in the US. But it now turns out that there were two airstrikes, not one; and they were not carried out by “Yemeni forces”, but rather by the US military, which fired cruise missiles at targets in Yemen on direct orders from US President Barack Obama. And yet the revelation, made by ABC News on Friday, appears to have failed to arouse the interest of US news outlets, the vast majority of which are blatantly ignoring this report. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with al-Qaeda, Barack Obama, News, Sana'a (Yemen), United States, War on Terrorism, Yemen

News you may have missed #0228

December 21, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Irish nationalists planting honey traps on British troops? The Belfast Telegraph reports that British Army personnel have been “warned about the recruitment by dissidents of attractive females to identify soldiers at popular nightspots and lure them into ambushes” in Northern Ireland. This is highly unnecessary. Usually British troops in the North are easily identifiable by their haircuts, accents, even by their choice of beer!
Egyptian spy chief meets Israeli defense minister. Ehud Barak and Omar Suleiman, director of the Egyptian General Intelligence Services, met in Jerusalem on Sunday. The meeting included a “private 30-minute session” between the two men (and the eavesdroppers on either side, presumably –ed.).
Terror suspect David Headley was ‘rogue US secret agent’. The London Times has woken up to the rumors circulating about David Headley, a full month after Indian media began reporting them, and nearly three weeks after intelNews alerted its readers. Nice of them to catch up.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with David Coleman Headley, Egypt, Egyptian General Intelligence Services, Ehud Barak, honey traps, India, informants, Israel, Jerusalem, News, news you may have missed, Northern Ireland, Pakistan, United States

Protestant alleges links between N. Ireland loyalists and British state

December 21, 2009 by intelNews 3 Comments

Ray McCord, Sr.

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
On November 9, 1997, Royal Air Force officer Raymond McCord Jr. was beaten to death in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by members of the Mount Vernon branch of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). McCord’s beating was one of many instances in which Northern Ireland’s most violent loyalist gang targeted members of its own Protestant community. The difference in McCord’s case was that his father, Raymond McCord Sr., decided to come forward and speak out about the decades-old collusion between Northern Irish loyalist paramilitaries and Britain’s security services. Despite repeated death threats and intimidation, McCord’s campaign prompted an official investigation into the matter by Northern Ireland’s police ombudsman Nuala O’Loan. Her 2007 report confirmed that the leader of the Mount Vernon UVF, Mark Haddock, had been repeatedly protected by police authorities, despite being routinely implicated in extortion, blackmail, drug dealing and arson, as well as in dozens of paramilitary-style attacks that resulted in 16 murders and 10 attempted murders. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Belfast (UK), Human Rights and Oversight, informants, Mark Haddock, Mount Vernon council estate (Belfast), News, Northern Ireland, Nuala O'Loan, Raymond McCord Jr., Raymond McCord Sr., Special Branch, terrorism, UK, US House of Representatives, US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, UVF

News you may have missed #0227

December 20, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

British politicians sue CIA over rendition flights. A group of British members of parliament, led by Conservative MP Andrew Tyrie, has filed a complaint in a district court in Washington, DC, asking for a judicial review of secret agreements between the US and UK on renditioning terrorism suspects.
US DHS broke domestic spying rules. The US Department of Homeland Security gathered intelligence on the Nation of Islam for eight months in 2007, and broke the law by taking longer than 180 days to determine whether the US-based group or its American members posed a terrorist threat.
Expert says UK ex-spy chief misled Iraq War probe. Sir John Scarlett, Britain’s former spy chief has misled the Iraq inquiry by exaggerating the reliability of crucial claims about Saddam Hussein’s ability to launch weapons of mass destruction, according to Dr. Brian Jones, the leading UK Ministry of Defense expert who assessed the intelligence behind London’s decision to go to war in 2003.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Andrew Tyrie, Brian Jones, Chilcot Inquiry (UK), CIA, domestic intelligence, extraordinary rendition, Iraq Inquiry (UK), Iraq War, lawsuits, Nation of Islam, News, news you may have missed, Saddam Hussein, Sir John Scarlett, UK, UK Ministry of Defence, United States, US Department of Homeland Security, Washington DC

News you may have missed #0226

December 19, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

CIA tries to increase numbers of women leaders. CIA Director Leon Panetta is taking steps to increase the number of women at the Agency’s highest levels. The US is apparently “behind the curve when it comes to promoting women to the top ranks of intelligence services”.
CIA denies employing David Headley. CIA spokesperson Marie E. Harf said that “any suggestion that [David Coleman Headley] worked for the CIA is flat wrong”. The comment was in response to persistent rumors that Headley, who was arrested by the FBI in October, for plotting to attack a Danish newspaper that published cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, is in fact an undercover CIA agent gone wild.
Taiwan wants to swap jailed spies with China. The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense, which proposed the exchange, said the plan follows its policy of “do[ing] our best to take care of agents and their family members in accordance with the law and regulations”. There have been several espionage-related arrests involving the two bitter rivals in recent months.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with China, CIA, David Coleman Headley, Denmark, double agents, FBI, imprisoned spy swaps, intelligence recruitment, Leon Panetta, Marie E. Harf, News, news you may have missed, Taiwan, Taiwanese Ministry of Defense, United States

Comment: US-Pakistani Spy Relations Just Short of Open War

December 19, 2009 by intelNews 3 Comments

ISI HQ

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS* | intelNews.org |
Officially, the United States and Pakistan are allies in the so-called “war on terrorism”. But diplomats and intelligence agents on the ground tell a very different story. For several months now, Washington and Islamabad have engaged in a low-intensity intelligence war, with the Pakistanis accusing the Americans of failing to share actionable intelligence, and the Americans blaming Pakistani security services for maintaining clandestine links with Taliban groups. On at least one occasion, a senior advisor to the US-backed Afghan leadership has claimed that Pakistani intelligence services provide assistance to suicide bombers willing to strike targets in Kabul and other cities and towns in Afghanistan.

News you may have missed #0225

December 18, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Pacific nation recognizes breakaway Georgian republics. The tiny island nation of Nauru has become the fourth nation (after Russia, Nicaragua and Venezuela) to recognize the Georgian breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
US relying more on Special Forces in Afghanistan. US Special Forces operations in Afghanistan have been increased as part of a strategy to get faster results, according to US officials. “This is General [Stanley] McChrystal’s play”, said one Pentagon official.
Sweden charges man for spying on Chinese exiles. IntelNews regulars will remember the arrest in June of Babur Mehsut, a Uighur exile with dual Chinese-Swedish nationality, who was apparently monitoring the political activities of Sweden’s Uighur community on behalf of Beijing.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Abkhazia, Afghanistan, Babur Mehsut, China, Georgia, immigration intelligence, lawsuits, Nauru, News, news you may have missed, Nicaragua, Russia, South Ossetia, Stanley McChrystal, Sweden, Uighurs, US DoD, US Special Forces, Venezuela

Comment: Saudi Spies Take Over Yemen Border War

December 18, 2009 by intelNews 4 Comments

Saudis in Yemen

By IAN ALLEN* | intelNews.org |
Perceptive Middle East observers have been following the under-reported but escalating conflict along the Yemeni-Saudi border, in which Saudi and Yemeni government forces have joined forces in combating al-Qaeda-linked Yemeni rebels. It now appears that Saudi Arabia’s preeminent intelligence agency, the General Intelligence Presidency (GIP) has assumed direct command of the conflict. What exactly is going on?

News you may have missed #0224

December 17, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Parts 6 and 7 of CIA defector’s writings now available. Former FBI counterintelligence agent Robert Eringer has published the sixth and seventh installments (chapters 2 and 3 of “The Spy’s Cookbook”) of the writings of Edward Lee Howard, a CIA officer who defected to the USSR in 1985 (see here for previous intelNews coverage). In part six, Howard writes about the methodology of visiting (among other places) the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, DC. In part seven, he advises that the only time a double agent’s handlers should call the agent’s home is to tell him or her to “get out and leave the country!”.
Congressional vote on US PATRIOT Act delayed. The US House of Representatives tabled on Wednesday legislation to reform US domestic surveillance law. The Senate is likewise expected to delay the matter. The delays will automatically extend provisions of the PATRIOT Act that would otherwise expire at year’s end.