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News you may have missed #0076

August 22, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Australia’s domestic spy agency considers FBI model. There are reports that Australia’s domestic spy agency could be expanded to become more like its US counterpart, the FBI.
Weapons manufacturers planted spy on Swiss anti-military group. The Group for Switzerland without an Army, a campaign group calling for Switzerland to disband its military, has accused the weapons industry of planting a spy within its membership.
Retired Lebanese security official “confesses” to spying for Israel. Lebanon’s counterespionage operations continue after Mahmoud Qassem Rafeh, a 62-year-old retired Internal Security Forces official, has allegedly confessed to having “collaborated with Israeli intelligence agents” between 1993 and 2006.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Al-Alam spy ring, ASIO, Australia, corporate espionage, domestic intelligence, espionage, FBI, ISF (Lebanon), Israel, Lebanon, Mahmoud Qassem Rafeh, News, news you may have missed, Switzerland, The Group for Switzerland without an Army, United States, weapons trade

News you may have missed #0075

August 21, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Release of Libyan convicted bomber raises questions. To some, Libyan Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, who was released by British authorities a few days ago on compassionate grounds, isn’t the Lockerbie bomber, but a scapegoat being used to hide the truth.
Analysis: Killing The KGB myth. Western pundits and journalists like to throw around the idea that Russia is currently being run by veterans of the Soviet era KGB. But a check of the public record quickly reveals that this is not so.
Second ranking US intelligence official to visit Philippines. After a recent visit to the Philippines by CIA director Leon Panetta, the US has dispatched to the country a second ranking intelligence official “to discuss with key officials anti-terrorism and development efforts”.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, Analysis, CIA, KGB, Leon Panetta, Libya, Lockerbie air disaster, News, news you may have missed, Pan Am Flight 103, Philippines, Russia, Southeast Asia, UK, United States

Comment: Blackwater’s role in CIA ops runs deep

August 21, 2009 by intelNews 3 Comments

Blackwater/Xe

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
North Carolina-based military and intelligence contractor Xe had a major role in the CIA’s rumored post-9/11 assassination program and is active today in the Agency’s Predator drone strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The New York Times and The Washington Post cited “government officials and current and former [Xe] employees” in revealing that the CIA worked briefly with Xe –formerly known as Blackwater– in the context of a top-secret program to locate and murder senior al-Qaeda leaders. According to The Washington Post, Blackwater’s role in the operation was far from consultative, and included “operational responsibility for targeting terrorist commanders [and awards worth] millions of dollars for training and weaponry”. The New York Times alleges that Blackwater’s central role in the operation was “a major reason” in CIA director Leon Panetta’s decision last June to inform Congress about the program, which CIA had kept hidden from Congressional oversight for seven years. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Afghanistan, al-Qaeda, assassinations, black operations, Blackwater, CIA, intelligence outsourcing, intelligence oversight, Iraq, John Kiriakou, Joseph Fitsanakis, Leon Panetta, national security, Pakistan, Porter Goss, Predator drones, R.J. Hillhouse, Taliban, United States, US Congress, War on Terrorism, Xe

FBI investigates attorneys for trying to identify CIA torturers

August 21, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
The Washington Post and The New York Times are reporting three military attorneys at Guantánamo Bay have been questioned by the FBI for allegedly showing pictures of CIA operatives to prisoners accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks. In some cases, the pictures were taken surreptitiously outside the operatives’ homes. The lawyers were apparently trying to identify agents who may have been involved in torturing prisoners at US jails overseas. But US military officials say the lawyers could have broken laws shielding the identity of classified intelligence. The FBI investigation is reportedly headed by John Dion, head of the US Justice Department’s counterespionage section. Dion has worked on several high-profile national security cases, including the prosecution of Aldrich H. Ames, the CIA double agent who spied for the USSR. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with ACLU, Aldrich H. Ames, Anthony Romero, CIA, FBI, Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp, John Adams Project, John Dion, lawsuits, News, torture, United States, US Department of Justice, USSR, War on Terrorism

News you may have missed #0074

August 20, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Captured Real IRA operative tried to buy weapons in Lithuania. An Irishman accused of attempting to buy weapons for the Real IRA in Lithuania appeared in court on Tuesday, in Lithuania’s first terrorist trial.
CIA lawyers accused of “deception” in contract dispute. Only three weeks after a federal judge ruled that CIA lawyers committed fraud in a lawsuit, another top agency lawyer is being accused of unethical conduct in another case.
Western spy agencies develop “terrorist Facebook”. Western spy agencies are turning to complex social network analysis. They plan to amass intelligence on a large range of people, even those who seem obscure or irrelevant, and feed it into a computer which will use an algorithm to investigate associations or connections that could be missed by a human.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with CIA, Facebook, lawsuits, Lithuania, Michael Campbell, News, news you may have missed, Real IRA, RIRA, social networking, United States, War on Terrorism, weapons trade

Australian diplomats targeted by fake email

August 20, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

David Irvine

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
The Australian government has issued a warning to its diplomats around the world about a fake email, which it says could be part of an organized cyberespionage campaign. The email began appearing in Australian diplomatic staff’s email inboxes late last month. It is titled “Australia-China Free Trade Agreement Negotiations Update” and its sender(s) reportedly targeted Australian diplomats specializing in Australia’s economic and security relations with China. The email’s title and focus has led some observers to speculate that it originated from groups with Chinese intelligence connections. But the Australian government remains silent on the matter, saying simply that the source of the suspicious email “is under investigation”. Earlier this month, David Irvine, the recently appointed director of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, identified cyberespionage as “a growing national security risk”.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with ASIO, Australia, China, computer hacking, cyberespionage, David Irvine, News

Israel, Azerbaijan, tight-lipped on rumored reconnaissance deal

August 20, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Ilham Aliyev

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
The Israeli and Azerbaijani governments are apparently keeping quiet about rumored plans to jointly manufacture unmanned drone aircraft and spy satellites. Representatives of Israel’s reconnaissance and aeronautics industry were among dozens of Israeli business leaders who joined last June’s state visit to Azerbaijan by Isarel’s President Shimon Peres. It was the first-ever visit to the Caspian Sea state by an Israeli head of state. Soon after the end of the visit, there were rumors in the Israeli press that Tel Aviv had managed to convince Azerbaijan’s President, Ilham Aliyev, after four years of negotiations, to approve the construction of a manufacturing plant in Azerbaijan that will construct unmanned drone surveillance aircraft. Moreover, Israel was said to have agreed to help Azerbaijan construct a TecSAR all-weather satellite reconnaissance system. Azerbaijan, which borders with Russia, Iran, Armenia and Georgia, is one of the few predominantly Muslim countries that maintain bilateral relations with Israel.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with aerial reconnaissance, Azerbaijan, Caspian Sea, energy resources, Ilham Aliyev, Israel, News, satellite reconnaissance, Shimon Peres, TecSAR

News you may have missed #0073

August 20, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Homeland Security denies involvement in domestic spying case. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says that reports on antiwar groups gathered by John Towery, an undercover Army spy in Washington state, did not make their way into DHS intelligence data banks.
Sudan’s new spy chief speaks to the press. Mohamed Atta Al-Moula Abbas, who replaced Salah Gosh as head of Sudan’s National Security and Intelligence Services last week, has spoken publicly for the first time.
US special operations forces can’t exploit intelligence. US special operations forces are successfully collecting valuable operational intelligence materials in the field, but can’t exploit and disseminate those materials, according to a new report.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with domestic intelligence, informants, John Towery, Mohamed Atta Al-Moula Abbas, National Security and Intelligence Services (Sudan), News, news you may have missed, Salah Gosh, Sudan, United States, US Army, US Department of Homeland Security, US Special Forces, Washington state

News you may have missed #0072

August 19, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Analysis: Government secrecy alive and well under Obama. The Obama administration has not reduced the volume of security and safety-related US government information that is withheld from the public.
Emirates to go after former French spy. Malika Karoum, the former Dutch intelligence agent, is not the only ex-spy to have fallen out with Dubai’s oil-rich elite. The city’s police force says it will issue an arrest warrant for Herve Jaubert, a former French spy convicted in absentia of embezzling $3.8million, after he fled the country in a rubber dingy. He now lives in the US.
Was US man caught in FSB honey trap operation a CIA agent? It doesn’t appear so, say some Cryptome correspondents.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with CIA, DGSE (France), Dubai, France, FSB, government secrecy, Herve Jaubert, honey traps, News, news you may have missed, Obama Administration, Russia, United Arab Emirates, United States

BBC releases archival documents on KGB spy Guy Burgess

August 19, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Guy Burgess

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
The BBC’s archive unit has released 24 previously unpublished documents on Guy Burgess, a British-born KGB double spy who defected to Moscow during the early stages of the Cold War. Prior to joining the British Foreign Office, Burgess worked for the BBC as a producer of its Week in Westminster radio program, which covered British Parliamentary activity. The archival documents, some of which date back to 1936, shed light on his activities while at the BBC. They include a reference letter addressed to the BBC from Burgess’ academic mentor, renowned Cambridge University historian Sir George Trevelyan. In the letter, Professor Trevelyan describes Burgess as “a first rate man” and notes that “[h]e has passed through the communist measles that so many of our clever young men go through and is well out of it”. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with BBC, BBC radio, British embassy in the US, Cambridge Five, Cold War, defectors, double agents, history, KGB, News, Sir George Trevelyan, UK, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, University of Cambridge, USSR

News you may have missed #0071

August 19, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

CIA dismisses rumors Panetta is about to resign. The CIA is pushing back hard on insider rumors that Director Leon Panetta is frustrated and thinking about leaving at his one-year mark in February.
Burma denies pursuing secret nuclear plans. The government of Myanmar has reportedly rebuffed claims that it is pursuing a clandestine nuclear weapons program.
Is US war in Afghanistan turning into a counter-narcotics operation? Timely information about the Afghanistan Intelligence Fusion Center, an outsourced US operation based at the offices of the Afghan counternarcotics police in Kabul.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Afghanistan, Afghanistan Intelligence Fusion Center, Burma, Burmese nuclear program, CIA, intelligence outsourcing, Leon Panetta, narcotics trade, News, news you may have missed, United States, war on drugs

Czechs, Russians expel diplomats in escalating spy row

August 19, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
The Russian Foreign Ministry ordered two Czech diplomats out of Russia on Tuesday, one day after the Czech Republic expelled two members of staff of the Russian embassy in Prague. On August 17, Czech websites reported the expulsion of Russia’s deputy military attaché in Prague, and another Russian embassy official, who was told not to return to the Czech Republic from his vacation. The move came after the Czech Military Intelligence Service (VZ) allegedly verified that the two diplomats are paid employees of the Russian secret services. According to one report, VZ was able to establish that the two Russian embassy officials “tried to develop close ties with people from the Czech Defense Ministry and [had] shown a particular interest in the planned construction of a US radar base on Czech soil”, a reference to Washington’s missile defense shield plans for Eastern Europe. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Czech Defense Ministry, Czech embassy in Russia, Czech Military Intelligence Service, Czech Republic, Czech Security Information Service (BIS), diplomatic expulsions, Eastern Europe, espionage, Moscow (Russia), News, Prague (Czech Republic), Russia, Russian embassy in the Czech Republic, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Security Information Service (Czech Republic), US Missile Defense Shield, VZ (Czech Republic)

Botched CIA mission in Siberia revealed

August 18, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Ulan Ude

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Five American “tourists” temporarily detained in 2001 by Russian border agents were in fact CIA agents on a covert mission to Siberia, court documents have revealed. The five were among thirteen agents traveling to Siberia on a chartered CIA flight. They were detained in the far-eastern Russian city of Petropavlovsk by Russian authorities, because Langley had failed to secure visas for them in time for their departure. The Americans’ CIA cover was revealed last week during a court case involving alleged fraud by a US government contractor involved in the operation. The CIA group was apparently traveling to Ulan Ude, Siberia in order to purchase two Russian helicopters for use in CIA missions in Afghanistan. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Afghanistan, aviation, CIA, covert operations, front companies, News, Petropavlovsk (Russia), Russia, Siberia, Ulan Ude (Russia), United States

Kazakh ambassador to London was KGB spy, paper claims

August 18, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Abusseitov

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
British authorities may consider expelling Kazakhstan’s ambassador to the UK a newspaper alleged he used to be a KGB spy. British weekly The Mail on Sunday claims to be in possession of a 175-page file from Soviet intelligence archives, which allegedly proves that Kazakh attaché to London Kairat Abusseitov, was recruited by the KGB in 1988 and given the codename “Delano”. The paper alleges that Abusseitov has continued working for independent Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee, also known as KNB, until today. In addition to his ambassadorial duties, Abusseitov also presides over the British Kazakh Society (BKS), whose honorary patron is Prince Andrew, second son and third child of Queen Elizabeth II. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with British Kazakh Society, diplomacy, Kairat Abusseitov, Kazakhstan, KGB, KNB (Kazakhstan), News, Prince Andrew, UK

News you may have missed #0070

August 18, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Sudan president replaces intelligence chief. Salah Gosh, who has ruled Sudan’s National Security and Intelligence Services since 2002, has been fired in a surprise move.
Pakistan’s former spy chief blames US for Afghan drugs. Lieutenant General Hamid Gul, the outspoken former Director General of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, has charged the US with responsibility for the Afghan drug trade.
Lebanese minister denies link with Israeli ISP. Lebanon’s telecommunications minister Gibran Bassil has denied allegations that his party was linked to an Internet service provider recently found to have connections to Israel.