Al-Qaeda unconventional weapons experiment goes awry

January 21, 2009 by 2 Comments

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
An anonymous senior US intelligence official has confirmed rumors in the British press that a biological or chemical weapons experiment by an al-Qaeda affiliated group in Algeria has gone wrong, forcing the group to abandon one of its camps in the country. The official said that an urgent message from the Algerian group to the al-Qaeda leadership in the Pakistan-Afghan border, which referred to the base closure, was intercepted by Western intelligence agencies in early January. However, he dismissed as unfounded earlier reports in the British press that 40 militants had died after being infected when the experiment went awry. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

FBI probed Obama inauguration threats by Somali militant group

January 21, 2009 by Leave a comment

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
In late 2006, the US approved and assisted Ethiopia’s invasion of Somalia in what is in fact America’s most recent covert war. The operational aim of the invasion was to terminate the local grass roots leadership of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) and prevent the solidification of its rule in the country. Soon after the Ethiopian invasion, which also received Kenyan support, rank-and-file members of the ICU went underground in an attempt to organize a guerilla war against the Ethiopian troops. The most militant segment of the new underground movement is arguably al-Shabaab (The Party of Youth), which used to be the youth organization of the pre-invasion ICU. Al-Shabaab shares the ICU’s mission of turning Somalia into an Islamic khalifat. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Finnish UN official details recruitment attempts by Israeli spies

January 20, 2009 by Leave a comment

Raitasaari

Raitasaari

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat has published a relatively detailed account of attempts by Israeli intelligence agents to recruit United Nations (UN) personnel stationed in the Middle East and the Balkans. The source of the details is Reijo Raitasaari, a 30-year veteran of the UN and other international organizations, who was stationed for several years in the Middle East. Raitasaari admitted that he was targeted at least three times by Israeli intelligence recruiters during his career and that the Israelis often used “[s]ex and money […] as bait in such attempts”. He said that sending attractive Israeli women to parties of UN personnel was standard practice by Israeli intelligence agencies attempting to recruit UN workers. When offers for sex were accepted by married male UN workers, the Israeli spies would resort blackmail as a method to secure their cooperation. Raitasaari also detailed his relationship with Raimo Majuri, the Finnish military officer who spied on behalf of Israel and later immigrated to Israel, where he changed his name to Ram Laor. It appears that Suojelupoliisi, Finland’s security police (otherwise known as SUPO), took the Helsingin Sanomat revelations seriously. Earlier today, the agency announced plans to launch a training workshop designed for Finnish international agency personnel stationed around the world, “to help them deal with possible attempts of recruitment by foreign intelligence services”.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Russian naval bases in the Mediterranean “a matter of time”

January 20, 2009 by Leave a comment

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Last October, when Libyan head of state Muammar al-Gaddafi visited Moscow, observers speculated that the possibility of a Russian naval base in Libya would be high among the subjects for discussion. Now the ITAR-TASS news agency has quoted an “unidentified” Russian military official as saying that the establishment of Russian naval bases in Libya, Syria, and possibly Yemen, is a matter of time. The official suggested that “[t]he political decision [to lease the bases] has been taken” and “this will be done without question”. Responding to a request for comment by The Moscow Times, Deputy Chief of the Russian General Staff, Colonel General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, simply confirmed that Moscow is conducting negotiations “with foreign governments”. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

Four alleged CIA operatives convicted in Iran

January 19, 2009 by Leave a comment

Jamshidi

Jamshidi

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
On January 13, intelNews reported on revelations of an ongoing CIA operation to sabotage Iranian nuclear laboratories and installations. The exposé, published in The New York Times, claimed that the covert plan was authorized by President Bush in early 2008 and will be “hand[ed] off to […] Barack Obama”. We also reported that a few hours after The New York Times‘ revelations, the Iranian government announced the arrest and secret trial of four individuals “seeking to topple [the government] with the backing of the US State Department and the CIA”. Last Saturday, the four were apparently convicted after a secret trial, in which they were found guilty of trying to instigate a “velvet revolution” in the Islamic state. The country’s Judiciary spokesperson, Alireza Jamshidi (photo), said the four alleged spies received covert monetary assistance from “the White House, the State Department and the CIA”, and were tasked with setting up a network of dissidents willing to topple the Iranian government. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with , , , , , ,

South Africa pressed to cut diplomatic, intelligence ties with Israel

January 19, 2009 by Leave a comment

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
After Venezuela and Bolivia, which last week cut off diplomatic relations with Israel in protest of the Jewish state’s invasion of Gaza, the government of South Africa has come under pressure to do likewise. The powerful Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) urged the governing African National Congress (ANC) to “cease all relations with Israel and close down the Israeli embassy in Pretoria”. The organization also called on the governing party to expel “Israeli security agencies and Mossad” operatives from the country. Although it is unclear whether COSATU’s call will influence South Africa’s official relations with Israel, it will be difficult for the ANC to ignore it completely, especially with Jacob Zuma now at its helm. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

Obama to protect immunity of TSPs who assisted in warrantless wiretapping

January 18, 2009 by Leave a comment

Holder

Holder

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews |
After assuring the CIA that “he has no plans to launch a legal inquiry” into its use of torture methods to interrogate prisoners, Barack Obama is now sending a similar message to telecommunications service providers (TSPs) who participated in the Bush Administration’s warrantless surveillance program. Eric Holder, who is Obama’s nominee for the position of US Attorney General, told the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary that the Obama Administration intends to safeguard the immunity of all TSPs that participated in warrantless wiretapping. Speaking before the Committee last Thursday, Holder said the new Administration will keep protecting TSPs from privacy lawsuits “[u]nless there are compelling reasons” to do otherwise. He did not specify what such “compelling reasons” might be. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

US Treasury intelligence division after bin Laden’s son

January 18, 2009 by Leave a comment

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews |
The US Treasury Department’s Division of Financial Intelligence has announced it intends to freeze all US assets of four individuals allegedly connected with al-Qaeda’s presence in Iran and Egypt. The four include Mustafa Hamid, who is said to be al-Qaeda’s semi-official envoy to the Iranian government, and Egyptian Islamic Jihad member Muhammad al-Bahtiyti. They also include Yemeni Ali Saleh Husain and Saad bin Laden, one of Osama bin Laden’s sons, who is said to be in Iran. US intelligence agencies have been monitoring Saad’s movements ever since he left Sudan, along with his father, in 1996. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

Secretive US review court backs warrantless surveillance

January 17, 2009 by Leave a comment

wiretappingBy IAN ALLEN | intelNews |
The US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) is a panel of Federal Judges tasked with overseeing requests by counterintelligence agencies for surveillance of suspected foreign intelligence agents operating inside the US. It operates in total secrecy and rarely turns down a request for a surveillance warrant –it usually rejects less than 1% of all requests each year. Even in rare instances when it does reject a warrant or two, another body, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review (FISCR) re-examines the rejected cases and usually ends up granting them to the counterintelligence agencies that have requested them. Last Thursday, FISCR resorted to a near-unprecedented action: it published a redacted copy [.pdf] of a legal decision it handed down last August. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

MI6 informant found guilty of murder in secret trial

January 17, 2009 by Leave a comment

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews |
A Chinese anti-communist dissident who worked for years as a Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) informant has been found guilty of murdering an elderly British author and attempting to steal his identity. The British external intelligence agency admitted to have hired Wang Yam as a “low-level informant” since the mid 1990s, after the well-known anticommunist campaigner moved to London from Hong Kong. MI6 gave Yam British citizenship and tasked him with gathering information about Chinese expatriates living in Britain. In addition to working for MI6, however, Yam launched a number of fraudulent schemes, including online credit card fraud networks and several shady business ventures. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with , , , , ,

Outgoing CIA head confirms Obama backing down on torture

January 16, 2009 by 3 Comments

Hayden

Hayden

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
On January 15, I suggested that, after nominating Panetta, incoming US President Barack Obama was slowly backing away from his dispute with the CIA leadership. This interpretation has now been publicly confirmed by no other than departing CIA Director, Michael V. Hayden. Speaking to journalists about his imminent departure from the Agency, Hayden made sure to let them know that Mr. Obama privately assured him “he has no plans to launch a legal inquiry” into the CIA’s use of controversial interrogation methods in the “war on terrorism”. He also stated that the President Elect offered similar guarantees to Director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnel, during a secret meeting in Chicago in December 2008. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with , , , , , ,

Shin Bet arrests Israeli allegedly spying for Iran

January 16, 2009 by 1 Comment

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
A spokesperson for Shin Bet, Israel’s General Security Service, announced yesterday the capture of an Israeli-Argentinean citizen, living in Buenos Aires, for offering to spy against Israel on behalf of Iran. The man, Mauricio Segel, was arrested by Shin Bet and Israeli police officers on December 22, while attempting to enter Israel. He is accused of having contacted the Iranian embassy in the Argentinean capital and offered to sell Israeli government documents to Iranian diplomatic officials. Israeli intelligence sources claim Segel first contacted the Iranian embassy in Buenos Aires in 2006 and gained the Iranians’ trust by giving them access to copies of his Israeli national passport and identification card. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with , , , , , ,

Obama said to be backing down in rift with CIA

January 15, 2009 by Leave a comment

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
This author has been reporting on the continuing rift between the incoming Democratic Administration and many in ledership positions at the CIA. The latter openly warned the President Elect last month that he “may have difficulty finding a candidate who can be embraced by both veteran officials at the agency and the left flank of the Democratic Party”. As I explained on January 6, Obama’s nomination of Leon Panetta to head the CIA should be expected to spark further protests by the troubled agency. It now appears that, having nominated Panetta, the Obama team is slowly backing away from its dispute with the country’s intelligence leadership. The New York Times reports that there is “a growing sense” among observers that the incoming President is “not inclined” to pursue any broad inquiries on warrantless eavesdropping (Operation STELLAR WIND) or the use of torture against CIA detainees in the “global war on terrorism”. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

Bulgarian intelligence service found to have wiretapped “all national media”

January 14, 2009 by Leave a comment

Stefanov

Stefanov

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
In 2008, the Bulgarian government announced the establishment of the State Agency for National Security (DANS). The Agency, which began work with the blessings of the US government, was said to be the Bulgarian version of America’s FBI, combining counterespionage and criminal intelligence operations. However, it appears that DANS has been distracted from its initial mission. Early last September, the Agency verified that investigative journalist Ognyan Stefanov was behind Opasnite Novini (Dangerous News) an anonymous blog specializing in investigative reports on Bulgaria’s government establishment. The blog had apparently attracted the attention of DANS after publishing a shocking exposé implicating DANS officials in illicit trafficking activities. On September 22, Stefanov was hospitalized in critical condition after being severely beaten by persons unknown, who used hammers and iron bars to thrash the journalist. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

Comment: Israel Intensifies Information War

January 14, 2009 by 2 Comments

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
John Minto is well known in New Zealand’s political circles. In 2005, a documentary on the country’s most influential public figures positioned him firmly within the top 100. Earlier today, Minto accused Israeli military and security agencies of orchestrating cyber-attacks on New Zealand websites, including his own, that are critical of Israel’s ongoing incursion in Gaza. He also said that websites in Britain and elsewhere have had “similar experiences”, which he blamed on “a dedicated unit within the Israeli military which monitors and does its best to close down sites which are effective in organizing opposition to Israeli policies”. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,

← Older posts

Newer posts →