Qatargate corruption scandal probe widens to include Moroccan spy services
January 2, 2023 1 Comment
THE CRIMINAL CORRUPTION SCANDAL known as Qatargate, which has rocked the European Parliament in recent weeks, involves covert influence operations by Moroccan spies, in addition to Qatari intelligence operatives, according to news reports.
On December 9 and 10, Belgian and Italian police arrested a dozen politicians, European Parliament aides, civil servants, lobbyists, and members of their families. Over €2 million in cash and other assets has since been seized by authorities, as a Europe-wide investigation continues. Those arrested included Eva Kaili, vice president of the European Parliament, which is among the core legislative bodies of the European Union. Kaili and her co-conspirators are accused of selling their ability to influence European Union policies on Qatar, in exchange for cash and other perks. Although the government of Qatar vehemently denies having a role in the scandal, it is widely believed that operatives linked to Qatari authorities facilitated the bribes.
During the past week, however, several reports in European news outlets have been alleging that, in addition to Qatar, the Kingdom of Morocco also appears to have been involved in parallel efforts to buy influence within the European Parliament. Early clues of this development surfaced during the week of December 12 in the Belgian broadsheet Le Soir and the Italian daily La Republica. The reports focused on an intelligence operative codenamed M118, who allegedly worked for the General Directorate for Studies and Documentation (DGED), the foreign spy service of Morocco.
Last week, a new report in the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel supported the theory that M118 is Mohamed Belahrech. Belahrech is allegedly an identified DGED operative, who is believed to have recruited two members of the European Parliament from Italy, Antonio Panzeri and Andrea Cozzolino, as well as Francesco Giorgi, Kaili’s Italian partner. Giorgi, a key figure in Qatargate, remains in custody. Der Spiegel also claims that Abderrahim Atmun, Morocco’s ambassador to Poland, led the Moroccan government’s efforts to recruit the three Italians. According to the report, the three were in direct communication with Mohamed Yassine Mansouri, director general of the DGED.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 02 January 2023 | Permalink
A TIP BY BELGIAN intelligence helped the Federal Bureau of Investigation foil a plot by Iraqi nationals to kill former United States President George W. Bush. American news outlets 
THE POLITICAL FALLOUT OF the Russian invasion of Ukraine is prompting the European Union (EU) to radically upgrade the security of its facilities, according to a series of internal memoranda. On July 14, the EUObserver, an EU-focused news agency based in Brussels, 
A BRUSSELS-BASED NEWSPAPER has publicized the names and backgrounds of nearly two dozen Russian diplomats, who were recently expelled by the Belgian government on suspicion of espionage. A total of 21 Russian diplomats were expelled from Belgium in April, in co-ordination with dozens of European governments. The move was part of a broader European wave of diplomatic expulsions of Russian diplomatic personnel, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
diplomats are expelled in a possible tit-for-tat move by an adversary. It is therefore highly unusual for information concerning expelled diplomatic personnel to be made public. And yet that is precisely what happened earlier this week, when the EUObserver, an English language newspaper based in Brussels, published 
EUObserver said that some of the information about the alleged spies was unearthed by The Dossier Center, a British-based open-source information outlet, which is similar to Bellingcat. The Dossier Center is funded by the oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who is a critic of the Russian President Vladimir Putin. 
A WEEK AFTER POLAND 
BELGIUM’S LARGEST MOSQUE has been infiltrated by Moroccan intelligence, according to the Belgian minister of justice, who allegedly consulted the country’s spy services in making that determination. The announcement has further-strained relations between the Belgian government and the country’s Muslims, which account for about 5% of the Belgian population.
A former employee of British intelligence has strongly denied accusations, which surfaced last week in the European press, that he gave secrets to two Chinese operatives in exchange for money. Some news outlets have suggested that he is currently under investigation by at least one European government.
Belgium’s spy services were aware of financial rewards that Russia allegedly offered to the Taliban in exchange for killing American and other Western troops in Afghanistan, according to Belgium’s defense minister. Late last month, three leading American newspapers, The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal 
• Pakistan releases two Indian diplomats. Pakistan has 
The Maltese government has strongly denied allegations, made by a leading French newspaper, that the island nation’s embassy in Brussels is being used by China to spy on European Union institutions. The allegations concern a nine-story building located at 25 Rue Archimede, in one of downtown Brussels’ most desirable areas. The building houses the Embassy of Malta in Belgium, as well as Malta’s Permanent Representation to the European Union. It is conveniently located across the street from Le Berlaymont —the headquarters of the European Commission, which is the European Union’s executive branch. It is also around the corner from the headquarters of the European Council, which operates as the collective presidency of the European Union.
One of Belgium’s leading universities has decided to shut down a research institute funded by the Chinese government, after the Belgian intelligence service accused its director of spying on behalf of Beijing. The news was 
A senior counterintelligence official in Belgium’s external intelligence service is under house arrest on suspicion of sharing classified documents with Russian spies, according to a Belgian newspaper. Additionally, the chief of the agency’s counterintelligence directorate has been barred from his office while an internal investigation is underway on allegations that he illegally destroyed government documents. These allegations surfaced last Thursday in a leading article in De Morgen, a Flemish-language daily based in Brussels.
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Veteran Belgian politician was a spy for Chinese intelligence, report alleges
December 18, 2023 by Joseph Fitsanakis 4 Comments
From 1995 until 2014, Creyelman served as a member of the Flemish Parliament or the Belgian Senate, representing the Antwerp Province. During that time, he became known for his pro-Russian views, which he continued to propagate in retirement. In 2021, he voiced strong skepticism against the Belgian government’s efforts to provide diplomatic, financial, and military support to Ukraine. Following his retirement from frontline politics, Creyelman became an honorary member of the Flemish Parliament. He also remained chairman of Vlaams Belang in his home city of Mechelen, a Dutch-speaking stronghold.
Last week, however, a joint investigation by the British newspaper The Financial Times, French newspaper Le Monde and German newsmagazine Der Spiegel, claimed that Creyelman worked as a spy for China for at least three years. Citing unnamed “intelligence officials from four Western countries”, the investigation claimed that Creyelman had been recruited by Daniel Woo, a case officer for China’s Ministry of State Security. Woo is believed to work out of the MSS branch in China’s far-eastern province of Zhejiang, though he has also served tours in Europe under diplomatic cover, including in Romania and Poland.
It is not known how the MSS recruited Creyelman. It appears that most of his communication with his alleged MSS handler took place via text messages. However, it is claimed that in 2019 Creyelman traveled to Sanya, a popular tourist resort in China’s Hainan Island, where he allegedly met Woo and possibly other MSS operatives. Notably, the journalists behind the investigation into Creyelman claim that they have accessed incriminating messages exchanged between Creyelman and Woo. The text messages span the period between early 2019 and late 2022.
In the text messages, Woo asks Creyelman to try to influence senior-level discussions in Belgium and elsewhere concerning China’s treatment of its ethnic Muslim populations in the Xinjiang Province. The far-right politician was also instructed to find ways to vilify and discredit European researchers and academics who were documenting China’s treatment of ethnic Muslims in Xinjiang. Woo also asked Creyelman to try to quell criticism of China’s crackdown of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. In one message, Woo explained that China’s purpose was “to divide the US-European relationship”.
Last Friday, just hours after the allegations about Creyelman’s alleged espionage emerged, Vlaams Belang announced that it had expelled him from its ranks. In a social media post, the party’s leader, Tom Van Grieken, denounced Creyelman’s espionage as going “against the purpose and essence, even the name, of our party”. He added: “The only loyalty for nationalists can only be to their own nation”.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 18 December 2023 | Permalink
Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Belgium, China, Daniel Woo, espionage, Frank Creyelman, MSS (China), News, Vlaams Belang