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News you may have missed #0037

July 23, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Gambian Army chief accused of spying. A newspaper claims that the chief of Gambia’s armed forces, Lt. Colonel Sainey Bayo, who recently fled to the United States, did so while being “investigated for supplying sensitive state secrets to an unnamed Western country”.
US Secretary of State violates declassification statute. The latest historical records release of the Foreign Relations of the United States, which is the official record of US foreign policy, has failed once again to abide by a 1991 statute which requires the Secretary of State to publish records “not more than 30 years after the events recorded”.
Intelligence report says Canada is key cash source for Tamil Tigers. A Canadian intelligence report released under the country’s Access to Information Act claims that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka receive millions each year in backing from Canada’s Tamil diaspora.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Canada, declassification, defectors, espionage, Foreign Relations of the United States, Gambia, Gambian armed forces, government secrecy, informants, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, LTTE, News, news you may have missed, Sainey Bayo, Sri Lanka, United States, US Department of State

News you may have missed #0031

July 18, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Ex-Boeing engineer convicted of spying for China. A US court has convicted Dongfan “Greg” Chung, a Chinese-born Boeing engineer, of multiple counts of espionage and of passing critical trade secrets on the US space program to China.
Second US Marine charged with leaking documents to police. Another US Marine at Camp Pendleton has been charged in a bizarre intelligence leaking case, in which secret military and CIA documents were leaked to an anti-terrorism task force formed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Spy watchdog urges major changes at CSIS. Canadian intelligence is in urgent need of “major changes” to meet legal and public demands in the post-9/11 world, according to a new report by the Security Intelligence Review Committee of the Canadian government.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Camp Pendleton, Canada, China, CIA, corporate espionage, CSIS (Canada), Dongfan Chung, espionage, Greg Chung, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, News, news you may have missed, United States, US Marine Core, US space program

News you may have missed #0027

July 14, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Former KGB captain still fighting deportation from Canada. IntelNews has been keeping an eye on the case of Mikhail Alexander Lennikov, whose deportation from Canada has been ordered by a court. Lennikov, a former KGB captain, claims that if deported back to Russia he will be treated as a defector by the FSB. IntelNews has also learned that Lennikov now maintains a public blog, which he updates daily.
New book claims Errol Flynn worked as a Nazi spy. The Australian-born star, who became a Hollywood legend in the 1930s, was known for his anti-Semitic views. But now a new book claims that declassified CIA files prove Flynn collaborated with German Nazi intelligence in gathering information on German socialists who fought in the Spanish Civil War.
Iranian spying allegations nonsensical, says France. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said that Tehran’s claims that 23-year-old French student Clotilde Reiss was a spy in Iran are “stupid”. “Do you think my country would be so naive and shorthanded as to send a 23-year-old woman to spy in Iran? That’s stupid, it’s not possible”, said Mr. Kuchner during a visit to Lebanon.
Interesting account of Israel’s only spy history memorial. Matti Friedman, of The Associated Press, has written an interesting account of the little known Israel Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center in Tel Aviv.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Bernard Kouchner, Canada, Clotilde Reiss, deportations, Errol Flynn, France, history, informants, Iran, Israel, Israel Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center, KGB, Mikhail Alexander Lennikov, Mossad, News, news you may have missed, Russia, Tel Aviv

Canadian intelligence agency admits withholding evidence in terrorism case

July 1, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Hassan Almrei

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Less than a month after the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) was found to have omitted polygraph evidence in an alleged terrorism case, the scandal-prone agency has admitted even worse shortcomings in a second investigation. Specifically, it has acknowledged that it “failed to disclose evidence” in the case of Hassan Almrei, a Syrian immigrant who was arrested in Canada in 2001 on suspicion of belonging to an Islamist-tied forgery group. Almrei was the first terrorism suspect to be arrested under Canada’s security certificate provision, which allows the government to use secret evidence in order to detain and deport foreigners living in Canada and deemed dangerous for national security. Security certificates prevent even the suspects themselves from being exposed to the secret evidence against them. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Canada, CSIS (Canada), forgery, Hassan Almrei, News, polygraph examinations, Richard Mosley, security certificates (Canada), Syria

Most Canadians want former KGB spy to stay

June 8, 2009 by intelNews 3 Comments

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Less than a fifth of Canadians want a former KGB officer living in British Columbia deported from the country, according to a new nationwide poll published last Friday. IntelNews has reported before on the case of Mikhail Alexander Lennikov, a former KGB spy living in Canada with his wife and teenage son since 1992, awaiting the result of an asylum claim. Late last February, however, Canada’s Public Safety Ministry rejected Lennikov’s claim and notified him that he “can be ordered deported from the country in as early as a few weeks”. Canadian authorities have refused to reveal the precise reason for the former KGB agent’s pending deportation. But in 2007, commenting on the case of former KGB Lieutenant-Colonel Givi Abramishvili, who was deported from Canada, a government representative had said that “Canada […] is not a safe haven for those that may be a danger to national security”. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Canada, deportations, Givi Abramishvili, KGB, Mikhail Alexander Lennikov, News, Peter Van Loan, Public Safety Canada

Canada aggressively infiltrated by spies, claims new report

April 15, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Jim Judd

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has warned that operations by foreign intelligence agents inside Canada are intensifying. In its annual public report to Canada’s House of Commons, the spy agency says foreign spies operating in Canada are hoping to gain access to military technologies employed by NATO, of which Canada is a member. Foreign operatives are also interested in information on several business sectors ranging from biotechnology and agriculture to oil exploration, aerospace engineering and mining, says the report. The 36-page document, which includes a lengthy introduction by CSIS director Jim Judd, does not mention specific nations as responsible for these operations. But a Reuters report from Canada reminds that China has traditionally been high on CSIS’s list of suspects. Informed observers may recall that in 2005 a Chinese government defector claimed there were at least 1,000 accredited and covert Chinese spies operating in Canada.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Canada, China, CSIS (Canada), espionage, Jim Judd, NATO, News

Researchers discover gigantic cyberespionage operation

March 31, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

Ronald Deibert

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
A team of Canadian researchers claims to have discovered a large cyberespionage ring located mainly in China. The researchers say the ring has managed to infiltrate nearly 1,300 mainly government and corporate computers in at least 103 countries around the world. The report, entitled Tracking GhostNet: Investigating a Cyber Espionage Network, was compiled after a ten-month collaboration between Ottawa’s SecDev group and the University of Toronto’s Munk Centre for International Studies. Although the report concludes that the cyberespionage ring is located mainly in China, it specifically rejects claims that GhostNet is inevitably a Chinese government operation, saying that there is no evidence that Beijing is behind the operation. University of Toronto associate professor Ronald Deibert suggested that the operation could potentially be the work of non-state pro-Chinese actors, or could be conducted by a profit-oriented group that sells the acquired information to whoever offers it the highest monetary compensation. “It’s a murky realm that we’re lifting the lid on”, said Dr. Deibert: “This could well be the CIA or the Russians”. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, China, computer hacking, cyberespionage, Cyprus, Germany, GhostNet, India, Indonesia, Iran, Latvia, Munk Centre for International Studies, News, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Ronald J. Deibert, SecDev Group, Tibet, Tibetan government in exile, University of Toronto

Ex-KGB officer’s wife, son, to remain in Canada

March 18, 2009 by intelNews 2 Comments

Lennikov

By IAN ALLEN| intelNews.org |
On March 2, we reported that the Canadian government had notified Mikhail Alexander Lennikov, a former KGB officer living in British Columbia, that he and his family were soon to be issued with deportation orders. Last week, however, the family received what Canadian media describe as “a partial reprieve”. Specifically, they were told that Lennikov’s wife, Irina, and son, Dmitri, will not be deported back to Russia. Lennikov, who spent five years working for the KGB in the 1980s, has been living in Canada with his wife and teenage son since 1992. Late last February, however, Canada’s Public Safety Ministry rejected Lennikov’s refugee claim and notified him that he “can be ordered deported from the country in as early as a few weeks”. Canadian authorities have refused to reveal the precise reason for the former KGB agent’s pending deportation. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Canada, deportations, Givi Abramishvili, KGB, Mikhail Alexander Lennikov, News, Public Safety Canada

Canada to deport ex-KGB officer living in British Columbia

March 2, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
The Canadian government has notified a former KGB officer living in Burnaby, British Columbia, that he and his family are soon to be issued with deportation orders. Mikhail Lennikov, who spent five years working for the KGB in the 1980s, has been living in Canada with his wife and 17-year-old son since 1992. But last week Canada’s Public Safety Ministry rejected Lennikov’s refugee claim and notified him that he “can be ordered deported from the country in as early as a few weeks”. Canadian government officials have refused to discuss Lennikov’s KGB ties, but Lennikov has previously stated that he voluntarily revealed his KGB background to Canadian authorities. He has also said that, if sent back to Russia, he could face imprisonment for having revealed his KGB connection to a foreign government. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Canada, deportations, Givi Abramishvili, KGB, Mikhail Alexander Lennikov, News, Public Safety Canada

US military group sees Canada Muslims as potential security threat

February 22, 2009 by intelNews 4 Comments

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS| intelNews.org |
For the past two months, I have been reporting that the US intelligence community sees the radical fringe in Britain’s Muslim community as “the most likely source of another terrorist spectacular on US soil”. It turns out that the US Pentagon’s Joint Task Force-North, a group that provides military support to federal agencies in domestic security operations, has a different opinion. For it, Muslims residing in Canada present the “greatest potential for foreign terrorists’ access to the homeland”. This is according to a briefing document that the group inadvertently published on the reading room section of its website a couple of weeks ago, only to abruptly remove it last Wednesday. According to InsideDefense, which noticed the report before it was withdrawn, the internal document blames Canadian immigration policies for “creating a favorable environment” for “foreign terrorist opportunities”. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Canada, Canadian Muslims, CIA, counterterrorism, ethnic profiling, for official use only, Hezbollah, Joint Task Force-North (US), law enforcement sensitive, Mexico, News, special-interest aliens, US DoD

MI6 agents accused of assisting corrupt Kazakh oil propaganda effort

January 28, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Rakhat Aliyev

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Until recently, Rakhat Aliyev was deeply embedded in Kazakhstan’s corrupt governing establishment. Having served for years as the country’s Deputy Foreign Minister and Director of Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee (the intelligence service, also known as KNB) he is uniquely aware of the annals of sleaze and fraud that dominate Kazakh political culture. In 2007, following his divorce with Dariga Nazarbayeva, eldest daughter of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Aliyev became estranged from the Kazakh leadership. He was stripped of his government positions, issued with an arrest warrant, and now lives in exile in Vienna, Austria. Soon after his estrangement from the Kazakh leadership, Aliyev began accusing President Nazarbayev of regularly receiving secret commissions from foreign oil companies operating in Kazakhstan, and of illegally expropriating state assets worth billions of US dollars. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Akezhan Kazhegeldin, Alexander Mirtchev, Canada, Central Asia, Dariga Nazarbayeva, economic espionage, energy resources, Global Options Management, Hurricane Hydrocarbons, Kazakhstan, KNB (Kazakhstan), MI6, News, Nursultan Nazarbayev, PetroKazakhstan, Rakhat Aliyev, UK, US Department of Justice

Canadian intelligence caught spying on lawyer-client communications

December 19, 2008 by intelNews 1 Comment

CSIS logo

A Canadian Federal Court Judge has ordered the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to stop intercepting private calls between arrested terrorism suspects and their Canadian lawyers. Judge Carolyn Layden-Stevenson issued the order after a “senior [CSIS] agent” recently revealed during a closed door hearing in Ottawa that the spy agency was conducting the intercepts “on behalf of the Canada Border Services Agency”. Read more of this post