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News you may have missed #0162

November 2, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

South Korean 1967 spy case was “trumped up”, report finds. A national truth commission set up by South Korea’s primary intelligence organization, the National Intelligence Service, has concluded that the so-called Tongbaengnim spy ring case was “grossly trumped up”. The case culminated in a public show-trial of 194 South Korean academics, artists and students, accused of spying for North Korea.
CIA torture sparked rift with FBI. The Associated Press is reporting what intelNews readers have known since July 20; namely that the CIA’s use of “harsh interrogation techniques” against captured terror suspects made FBI interrogators wary of the legality of the methods. As a result, FBI agents were barred from the interrogations.
Analysis: Friendship is no bar to espionage. As relations between Taiwan and China improve, would it be reasonable to expect that China will temper espionage activity against Taiwan, and vice-versa?

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Analysis, China, CIA, Cold War, declassification, espionage, FBI, history, lawsuits, News, news you may have missed, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Tongbaengnim spy ring, torture, turf wars, United States

News you may have missed #0141

October 13, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

France’s former spy boss gives evidence in “trial of the century”. Yves Bertrand, Director from 1992 to 2004 of Direction Centrale des Renseignements Généraux (RD), France’s Central Directorate of General Intelligence, has given evidence in at the “Clearstream” trial, dubbed as “trial of the century” or “France’s Watergate”. He denied any involvement in an attempt to smear Nicolas Sarkozy before he became president of France.
China prolongs Rio Tinto espionage probe. Chinese authorities have prolonged by one month their espionage investigation into the activities of Anglo-Australian mining group Rio Tinto in China.
World’s spy agencies descend in South Africa. South Africa is quickly becoming one of the world’s major spy hubs, in the run-up to the 2010 football World Cup. The country’s National Intelligence Agency says it is already actively “working with foreign spy services to forestall any terrorist threat” to the games.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Australia, China, Clearstream Bank, espionage, France, lawsuits, News, news you may have missed, Nicolas Sarkozy, RD (France), Rio Tinto, South Africa, sports, terrorism, UK, Yves Bertrand

News you may have missed #0139

October 12, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

Pakistan tells US diplomat to be quiet. Perturbed by the recent remarks of US Deputy Chief of Mission in Islamabad, Gerald Feierstein, that top al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders are presently hiding in Quetta, Pakistan has summoned the US diplomat and demanded that he stops discussing intelligence issues in media. The move follows a closed-door meeting last week between the director of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Ahmed Shuja Pasha, and CIA director Leon Panetta.
Analysis: HUMINT worries al-Qaeda more than drone assassinations. The CIA-operated drone strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan get all the headlines. But what’s really worrying al Qaeda are the agents in their midst, says Adam Rawnsley of Wired magazine’s Danger Room blog.
Chinese spymaster complains about US news leak. It has emerged that Major General Yang Hui, China’s most senior military intelligence official, recently made a secret visit to the US and complained to the Pentagon over the US press leak on the Chinese submarine that secretly shadowed the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier in 2006. He said senior Chinese leaders suspect the Pentagon deliberately disclosed the encounter as part of an effort to send a “tough” message to China’s military.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with al-Qaeda, Analysis, assassinations, China, diplomacy, espionage, Gerald Feierstein, HUMINT, maritime surveillance, News, news you may have missed, Pakistan, Predator drones, Quetta (Pakistan), secret meetings, Taliban, United States, US DoD, USS Kitty Hawk, Yang Hui

Indian government tells telecoms to avoid buying Chinese hardware

October 11, 2009 by intelNews 3 Comments

Huawei logo

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
The Indian government has asked the country’s telecommunications companies to “refrain from buying Chinese telecommunications equipment”, because they may be used by Beijing to spy on India. The request was reportedly delivered to Indian telecommunications industry representatives by officials from India’s Department of Telecommunications, in a closed-door meeting earlier this week. Indian media report that the Department’s request has no legal backing, but is simply a call for Indian telecommunications providers to “self-regulate”. But the government is said to be working on official guidelines to restrict the domestic use of telecommunications hardware and software originating from countries considered “unfriendly” to India, including Pakistan, China and Egypt. Some industry observers have expressed fears that the pending restrictions will severely hinder the growth of India’s rapidly rising telecommunications sector. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with China, communications interception, Egypt, espionage, exports, Huawei Technologies, India, Indian Department of Telecommunications, News, Pakistan, telecommunication service providers, telecommunications

News you may have missed #0136

October 9, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

US Senate panel votes to extend PATRIOT surveillance powers. The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved a measure that would leave the controversial surveillance powers of the USA Patriot Act mostly intact.
So who was behind GhostNet cyberespionage? Cyber hawks in the West are eager to blame the Chinese government for the huge cyberespionage ring, managed to infiltrate nearly 1,300 mainly government and corporate computers in at least 103 countries, before it was detected last March. This is in contrast to the actual cybersecurity experts themselves, who insist that they still have no idea who was behind it.
US Pentagon creates website for access to secret science. The Pentagon’s Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) has announced the creation of a new password-protected portal where authorized users can gain access to restricted scientific and engineering publications.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with China, cyberespionage, GhostNet, News, news you may have missed, scientific intelligence, United States, US DoD, US DoD Defense Technical Information Center, US Senate Committee on the Judiciary, USA PATRIOT Act

News you may have missed #0134

October 8, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

S. Korean government tries to silence anti-surveillance activist. Park Won-sun, the executive director of the Hope Institute, a civic think tank, says he will continue to criticize the country’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) for spying on civilians, despite charges filed against him by the government.
Cleric in CIA kidnap trial seeks millions. Hassan Moustafa Osama Nasr, an Egyptian cleric kidnapped by the CIA from a Milan street in 2003, has asked for €10 million ($15 million) in damages from the American and Italian defendants charged in his abduction.
Three US-based Chinese nationals accused of selling arms to China. Chinese nationals Zhen Zhou Wu, Yufeng Wei, Bo Li and Chitron Electronics and Shenzhen Chitron Electronics Co. Ltd., face a 38-count indictment for conspiring to violate the US Arms Export Control Act for allegedly exporting defense weapons and electronics, money laundering and filing false documents with the US Department of Commerce.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with abductions, Bo Li, China, Chitron Electronics, CIA, domestic intelligence, Egypt, extraordinary rendition, Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, Hope Institute (South Korea), Italy, lawsuits, Milan (Italy), National Intelligence Service (South Korea), News, news you may have missed, Park Won-sun, Shenzhen Chitron Electronics Co. Ltd., South Korea, surveillance, torture, United States, US 1976 Arms Export Control Act, US Department of Commerce, weapons trade, Yufeng Wei, Zhen Zhou Wu

News you may have missed #0127

October 4, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Is China using Nepal as a base to spy on India? India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) has accused Beijing of using the so-called Nepal-China study centers in Nepal to spy on India. The centers, which are located all along the Indo-Nepal border, are being used to clandestinely gather information on Indian activities, says RAW. It also rumored that RAW is monitoring around 30 Chinese firms which have set up base in Nepal and may be involved in spying on India.
Italian lawyers seek jail for CIA agents. Public prosecutors in Italy have urged a court in Milan to jail 26 Americans for the kidnapping of a terrorism suspect in a 2003 CIA operation on Italian soil. They also want a 13 year prison sentence for the former head of Italy’s secret service, Nicolo Pollari. Last week the US government moved for the first time to officially prevent Italian authorities from prosecuting American citizens involved in the CIA operation.
CIA director meets Pakistani spy chief. The director of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Ahmed Shuja Pasha, has met with CIA director Leon Panetta in Washington. Last week, Lieutenant General Pasha yelled at a US journalist for daring to utter the CIA’s allegations that the ISI is withholding crucial intelligence information on al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with abductions, Ahmed Shuja Pasha, China, CIA, CIA Milan station, espionage, Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, India, ISI, Italy, Leon Panetta, Milan (Italy), Nepal, Nepal-China study centers, News, news you may have missed, Pakistan, RAW

US Looks Away from Worsening Philippines Rights Record

October 1, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Lumbera

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS and IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Just days after Filipino prizewinning poet and dramatist Bienvenido Lumbera caught a Naval Intelligence Security Force agent spying on him outside his home, another Filipino intellectual has come forward with allegations of government spying. Pedro “Jun” Cruz Reyes, professor of creative writing at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, said he has been the subject of surveillance investigations by government agents since 2006. Such incidents are not a new phenomenon in the Philippines. In 2005, the US State Department noted in its annual human rights report that the Philippines National Police was the country’s “worst abuser of human rights” and that government security elements often “sanction extrajudicial killings and vigilantism”. However, the report adds that these practices are utilized “as expedient means of fighting crime and terrorism”, which may explain why no discernable action has been taken by US authorities to prevent them. In an article published today in The Foreign Policy Journal we examine the recent record of US-Philippine relations. Continue reading at The Foreign Policy Journal →

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 2009 National Intelligence Strategy, Abu Sayyaf Group, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bienvenido Lumbera, Bill Coultrup, Bill Nelson, Blackwater, Bush Administration, China, CIA, Cold War, Diliman (Philippines), diplomacy, domestic intelligence, Ferdinand Marcos, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Hannival Mondido Guerrero, human rights, Ian Allen, Iraq, Joseph Fitsanakis, Kuwait, Leon Panetta, Major Non-NATO Ally, Manila (Philippines), Moro ethnic group, Morocco, NATO, Naval Intelligence Security Force (Philippines), News, Pedro 'Jun' Cruz Reyes, Philippines, Philippines National Police, Quezon City (Philippines), Ramon Farolan, Robert Gates, Timothy Keating, United States, US Department of State, US DoD, US Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines

News you may have missed #0123

October 1, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Get ready for body cavity airport searches! Security officials are concerned over a tactic newly employed by al Qaeda, whereby suicide bombers store explosives inside their bodies to avoid detection.
Did the US do a deal with Russia on Iran? Two weeks ago, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev hinted that Russia could back tougher sanctions against Iran’s nuclear energy program. Does this signify a deal with Washington, namely US scrapping its missile shield program if Moscow would back efforts to impose tougher sanctions against Iran?
Lebanese mayor accused of spying for Israel. Lebanese authorities say Ziad Homsi, mayor of the city of Saadnayel, was recruited by Israeli intelligence in Beijing, China. Lebanon’s immense counterintelligence operation is widening by the hour.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with airport security, Al-Alam spy ring, al-Qaeda, Beijing (China), China, Dmitry Medvedev, espionage, informants, Iran, Iranian nuclear program, Israel, Lebanon, News, news you may have missed, Russia, Saadnayel (Lebanon), Saudi Arabia, suicide bombings, United States, US Missile Defense Shield, Ziad Homsi

News you may have missed #0120

September 29, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Film on America’s most famous whistleblower. A new documentary film, The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, examines the life of Daniel Ellsberg, a US Pentagon employee who leaked documents to the American public in order to stop the Vietnam War. Ellsberg, 78, is still a pariah in the US defense community. He told the Associated Press that at a RAND (research arm of the Pentagon, where he used to work) reunion several years back, no one would shake his hand.
Retired US Air Force officer convicted in China spying case. Retired US Air Force officer James W. Fondren Jr. faces a maximum of 20 years behind bars, after being convicted of selling classified information on US-China military relations to a Chinese agent and lying to the FBI about it. The US Department of Justice accused Fondren, 62, of being part of a spy ring that operated on US soil under the supervision of Chinese government officials, whom Fondren supplied with classified documents for over three years, beginning in 2004.
Request to halt CIA probe “nonsense” says former agent. A controversial request by seven former heads of the CIA to end the inquiry into abuse of terrorism suspects held by the Agency is “nonsense”, says Bob Baer, a 20-year CIA caseworker in the Mid-East and former CIA station chief in Iraq. “To say let’s not look further into this because it could upset the agency is like saying let’s not look into Bernie Madoff because it could upset the financial sector”, said Baer.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with China, CIA, Daniel Ellsberg, espionage, FBI, James Wilbur Fondren Jr, News, news you may have missed, Pentagon Papers, RAND Corporation, Robert Baer, torture, US Department of Justice, US DoD, Vietnam War, whistleblowing

News you may have missed #0115

September 25, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

China says US intelligence report shows Cold War prejudice. The 2009 US National Intelligence Strategy (.pdf) report singles out Iran, North Korea, China and Russia as nations with the ability to challenge US interests. But government-owned China Daily newspaper says the report is “stuffed with outdated pride and prejudice” and “reflects typical Cold War and power politics mentality”.
Somali suicide bomber lived in the US. After Shirwa Ahmed, a US citizen of Somali descent who last October became history’s first known US-born suicide bomber, another Somali-American, who lived in Seattle, has been identified as one of the participants of a suicide bombing that killed 21 peacekeepers in Mogadishu last week. US officials have been warning for almost a year about the strange phenomenon of the “disappearing Somali youths” from their US homes.
UK spies used Monopoly sets to help WWII prisoners escape. British secret services embedded escape tools and maps in Monopoly game sets distributed by humanitarian groups in care packages to imprisoned British soldiers during World War II. The article contains some interesting photographs.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 2009 National Intelligence Strategy, Africa, China, Germany, Iran, Mogadishu (Somalia), Monopoly (game), National Intelligence Strategy, News, news you may have missed, North Korea, prisoners of war, Russia, Seattle, Shirwa Ahmed, Somalia, suicide bombings, UK, United States, World War II

Australians investigate Chinese telecom over suspected spy links

September 7, 2009 by intelNews 2 Comments

Huawei HQ

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), has admitted it is investigating an Australian-based subsidiary of a Chinese telecommunications firm because of its rumored links to China’s intelligence establishment. Several intelligence insiders see Huawei Technologies, based in Shenzen, China, as a covert arm of Chinese military intelligence. The company, which has business concerns in several countries around the world, has attracted the attention of American, Indian and British counterintelligence agencies, among others. As intelNews reported last December, in 2005 the government of India cancelled an initial investment of $60 million on its telecommunications superhighway by the Chinese company. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 3Com, ASIO, Australia, China, Chinese People's Liberation Army, Communist Party of China, Huawei Technologies, India, Melbourne (Australia), News, Ren Zhengfei, Singtel Optus, Sydney (Australia), telecommunications, United States, US DoD

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

News you may have missed #0068

August 13, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

US overt aid to Pakistan revealed. The United States provided around $15.4 billion in overt aid to Pakistan between Fiscal Years 2002 and 2009, according to a newly updated Congressional Research Service tabulation.
Intolerance of Arabs, Muslims led to torture, says US interrogator. Former Air Force Major Matthew Alexander is promoting his book, How To Break a Terrorist: The US Interrogators Who Used Brains, Not Brutality, to Take Down the Deadliest Man in Iraq.
China drops Rio Tinto espionage charges. Anglo-Australian mining company Rio Tinto faces charges of stealing commercial secrets and bribery, but the Chinese government has dropped charges of spying.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Australia, China, energy resources, espionage, financial aid, interrogation techniques, Iraq War, Matthew Alexander, News, news you may have missed, Pakistan, racism, Rio Tinto, Stern Hu, torture, UK, US, US Air Force, War on Terrorism

News you may have missed #0066

August 12, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

US court upholds conviction of CIA contractor. A federal appeals court has upheld the conviction of David Passaro, the first US civilian found guilty of abusing a detainee in Afghanistan.
US ex-Attorney General comes out against CIA probe. In a move that is hardly surprising, US Attorney General under the Bush Administration, Alberto Gonzales, said yesterday that investigating past interrogation practices “could discourage” CIA operatives from “engaging in conduct that even comes close” to more stringent guidelines.
Rare Chinese view on the Rio Tinto spy case. A rare article in English, by Jiang Ruqin, an official in the Bureau of National Secrecy of China’s Jiangsu Province.