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News you may have missed #0198

November 29, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Walesa libel trial over spy claim starts in Poland. A libel trial has started in Poland over allegations that former President Lech Walesa once worked as a communist spy.
Japanese abductee’s son releases correspondence with North Korean ex-spy. The son of Yaeko Taguchi, a Japanese woman abducted thirty years ago by North Korean agents, has released personal letters he exchanged with Kim Hyun-Hee, a North Korean former spy, who told him his mother is still alive.
Israeli police arrest…Mossad spy apprentice. A trainee of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service was arrested by Israeli police during a spying exercise in Tel Aviv, after he was spotted behaving suspiciously. Interestingly, “[t]he Mossad never warns Israel’s uniformed security services in advance of its exercises in a bid to give the training an element of reality”.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with abductions, defectors, Israel, Japan, Kim Hyun-Hee, lawsuits, Lech Walesa, Mossad, News, news you may have missed, North Korea, Poland, Tel Aviv, Yaeko Taguchi

Abducted Iranian defense official reportedly held in Israel

November 17, 2009 by intelNews 3 Comments

Ali-Reza Asgari

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Iran’s former deputy defense minister, who went missing during a 2006 official visit to Turkey, was kidnapped in a joint Israeli-German-British operation, according to an Iranian newsmagazine. Brigadier general Ali-Reza Asgari, who once commanded Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, disappeared on December 9, 2006, from his hotel room in Istanbul, Turkey. Little more than a year later, Hans Rühle, former Director of Policy Planning in the German Ministry of Defense, wrote in Swiss newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung that Asgari was in Western hands and that “information was obtained” from him. Since then, other sources have alleged that Asgari defected willingly, including Dafna Linzer of the Washington Post and intelligence historian Gordon Thomas, in his 2009 book Secret Wars: One Hundred Years of British Intelligence (see intelNews book review). Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with abductions, Ali-Reza Asgari, Dafna Linzer, defectors, German Ministry of Defense, Germany, Gordon Thomas, Hans Rühle, Iran, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Israel, Istanbul, Mossad, News, Switzerland, Turkey, UK

Iran blames US, Saudis over defection of Iranian nuclear scientist

October 9, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

M. Mottaki

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Iran’s foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, has accused American and Saudi Arabian intelligence agencies of complicity in the recent disappearance of an Iranian nuclear scientist. Mottaki’s comments followed revelations in London-based Arabic-language daily, Al-Sharq al-Awsat, that the scientist, Shahram Amiri, defected to the West earlier this year. The paper said the researcher, who worked for the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program, defected during a hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It also claimed that another Iranian nuclear scientist, whose identity has not yet emerged, has disappeared, and may have defected, during a recent visit to the Republic of Georgia. The rumored disappearances may be part of Israel’s ongoing secret war on Iran’s nuclear program, which British newspaper The Daily Telegraph described last February as a covert “decapitation program” by Israeli intelligence, targeting Iran’s nuclear scientists. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with assassinations, defectors, Georgia, informants, Iran, Iranian nuclear program, Israel, Manouchehr Mottaki, Mecca (Saudi Arabia), News, Qum (Iran), Saudi Arabia, Shahram Amiri, United States

Iran has as many as 40,000 spies in Arab world, says defector

October 8, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

Al Arabiya logo

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
An alleged former Iranian spy, who defected several years ago, claims that the Islamic Republic has “as many as 40,000” covert operatives in the Persian Gulf. The alleged defector spoke anonymously to al-Arabiya, a Saudi-owned pan-Arabic television network based in the United Arab Emirates. He told his interviewer that the activities of the undercover operatives are coordinated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Among other revelations, the unidentified defector said that Iranian spy cells tend to work in groups of five and operate independently, usually unaware of the operations or even existence of other nearby cells. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with al Arabiya, defectors, espionage, informants, Iran, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Middle East, News, Persian Gulf, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates

News you may have missed #0131

October 6, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

CIA active in UK, British MPs told. Charles Farr, the head of the British Home Office’s office of security and counter-terrorism, told members of the British Parliament that Britain had a “very close” relationship with the US intelligence community and that “declared” CIA personnel are active in the British Isles. IntelNews readers have been aware since last January that the CIA has been conducting “unprecedented intelligence-gathering operations in Britain”.
Denmark’s military spy chief resigns amid soldier book scandal. The publication of a book by Thomas Rathsack, former member of Jaegerkorps, an elite army unit, which reveals systematic breach of Geneva Convention directives by members of the unit deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, has prompted the resignation of the country’s military intelligence chief. Tim Sloth Joergensen announced his resignation on Sunday.
Wife of poisoned Russian spy criticizes Moscow visit. The widow of former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko, who was assassinated by radiation poison in London, where he was living after defecting to the UK, has criticized the prospect of a visit to Moscow by Britain’s Foreign Secretary, David Miliband. “That [Mr. Miliband’s] visit will take place exactly on the third anniversary of my husband’s poisoning is adding insult to injury”, said Marina Litvinenko.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Afghanistan War, Alexander Litvinenko, assassinations, British Muslims, Charles Farr, CIA, David Miliband, defectors, Denmark, Geneva Convention, Iraq War, Jaegerkorps (Denmark), London, Marina Litvinenko, News, news you may have missed, resignations, Russia, Thomas Rathsack, Tim Sloth Joergensen, UK, UK Home Office

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 #0067

August 13, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

David Wise on CIA assassinations. Author of The Invisible Government and The Spy Who Got Away speaks about the long history of CIA assassinations.
These are the architects of torture in 9/11’s wake. The New York Times has published a detailed investigation into the works of Jim Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, two psychologists hired by the CIA to design an elaborate ten-stage harsh interrogation program after 9/11.
Defector recounts torture, terrorism by Uzbek government. The BBC’s Peter Marshall interviews Ikram Yakubov, a former Major in Uzbekistan’s National Security Service (SNB), who recently defected to Britain.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with assassinations, Bruce Jessen, CIA, David Wise, defectors, Ikram Yakubov, Jim Mitchell, Mitchell Jessen and Associates, National Security Service (Uzbekistan), News, news you may have missed, psychology, SNB (Uzbekistan), torture, UK, United States, Uzbekistan

Does this satellite image show a Burmese nuclear facility?

August 12, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Click for larger

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Amateur satellite imagery observers say they have discovered a suspicious structure deep inside Burma’s thick jungle, which may be part of Rangoon’s rumored secret nuclear military program. The images, obtained through Google Earth, show a large structure, measuring 82 by 84 meters, which some say fits the requirements of a secret nuclear facility. The structure is located in central Burma, near the small jungle town of Pin Oo Lwin. Interestingly, this region, near Mandalay, is precisely where two Burmese defectors (one of whom is now dead) told two Australian researchers that they thought the Burmese army was building “a nuclear research and engineering center”. The two researchers, Phil Thornton, a journalist based in Thailand, and Desmond Ball, strategic studies expert at the Australian National University, published their claims earlier this month in The Sydney Morning Herald.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Australia, Australian National University, Burma, Burmese nuclear program, defectors, Desmond Ball, Google Earth, Mandalay (Burma), News, nuclear proliferation, Phil Thornton, Pin Oo Lwin (Burma), satellite reconnaissance

Cambridge spy ring member’s memoir reveals motives behind actions

July 24, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Anthony Blunt

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
The British Library kept its promise and released yesterday the closely guarded, incomplete autobiographical manuscript of Anthony Blunt, fourth member of the Cambridge spy ring. The group of British spies, which worked secretly for the Soviet Union from the 1930s until the 1960s, included Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean and H.A.R. “Kim” Philby, all of whom eventually defected to the Soviet Union. In his 30,000-word memoir, Blunt, an art history professor who in 1945 became Surveyor of the King’s Pictures and was knighted in 1954, describes his recruitment to spy for the Soviets as “the most important decision of my life”. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Anthony Blunt, Cambridge Five, Cold War, counterintelligence, defectors, Donald Maclean, espionage, Guy Burgess, H.A.R. "Kim" Philby, Margaret Thatcher, Melita Norwood, MI5, News, The British Libary, USSR

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

New clues in case of missing Polish intelligence officer

June 17, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Stefan Zielonka

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Last month we reported on the mysterious case of Stefan Zielonka, a senior signals officer with Poland’s Military Intelligence Services (SWW), who disappeared without trace in early May. We then stated as “certain” that Zielonka had “extensive knowledge of Polish agents working overseas, including their code names and contacts”. This is now slowly being confirmed by a number of Polish news outlets, who are coming to the realization that Zielonka’s job description at SWW far exceeded those of a typical SIGINT (signals intelligence) officer. Specifically, Polish newspaper Dziennik appears to have confirmed that the missing officer trained illegals –that is, elite Polish spies operating abroad independently of embassies and thus without diplomatic immunity. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with defectors, disappearances, Military Information Services (Poland), Military Intelligence Services (Poland), News, Poland, Polish Ministry of National Defense, SIGINT, Stefan Zielonka, SWW (Poland), walk-ins, WSI (Poland)

Suspicious silence continues in case of missing Polish signals officer

May 23, 2009 by intelNews 2 Comments

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
When we at intelNews first took note of the mysterious disappearance of Stefan Zielonka, on May 7, we decided to delay posting information about the case until more news came our way. Sadly, it hasn’t. The case of the disappearance of Stefan Zielonka, senior signals officer with Polish military intelligence, remains as mysterious as it was on May 7. Zielonka’s colleagues at Poland’s Military Intelligence Services (SWW, formerly known as Military Information Services or WSI) became suspicious after he failed to return to work following a two-week sick leave. News outlets have since reported that Zielonka “was suffering from depression and had trouble both at home and at the office”. Read more of this post