France | intelNews.org

News you may have missed #0249

January 11, 2010 by intelNews Leave a comment

Analysis: Making Sense of the New CIA Battlefield in Afghanistan. “The military backgrounds of the fallen CIA operatives cast a light on the way the world of intelligence is increasingly muscling up and becoming militarized […]. This is no longer intelligence as anyone imagines it, nor is it military as military was once defined […]. And worse yet, from all available evidence, despite claims […] it seems remarkably ineffective”.
CIA planned to ‘rendition’ suspects in Germany in 2001. The CIA had 25 agents in Germany after the September 11 attacks and planned to illegally rendition al-Qaeda suspects without informing the German government. In the end, the plan was scrapped because of objections by the Agency’s German section.
French president appoints woman in charge of spy school. Nicolas Sarkozy is to create a ‘school for spies’, whose principal job will be to discourage French intelligence chiefs from spying on, and fighting against, one another. There are rumors that the school’s first director will be woman academic with no previous experience of espionage.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Afghanistan, Analysis, CIA, extraordinary rendition, France, Germany, intelligence training, military, News, news you may have missed, Nicolas Sarkozy

News you may have missed #0230

December 23, 2009 by intelNews 3 Comments

Ukrainians claim netting ‘spies among diplomats’. In the last 6 months of 2009, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has “exposed 7 spies among diplomats”, according to its director, Valentyn Nalyvajchenko. He apparently cited “a case of a Russian spy who was charged with obtaining defense industry secrets for a Chinese special service”. If anyone out there has information on this case, please contact us.
France launches new spy satellite. France has launched a military spy satellite, Helios 2B, part of a boost in spending on independent surveillance. The satellite can reportedly tell whether a truck convoy is moving or halted and whether a nuclear reactor is operational or not.
Seized N. Korean weapons destined for Middle East: US spy chief. An illicit North Korean arms shipment seized in Thailand last week was destined for the Middle East, US director of national intelligence Dennis Blair, has claimed. Blair’s comment, which was meant to tout improved cooperation among America’s 16 intelligence agencies, was the first official confirmation of the US role in the case.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with China, Dennis Cutler Blair, DNI, espionage, France, Helios 2B, News, news you may have missed, North Korea, Russia, satellite reconnaissance, Security Service of Ukraine, Thailand, Ukraine, United States, Valentyn Nalyvajchenko, weapons smuggling

Iranian defector briefed UN inspectors on Iran nuclear program

December 14, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Qum facility

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
An Iranian nuclear scientist who vanished during a pilgrimage to Mecca last June has defected to the West and has briefed American and United Nations officials about Iran’s nuclear program. As intelNews reported on October 9, rumors have been circulating in the Arab press that Shahram Amiri, a senior figure in the Iranian nuclear research program, was not abducted by Saudi and Western intelligence agencies, as Iran claims, but actually defected to the West. Now British newspaper The Sunday Telegraph has cited “a source close to France’s overseas secret service, the DGSE”, who claims that Amiri’s defection was facilitated through a carefully planned intelligence operation involving the CIA, as well as French and German operatives. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with CIA, CIA 'brain drain' program, defectors, DGSE (France), France, Frankfurt (Germany), Germany, IAEA, Iran, Iranian nuclear program, News, Qum (Iran), Saudi Arabia, Shahram Amiri, United Nations, United States

Israeli listening bugs found in UN meeting room: Swiss paper

December 2, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

The UN in Geneva

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Switzerland’s most esteemed newspaper has revealed that a number of listening devices, most likely of Israeli origin, were discovered in a room designated for sensitive meetings on disarmament issues, at the United Nations building in Geneva. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), quoted “a senior official” of the Service for Analysis and Prevention (Dienst für Analyse und Prävention), Switzerland’s domestic intelligence agency, who said the bugs were among several discovered throughout the building during regular maintenance work in 2006. The anonymous official said counterintelligence experts drew on “technical and geopolitical criteria” to create a shortlist of the possible culprits. Israel topped the list, which also included North Korea, Britain, China, Russia, France and the United States. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Britain, China, communications interception, counterintelligence, espionage, France, Geneva (Switzerland), Israel, News, North Korea, Russia, Service for Analysis and Prevention (Switzerland), Switzerland, United Nations, United States

News you may have missed #0197

November 27, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Pakistani spy agencies looking into oil, gas deals. At least two premier Pakistani intelligence agencies, Inter-Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence, have started investigations into multi-million dollar oil and gas transactions involving government-owned Pakistan State Oil.
Intelligence Community plans workforce of the future. Interesting take on future recruiting goals by Dr. Ron Sanders, Chief Human Capital Officer in the US intelligence community.
Update on French ex-spy v. Dubai World Corp. legal saga. Dubai World Corporation and former French intelligence officer Herve Jaubert, who escaped from the United Arab Emirates using his cache of spy tricks, are still at it in court.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Dubai World, energy resources, France, Herve Jaubert, intelligence recruitment, ISI, lawsuits, News, news you may have missed, Pakistan, Pakistan State Oil, Pakistani Military Intelligence, Ron Sanders, United Arab Emirates, United States

French spies saw Hitler danger in 1924, document shows

November 23, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

Hitler in 1924

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
At the same time when British intelligence was employing Benito Mussolini, and US diplomats were describing segments of the German Nazi party as “moderate [with] appeal to all civilized and reasonable people”, French intelligence reports were identifying Adolf Hitler as a “fascist […] demagogue” and “the German Mussolini”. This emerges from a 1924 report by an anonymous French intelligence operative, which is due to be declassified along with thousands of similar documents currently stored in the French National Archives, according to French newspaper Le Monde. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, France, French National Archives, Germany, history, Italy, News, Paris (France), UK, United States, World War I, World War II

Book claims CIA turned blind eye on Pakistan’s post-9/11 terror links

November 16, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

J.L. Bruguiere

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
A new book by France’s former leading investigating magistrate on counterterrorism affairs alleges that the CIA allowed the Pakistani army to train members of a notorious Islamist militant group, even after 9/11. In the book, entitled Ce que je n’ai pas pu dire (The Things I Would Not Utter), Jean-Louis Bruguiere says the US spy agency was aware that Pakistani army trainers worked with Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistani group responsible for a series of sophisticated strikes in India, including the 2008 Mumbai attacks. The former magistrate bases his allegations on official testimony provided by Willy Brigitte, a French citizen from Guadeloupe, who was arrested in Australia in 2003, in connection with Lashkar-e-Taiba activities there. Soon after the US invasion of Afghanistan, Brigitte traveled to Pakistan aiming to join the Taliban insurgency, but was unable to cross the Pakistani-Afghan border. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 2008 Mumbai attacks, Afghanistan, Australia, CIA, France, Guadeloupe, India, Jean-Louis Bruguiere, Lahore (Pakistan), Lashkar-e-Taiba, News, Pakistan, Pakistani armed forces, Punjab (Pakistan), Taliban, terrorism, United States, War on Terrorism, Willy Brigitte

Israeli commandos seize ship allegedly carrying tons of weapons

November 6, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Israeli commandos

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
A ship apprehended off the coast of Cyprus by Israeli commandos in a predawn raid on Wednesday was carrying hundreds of tons of weapons, according to the Israeli Navy. Israeli military officials told a press conference in Tel Aviv that the ship was loaded with “40 containers filled with 300 tons of weapons each”, hidden under several rows of civilian goods. Israel insisted that the weapons, which include missiles and rockets, originated from Iran and Syria and were bound for Hezbollah, the Shiite Islamic political and paramilitary organization that controls large parts of Lebanon. But the Syrian foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, called the Israeli commandos “pirates” and said the seized ship was heading from Syria to Iran, carrying only civilian goods. Israel has yet to release evidence of the ship’s contents, or even name. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Antigua & Barbuda, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Hezbollah, Iran, Israel, Israeli Navy, Lebanon, maritime intelligence, maritime piracy, News, Syria, United States, Walid al-Moallem, weapons smuggling

Convicted gun smuggler ‘worked for French intelligence’

November 5, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Arcadi Gaydamak

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
A shady gun smuggler convicted earlier this year in France for illegally selling weapons to Angola, was a French intelligence agent, according to a French newspaper. Speaking to Le Figaro, Charles Pasqua, France’s former interior minister, said that Arcady Gaydamak, who fled to Israel to escape imprisonment in France, was formerly an agent of DST, France’s domestic intelligence agency. Pasqua even said that Gaydamak, who holds Israeli, Russian and French citizenship, was secretly cited by former French President Jacques Chirac for his secret intelligence work. Speaking to Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz, Gaydamak confirmed Pasqua’s revelations, and said his work was “so secret” that “the citations spoke of his contribution to ‘agriculture’ instead”. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 1994 Lusaka Protocol, Angola, Angolagate arms scandal, Angolan Civil War, Arkady Gaydamak, Charles Pasqua, double agents, DST (France), France, Israel, Jacques Chirac, lawsuits, MPLA (Angola), News, Russia, weapons smuggling, weapons trade

News you may have missed #0158

October 28, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Former Los Alamos scientist is no spy, say physicists. US scientists familiar with the work of P. Leonardo Mascheroni, a former Los Alamos National Laboratory nuclear physicist whose house was recently searched by the FBI, insist he is not a spy. Mascheroni says he was told by the FBI that he is suspected of possible involvement in “nuclear espionage”.
Analysis: The West’s intelligence deficit on Iran. The fact is that neither a single intelligence agency nor the collective wisdom of the Brits, Israelis, French and Americans, has given Western countries a full picture of what is going on either in Iran’s nuclear program or in the minds of the leadership in Tehran.
Australia hires more spies. The Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) has said in its annual security review that “hostile intelligence agencies” are increasingly using the Internet to gather intelligence from Australian government computer networks. Interestingly, ASIO also noted that the number of its staff members increased from 1492 in 2008 to 1690 today.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with ASIO, Australia, FBI, France, intelligence penetration, intelligence recruitment, Iran, Iranian nuclear program, Israel, Los Alamos National Laboratory, News, news you may have missed, nuclear espionage, P. Leonardo Mascheroni, UK, United States

News you may have missed #0157

October 28, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

US providing Pakistan with airborne intelligence. The Los Angeles Times reports that the US military is providing intelligence and surveillance video from unmanned aircraft to the Pakistani army in its operations in South Waziristan. If this is true, it marks the deepest American involvement yet in a Pakistani military campaign.
French ‘trial of the century’ is over. The “Clearstream” trial, dubbed as “trial of the century” or “France’s Watergate”, which involved senior members of the country’s political and intelligence elite, has ended. The judgment will not be delivered for several months.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with airborne surveillance, Clearstream Bank, France, intelligence sharing, lawsuits, News, news you may have missed, Pakistan, South Waziristan, United States

Prince Albert’s former spymaster airs Monaco’s ‘dirty secrets’

October 26, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Prince Albert II

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Last April I wrote that former FBI counterintelligence agent Robert Eringer, who until recently was spymaster to prince Albert II of Monaco, was completing a book on his experiences in the tiny principality, a project he began after leaving his post. But that’s not all. Eringer has now sued the prince for €360,000 ($542,000) in alleged unpaid income, including a severance pay package. The London Sunday Times, which has “obtained” a copy of Eringer’s lawsuit, says that the document “lays bare some of [Monaco’s] dirtiest secrets”. Among them are Eringer’s claims that he investigated activities in Monaco by Russian and Italian mobsters, that he was asked to “assist” a young woman who was romantically involved with prince Albert, and that he went after video evidence showing “a woman performing a sex act on the prince” at his 40^th birthday party. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with CIA, FBI, France, Italy, lawsuits, Monaco, Monaco Intelligence Service, News, organized crime, Prince Albert II of Monaco, Robert Eringer, Russia, Thierry Lacoste, 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 #0137

October 11, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Colombian paramilitaries active in Honduras. United Nations human rights officials have voiced concern at reports that right-wing paramilitaries from the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia are active in Honduras following the military coup. Last September it was revealed that the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia also participated in the planning of the failed 2002 coup attempt in Venezuela.
Lawsuit probes US government spying on GTMO attorneys. In Wilner v. National Security Agency, the Washington DC-based Center for Constitutional Rights argued on Friday that the US government must disclose whether it has records related to wiretapping of Guantánamo attorney conversations without a warrant.
France arrests CERN worker with alleged al-Qaeda links. France has arrested a researcher at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) for suspected links with the al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb (al-Qaeda’s North African wing). CERN, Europe’s particle physics lab, is known for a particle collider that aims to recreate conditions of the Big Bang.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt, Africa, al-Qaeda, al-Qaeda Organization in Islamic Maghreb, Center for Constitutional Rights, CERN, Colombia, coup plots, France, Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp, Honduras, lawsuits, News, news you may have missed, NSA, scientific intelligence, United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, United States, wiretapping

French “trial of the century” continues with ex-spy’s testimony

October 8, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Philippe Rondot

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
A complex court case in France, which the nation’s media have dubbed “trial of the century”, continued this week with the testimony of one of France’s most distinguished intelligence agents. Retired General Philippe Rondot, who worked for France’s domestic (DST) and foreign intelligence (DGSE), and advised several French leaders, gained international fame in 1994, when he managed to arrest Venezuelan-born operative Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, known as Carlos the Jackal. General Rondot was called earlier this week to testify whether France’s former Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin, helped forge a series of documents showing that France’s current President, Nicolas Sarkozy, had laundered millions of dollars in defense contract bribes through secret accounts in Luxembourg’s Clearstream bank. Mr. de Villepin will face up to five years in prison if found guilty of the forgery. Read more of this post