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News you may have missed #303

March 7, 2010 by intelNews Leave a comment

Don’t share telecoms data with US, Hezbollah warns Lebanon. Hezbollah has warned the Lebanese government against sharing telecommunications information with the United States. Apparently the US embassy in Beirut sent out a request for “very detailed information on the mobile phone service providers in Lebanon — the stations, the antennas, technical information”. The request probably pertained to Hezbollah’s privately-owned telecommunications network in the country.
Using intelligence from the al-Mabhouh hit. “While the 22-hour period depicted in the Dubai police surveillance video showcased the tactical capabilities of the various teams, it hardly tells the whole story. In order to pinpoint the location of al-Mabhouh on the day of his killing, the organization responsible for this operation would have had to have tracked al-Mabhouh for months, if not years”.

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News you may have missed #301

March 2, 2010 by intelNews 2 Comments

Six more arrested in Lebanon for spying for Israel. The Lebanese army has arrested at least six more people in southern and northern Lebanon, among them former army officers, on suspicion of spying sharing information about the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah with Israeli intelligence service Mossad. Dozens of alleged Israeli spy cells have been uncovered in Lebanon in recent months.
Survey of US spy agencies’ web presence. US intelligence agencies are using the Web to share information and engage the public. Some offer mobile versions and social networking tools –others badly need an update.
Danish journalist admits using job as cover to spy for Israel. Herbert Pundik, a Danish former newspaper editor, has admitted he used his journalism credentials to spy for Israel for a decade in the 1960s, saying he felt an obligation as a Jew.

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Al-Mabhouh was drugged, not electrocuted

March 1, 2010 by intelNews 1 Comment

Al-Mabhouh

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Members of an Israeli assassination squad, who killed a senior Hamas official last month in Dubai, drugged him with a strong anesthetic before suffocating him to death, according to a new police report. Initial accounts of the death of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who was found dead in his luxury hotel room in the United Arab Emirates in the morning January 20, 2010, stated that he had been severely electrocuted, and then poisoned, before he was suffocated to death. But, according to Dubai Police deputy commander, Major General Khamis Mattar al-Mazeina, new forensic test reports suggest that, at the time of his death, the Palestinian official was under the influence of succinylcholine, a powerful muscle-relaxant and sedative, which is often dispensed to patients in emergency hospital wards, because of its rapid onset. Read more of this post

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Australia investigates more alleged Israeli spies

March 1, 2010 by intelNews Leave a comment

ASIO HQ

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) is among a number of Western intelligence agencies investigating at least three dual Australian-Israeli citizens, who are suspected of being Israeli spies. Citing “two Australian intelligence sources”, the Sydney Morning Herald said that the investigation into the three suspects began last year and is not connected to the January 19 assassination of Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai. At least three of the 26-member Mossad hit squad that killed al-Mabhouh used forged Australian passports to enter and exit the United Arab Emirates. Read more of this post

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Israeli agents tried to obtain Australian passports in 2004

February 26, 2010 by intelNews 1 Comment

Ali Kazak

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Yesterday’s revelation, that three members of the Mossad hit squad that assassinated Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai last January, used Australian passports, has shocked Australian public opinion. In reality, however, the Australian government had been warned in as early as 2004 that Israeli agents were trying to obtain Australian passports for use in international espionage operations. In March of that year, Ali Kazak, who was the Head of the General Palestinian Delegation to Australia and New Zealand, publicly revealed that Israeli Mossad agents had approached members of the Middle Eastern community in both countries, seeking to purchase usable passports. He even said that one Mossad agent active in Sydney had managed to acquire as many as 25 Australian passports before returning to Israel. Read more of this post

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News you may have missed #297

February 25, 2010 by intelNews Leave a comment

Australia to use spy agency to combat human smuggling. The Australian government is preparing to afford increased powers to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), in order to direct its resources against human smuggling. Among the changes are proposals to alter the official government definition of “foreign intelligence”, so as to cover human smuggling practices.
Three Lebanese charged with spying for Israel. Lebanon’s military prosecutor indicted three Lebanese with spying for Israel on Wednesday, as part of a broader espionage investigation lasting nearly a year, in which at least 27 suspects have so far been detained.
Analysis: CIA and Pakistan work together, but do so warily. The CIA and its Pakistani counterpart, the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence, have a long and often tormented relationship. And even now, they are moving warily toward conflicting goals, with each maneuvering to protect its influence after the shooting stops in Afghanistan.

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Ireland seeks Israeli spy who assembled forged passport data

February 25, 2010 by intelNews Leave a comment

Al-Mabhouh

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
As the number of suspects involved in the assassination of Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh rose to 26 yesterday, Irish government sources said they suspect an Israeli agent in Dublin of orchestrating the acquisition of several Irish passports used in the assassination. Six of the 26 identified members of the Israeli hit squad who killed al-Mabhouh in Dubai last January used forged Irish travel documents to enter the United Arab Emirates from a variety of international locations. There are rumors in Dublin that at least three more forged Irish passports, which were utilized in the assassination operation, will soon be added to the growing list. According to Ireland’s Independent newspaper, the unnamed Dublin-based Israeli spy collected and collated most of the misleading information that was used to apply for the passports, under the names of real, living Irish citizens, all of whom have now been traced by Irish authorities. Read more of this post

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News you may have missed #296

February 25, 2010 by intelNews 1 Comment

Al-Mabhouh assassination suspects’ travel routes (.pdf). The linked .pdf document contains a detailed diagram of the flight itineraries of the 26 members of Mossad who assassinated Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai, on January 19, 2010.
Litvinenko story to be made into film. Hollywood director Mike Newell is preparing an adaptation of The Terminal Spy, a nonfiction book about the assassination of ex-KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko, who was most likely killed by Russian FSB agents in London, in 2006.

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Son of senior Hamas official was Shin Bet informant

February 24, 2010 by intelNews 3 Comments

Yousef/Joseph

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
The son of a senior Hamas official, who moved from the Gaza Strip to the United States in 2007, has said he was an informant for Israeli intelligence for at least a decade. Mosab Hassan Yousef, who legally changed his name to Joseph after converting to Christianity, is son of Hamas parliamentarian Sheikh Hassan Yousef. He told Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz that he was turned by Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence service, in 1997, after serving a year in an Israeli prison. The newspaper also spoke with Joseph’s Shin Bet handler, a “Captain Loai”, who said the Hamas official’s son was the agency’s most prized Hamas informant, and was given the operational alias GREEN PRINCE. Read more of this post

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News you may have missed #294

February 22, 2010 by intelNews Leave a comment

Tensions mount in Turkey over alleged coup plot. Simmering tensions between Turkey’s government and judicial elite erupted into open confrontation Thursday, over the handling of a probe into the Ergenekon network, an alleged military-intelligence plot to topple the Islamist-rooted government.
CIA recruiting Chinese-Americans. The CIA is posting recruitment advertisements in Southern California’s Chinese language media during the Lunar New Year, in an attempt to hire Chinese Americans. This is part of a wider effort by the Agency to increase numbers of ethnic minority employees by 22 to 30 percent by 2012.
Two alleged Israeli spies sentenced to death in Lebanon. Retired police officer Mahmoud Qassem Rafeh, who was arrested by Lebanese authorities in 2006, has been given a death conviction for “collaboration and espionage on behalf of the Israeli enemy”. Another defendant, Palestinian Hussein Khattab, has been convicted in absentia for his alleged involvement in the murders of members of Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad.

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News you may have missed #0292 (al-Mabhouh assassination edition #3)

February 21, 2010 by intelNews 4 Comments

Former Mossad spy says Israel killed al-Mabhouh. Victor Ostrovsky, who worked for the Mossad in the 1980s, says the assassination of Hamas official Mahmound al-Mabhouh last month in Dubai has all the earmarks of a Mossad operation, and was likely sanctioned by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
UK denies knowledge of Hamas murder plot. The British Foreign Office has denied a news report that the British intelligence service was told in advance that Israeli agents planned to assassinate senior Hamas militant Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, using British passports.
Anglo-Israeli intelligence co-operation is now in jeopardy. Britain has cut its ties with Mossad in the past –after its London station chief carelessly mislaid a sackful of forged British passports– and will do so again unless Israel can provide a credible defense of its actions, says The Daily Telegraph‘s Con Coughlin.

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Mossad has long history of assassination operations

February 21, 2010 by intelNews 6 Comments

Al-Mabhouh

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
The recent assassination of Hamas military official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh has sparked a public debate about the history of the Kidon (formerly known as Caesarea), Mossad’s elite assassination unit. Several participants in this debate frequently mention the infamous Black September killings of the 1970s (operation BAYONET), which exterminated almost every original member of the Palestinian group that perpetrated the massacre of the Israeli athletes in the 1972 summer Olympic Games in Munich. In reality, however, these operations were not conducted by the Kidon, but by a separate unit outside Mossad’s operational structure, created specifically for this purpose. The same applies to other extrajudicial assassinations of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, which are usually perpetrated by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency. Read more of this post

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News you may have missed #0291 (al-Mabhouh assassination edition #2)

February 20, 2010 by intelNews Leave a comment

Interpol adds suspected Dubai assassins to most wanted list. Interpol has added the 11 people allegedly responsible for last month’s Dubai assassination Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh to its most wanted list. At least five nations are now actively investigating the assassination operation.
Dubai assassins had keys to al-Mabhouh’s hotel room. Yossi Melman, of Israel’s Ha’aretz newspaper reports that, contrary to previous accounts of al-Mabhouh’s assassination, the Mossad hit squad did not break into his hotel room, nor did they knock on the door. Instead, they entered the room using copies of keys they had somehow acquired.
Will biometric passports limit Israel’s intelligence? By 2015 most countries will have introduced biometric identification features in passports. This worries international smugglers and terrorists, but it also worries the Israeli intelligence services.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with assassinations, biometrics, Dubai, Interpol, Israel, Kidon, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, News, news you may have missed, travel documentation, United Arab Emirates

Dubai CCTV footage reveals spy craft details

February 20, 2010 by intelNews 3 Comments

CCTV footage

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
The closed-circuit television footage from the January 19 assassination of Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh reveals –among other things– interesting details of spy craft in action. Prominently featured is the use of fake wigs, beards and other facial hair, which the Mossad assassination team members employed in order to disguise themselves. Spies, therefore, really do use fake beards, moustaches, glasses, as well as other props in ground operations, known as ‘light disguise’ in espionage lingo. The obvious reason for such props is disguising the visual identity of the operative from potential witnesses. But there are other reasons too, such as evading facial recognition systems, which tend to rely on cheekbone and jaw-line coordinates. Read more of this post

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News you may have missed #0290 (al-Mabhouh assassination edition #1)

February 19, 2010 by intelNews 6 Comments

Al-Mabhouh assassination done by amateurs, says ex-Mossad agent. Rami Igra, a former high-ranking Mossad official said that Israel could not have been involved in the assassination of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, because it was so unprofessionally carried out.
Fatah spies also involved in al-Mabhouh assassination. IntelNews pointed out a few days ago that at least two Palestinians were possibly connected with the plot to kill Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. Three have now been formally indicted, one of whom, Ahmad Hasnin, is a Fatah intelligence operative.
US link to al-Mabhouh assassination? Authorities in the United Arab Emirates are probing five US-issued credit-card accounts, which officials say were used by five of the 11 suspects in the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. The credit cards, issued by a US-based financial institution, were used to buy travel-related items, such as plane tickets, connected to the alleged assassination operation.