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News you may have missed #0171

November 7, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Court date for US couple accused of spying for Cuba. Walter and Gwendolyn Myers, who were arrested by the FBI last summer on charges of spying for Cuba for over 30 years, have a court appearance scheduled for Thursday. Meanwhile, the judge overseeing their case is trying to decide how to make evidence available for their trial while protect US intelligence sources and methods.
CIA responds to declassification request…20 years later. The CIA has finally released a small number of documents relating to Manucher Ghorbanifar, a shady weapons trader who mediated between Washington and Tehran during the Iran-Contra scandal. The declassification comes two decades after the Agency was asked to release the documents through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Kalmanovic was Shin Bet informant, says Ha’aretz. It is well known that Shabtai von Kalmanovic, who was gunned down in downtown Moscow on Monday, had worked for the Soviet KGB. He confessed as much and was jailed in Israel in the 1980s for spying. But Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz reported that Kalmanovic was also “a Shin Bet [Israel’s internal security service] informant”. In a new article, the paper says Kalmanovic “was a low-level informer for the Shin Bet” before his arrest for spying for the KGB.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with assassinations, CIA, Cold War, Cuba, declassification, espionage, FBI, FOIA, Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers, informants, Iran-Contra Scandal, Israel, KGB, lawsuits, Manucher Ghorbanifar, News, news you may have missed, Russia, Shabtai von Kalmanovic, Shin Bet, United States, USSR, Walter Kendall Myers, weapons smuggling, weapons trade

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 #0166

November 4, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

JFK Library releases new evidence on Diem assassination. This is a crucial new piece of the puzzle, for the release includes actual tape recordings of White House meetings, when US President Kennedy considered requests from South Vietnamese generals for US backing of the military coup that eventually ended Saigon leader Ngo Dinh Diem’s rule and life. See here for other recent declassifications on the Vietnam War.
The US intelligence community writes the book on collaboration. More praise for Intellipedia, the US intelligence community’s version of Wikipedia, which has grown markedly since its formal launch in 2006.
Israel admits spying on Lebanon. Israel has openly admitted to collecting intelligence in Lebanon, an uncharacteristically frank admission, which comes after Lebanon busted what has been described as the largest Israeli spy operation in the Arab world.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Al-Alam spy ring, assassinations, coup plots, declassification, espionage, intelligence cooperation, Intellipedia, Israel, John F. Kennedy, Lebanon, News, news you may have missed, Ngo Dinh Diem, South Vietnam, Vietnam War

Ex-KGB agent shot dead in downtown Moscow

November 4, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Kalmanovic

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
A former KGB agent, who was jailed in Israel in the 1980s for spying for the Soviet Union, was gunned down in downtown Moscow on Monday afternoon. Shabtai von Kalmanovic was shot repeatedly from close range in an apparent contract killing operation, as his chauffeur-driven Mercedes car was stopped at a red light a few blocks away from the Kremlin. Kalmanovic, 62, was a citizen of Lithuania, Russia and Israel. He was born in Soviet Lithuania in 1947, and permitted to emigrate to Israel with his Jewish parents in 1971. In 1987, Israeli authorities arrested Kalmanovic for allegedly giving Israeli military secrets to the KGB. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with assassinations, Cold War, double agents, espionage, informants, Israel, KGB, Lithuania, News, Russia, Shabtai von Kalmanovic, Shin Bet, USSR

Details emerge on Israeli bombing of Syrian nuke reactor

November 4, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Ibrahim Othman

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
German newsmagazine Der Spiegel has published a most detailed examination of the background to Operation ORCHARD, the 2007 Israeli air attack on what is thought to have been a Syrian nuclear reactor. The attack was carried out by Israeli fighter jets in the night of September 6, 2007, at Al-Kibar, a site deep in the Syro-Arabian Desert, twenty miles from Deir al-Zour. Neither Syria nor Israel have commented on the attack, which is widely thought to have targeted Syria’s so-called Al-Kibar nuclear reactor. Der Spiegel’s article is based on interviews with nuclear and security experts, as well as “with individuals involved in the operation, [and] have only now agreed to [speak], under conditions of anonymity”, according to the authors. The article claims that the initial tip about Al-Kibar was given to the Israelis in 2004 by the US National Security Agency, which “detected a suspiciously high number of telephone calls between Syria and North Korea”. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Al-Kibar (Syria), Al-Kibar nuclear reactor (Syria), Chon Chibu, communications interception, computer hacking, Deir al-Zour (Syria), Ibrahim Othman, Israel, Mossad, News, North Korea, North Korean nuclear program, NSA, operation ORCHARD, Syria, Syrian Atomic Energy Commission, Syrian Desert, Syrian nuclear program, Syro-Arabian Desert, UK, United States

News you may have missed #0164

November 3, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Analysis: Is A.W. Karzai the CIA’s man in Kandahar or a gentle benefactor? Since it was (re-)reported last week that Ahmed Wali Karzai has been receiving payments from the CIA, Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s younger brother has turned indignant and says the allegations are part of a smear campaign being waged by political opponents.
Italian court to decide on CIA abduction trial this week. An Italian court is to reach a verdict this week in the landmark trial of 26 US CIA agents involved in the 2003 abduction of a Muslim cleric in Milan.
Iran arrests Azerbaijani laser scientist for ‘spying’. Iranian authorities say the scientist, Rashid Aliyev, who works in Belarus, was involved in international espionage. Iranian media report that “contacts between the security services of Azerbaijan and Israel have been dramatically expanded” in recent years.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with abductions, Afghanistan, Ahmed Wali Karzai, Azerbaijan, Belarus, CIA, espionage, Hamid Karzai, informants, Iran, Israel, Italy, lawsuits, Milan (Italy), News, news you may have missed, Rashid Aliyev, United States

Jailed US scientist actually gave secret information to Israel

November 2, 2009 by intelNews 2 Comments

S.D. Nozette

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
On October 22, shortly after the arrest of US nuclear scientist Stuart David Nozette by an FBI counterintelligence agent, I speculated that Nozette “was already working for Israeli intelligence” when he was arrested by the FBI. My assumption appears to have been correct. On Thursday, the case prosecutor informed a US district court that Nozette told the undercover FBI agent, who was posing as an Israeli spy, that “he had passed information to Israel in the past”. As I have explained elsewhere, Nozette was employed for ten years as a technical consultant by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), an Israeli government-owned company that some believe is routinely involved in espionage operations on behalf of Israel. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Anthony Asuncion, counterintelligence, espionage, FBI, Israel, Israel Aerospace Industries, Israel Aircraft Industries, lawsuits, Mossad, NASA, News, Stewart David Nozette, United States, US Department of Energy, US DoD, US Navy

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 #0156

October 27, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

NGOs worry African spy services. A memo authored by African spy service representatives at the third annual conference of the Committee of Intelligence and Security Services of Africa (CISSA), has acknowledged what most intelligence services in developing countries already know: that many “volunteers” of Western non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are in fact intelligence operatives using their NGO status as a cover.
Nozette admitted guilt in fraud charges last January. New information shows that Stewart D. Nozette, who was arrested and charged last week under the US Espionage Act, pleaded guilty in January to overbilling NASA and the Pentagon more than $265,000 for consulting services.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Africa, CISSA, Committee of Intelligence and Security Services of Africa, corruption, Israel, lawsuits, NASA, News, news you may have missed, NGO, Stewart David Nozette, sting operations, United States, US DoD

Israel mum on mysterious devices found in Lebanon

October 27, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

One of the devices

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Israel has refused to either confirm or deny it planted a number of communications interception devices that were uncovered last week by security forces in southern Lebanon. Responding to a “request for clarifications” issued by the United Nations, the Israeli government said simply that “collecting intelligence in southern Lebanon will continue as long as the government in Beirut is not in full control of its territory”, an obvious reference to Hezbollah, the Shia Islamic political and paramilitary organization that controls large parts of Lebanon. Three the devices were found last week, attached to a telecommunications cable on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese village of Houla. Interestingly, two of the devices self-destructed by exploding as Lebanese security personnel were approaching. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with communications interception, espionage, Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanese Armed Forces, Lebanese Internal Security Forces, Lebanon, News, Syria, United Nations

News you may have missed #0152

October 25, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Madoff befriends Israeli-handled spy in prison. According to legal papers filed last Tuesday, Bernard Madoff, imprisoned for masterminding one of history’s largest financial frauds, is sharing a cell with Jonathan Pollard, an American convicted of selling military secrets to Israel over two decades ago.
Polish undercover agent has cover blown. An undercover agent of Poland’s controversial Anti-Corruption Agency (CBA), known simply as Tomek K. (a.k.a. Tomasz Malecki or Tom Piotrowski) has had his cover blown after seducing Polish television star Weronika Marczuk-Pazura during an anti-corruption investigation. Whoever said undercover work was boring?
Finnish former prime minister says KGB tried to recruit him. In his political memoirs published last week, Paavo Lipponen, who was Finland’s prime minister from 1995 to 2003, reveals the Soviet KGB tried unsuccessfully to recruit him in 1966 and again in the early 1970s.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Anti-Corruption Agency (Poland), Bernie Madoff, CBA (Poland), Cold War, corruption, Finland, honey traps, informants, intelligence recruitment, Israel, Jonathan Jay Pollard, KGB, News, news you may have missed, Paavo Lipponen, Poland, Tom Piotrowski, Tomasz Malecki, Tomek K., USSR, Weronika Marczuk-Pazura

Mysterious self-destructing devices found at Lebanon-Israel border

October 24, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

One of the devices

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Lebanese authorities have revealed the discovery last week of three communications interception devices near the Israel-Lebanon border. Interestingly, two of the devices self-destructed by exploding as Lebanese security personnel were approaching. Members of the Lebanese Armed Forces decided to detonate a third device, fearing that it too might explode at any moment. The three devices were attached to a telecommunications cable on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese village of Houla. Israeli officials have so far refused to address the accusation of the Lebanese government that the devices were planted by Israeli spies. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 2006 Lebanon War, communications interception, espionage, Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanese Armed Forces, Lebanese Internal Security Forces, Lebanon, News, Syria

News you may have missed #0150

October 23, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Israel’s inside intelligence. If only Israeli security services were as open as the CIA and other US spy agencies, lament Israelis.
Nozette and nuclear rocketry. Here are some of the reasons why the case of scientist Stewart D. Nozette, who was arrested and charged earlier this week under the US Espionage Act, is distressing on several levels.
Perle calls DoD spying whistleblower “a nutcase”. Richard Perle, chairperson of the US Defense Advisory Board under the Bush administration, has called Sibel Edmonds “a nutcase; certifiable”. Last August, Edmonds, a former FBI translator, alleged that Turkish spies had bugged, blackmailed and bribed US politicians, her FBI unit, the State Department, the Pentagon and Congress.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with CIA, espionage, FBI, intelligence oversight, intelligence reform, Israel, MİT (Turkey), News, news you may have missed, nuclear espionage, President's Defense Advisory Board (US), Richard Perle, scientific intelligence, Sibel Edmonds, Stewart David Nozette, Turkey, US Congress, US Department of State, US DoD, whistleblowing

Analysis: US Scientist’s Espionage Arrest Raises Questions

October 22, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Nozette

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Stewart David Nozette, who was arrested by the FBI on October 19, on charges of sharing classified US government data with a man he believed was an Israeli government officer, is to remain in jail. The reason given by the US federal judge in charge of the case is that Nozette might flee to Israel if not confined. However, unlike the case of former US Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Jay Pollard, who was jailed in 1987 for spying on the US for Israel, the government of Israel is said to have had no role in Nozette’s attempted espionage. The FBI itself admits that it “does not allege that the government of Israel or anyone acting on its behalf committed any offense under US laws in this case”. This is because Nozette shared classified US government data with an undercover FBI officer posing as a handler of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. But if this is so, then two important counterintelligence questions are raised: first, how did the FBI know to lure Nozette with an agent posing as an Israeli –as opposed to a Russian or Chinese– handler? Second, why would Nozette flee to –and presumably be protected by– Israel, even though the government of Israel was not involved in this case, according to the FBI? Keep reading →