news you may have missed | intelNews.org

News you may have missed #0095

September 5, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

New revelations about Bulgarian domestic spying case. It appears that Operation GALLERY (a.k.a. Operation GALERIA), by the Bulgarian State Agency for National Security (DANS), was primarily aimed at the Bulgarian tabloid newspaper Weekend and journalist Dimitar Zlatkov. Journalist Ognyan Stefanov, who was nearly beaten to death after authoring an article implicating DANS officials in illicit trafficking activities (see previous intelNews coverage), appears to have been simply collateral damage.
Taliban use CIA-supplied mines against US-led forces in Afghanistan. Evidence from the US Defense Department, Canadian forces in Afghanistan and the Taliban itself suggest that the increased damage to NATO tanks by Taliban forces has come from anti-tank mines provided by the US to the jihadi movement in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
Massive domestic spying revealed in Russia. From January to June this year, Russian intelligence agents surreptitiously opened 115,000 letters, listened in on 64,000 personal phone conversations, and broke into 11,000 private homes according to information from Russia’s Supreme Court.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Afghanistan, black bag operations, blowback, Bulgaria, CIA, Cold War, communications interception, DANS (Bulgaria), Dimitar Zlatkov, domestic intelligence, mail interception, NATO, News, news you may have missed, non-destructive entry, Ognyan Stefanov, Operation GALERIA, Operation GALLERY, Russia, Russian Supreme Court, surreptitious entry, Taliban

News you may have missed #0094

September 4, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Liberia arrests six Pakistanis with fake US passports. The country’s defense minister said the arrestees possibly intended to carry out an attack.
Belgian arms dealer arrested in US sting operation. The notorious Belgian arms merchant Jacques Monsieur was arrested by undercover US agents in New York, after he allegedly conspired to export US-built F-5 jet engines and other parts to Iran. Apparently, the US arrested Monsieur with the co-operation of Google, with which the Belgian had an email account.
Why are Emirates authorities expelling Lebanese citizens? United Arab Emirates have reportedly expelled over 45 Lebanese residents in recent weeks. Some say the expulsions are part of a US-led intelligence operation against Hezbollah activities in the country.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Africa, Belgium, deportations, Google, Hezbollah, Internet, Iran, Jacuqes Monsieur, Lebanon, Liberia, New York, News, news you may have missed, Northrop F-5 fighter aircraft, Pakistan, sting operations, travel documentation, United Arab Emirates, United States, weapons smuggling, weapons trade

News you may have missed #0093

September 3, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Did 29th US President have an affair with a German spy? New book claims that Warren G. Harding, US President from 1921 to 1923, had a 15-year love affair with Carrie Phillips, a German sympathizer, who may have been a German spy.
Poland shares blame for WWII outbreak, claim Russian spies. Major General Lev Sotskov, senior official of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), has displayed documents allegedly showing that Poland was considering joining the Axis powers prior to being invaded by both Germany and Russia, in 1939.
The things retired CIA agents do to relax! Gardening and farming have always been popular pastimes among CIA agents, but paper-soldier collecting is apparently gaining ground.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Axis Powers, Carrie Phillips, CIA, espionage, Germany, Lev Sotskov, News, news you may have missed, Poland, SVR (Russia), United States, USSR, Warren G. Harding, World War I, World War II

News you may have missed #0092

September 3, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Pakistan to build own unmanned drones. But until it does, it will have to rely on the CIA’s Predator drones.
Cuba protests US denial of visa to wife of jailed spy. Obama is too much like Bush, say the Cubans. Jailed spy Gerardo Hernandez is one of the Cuban Five, who Cuba has offered to exchange for political dissidents held on the island.
Israeli spies allegedly diverted Lebanese Internet traffic. Lebanese militant group Hezbollah says two Israeli spies, Jerry Orenstein and Ronen Neuhaus, used their telecommunications expertise to divert Lebanese Internet network traffic through Cyprus to Israel’s Haifa exchange center, where it could be intercepted by Israeli authorities. This blog has written extensively about the telecommunications wars currently taking place in the Middle East.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with CIA, communications interception, Cuba, Cuban Five, espionage, Hezbollah, information security, Internet, Israel, Jerry Orenstein, Lebanon, News, news you may have missed, Pakistan, Predator drones, Ronen Neuhaus

News you may have missed #0091

September 2, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

McCain denies private agreement with CIA torture tactic. A recently released memo suggests that Republican US Senator John McCain, famous for his stance against torture, privately agreed with a CIA six-day sleep-deprivation technique.
CIA rejects further declassifications on torture-related material. The CIA said on Monday that it would release no more documents related to the Bush administration’s torture and detention policies, because disclosing the information “will threaten national security”. The ACLU called this an affront to the Obama Administration’s policies.
Taliban kill Afghan intelligence chief. Abdullah Laghmani, who headed the National Directorate for Security (NDS) was among at least 23 people, including a number of senior officials, killed in the suicide attack. This was one of the few times that the Taliban specifically targeted intelligence officials.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Abdullah Laghmani, ACLU, Afghanistan, assassinations, CIA, declassification, John McCain, National Directorate for Security (Afghanistan), News, news you may have missed, Obama Administration, sleep deprivation, suicide bombings, Taliban, torture, United States

News you may have missed #0090

September 1, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

CIA’s black sites, illuminated. The Los Angeles Times‘ Greg Miller provides a summary account of the descriptions of CIA secret prisons provided in the recently declassified CIA documents.
Russian agents try to influence Czech politicians, says intelligence report. BIS, the Czech counterintelligence service, has declassified a 2008 report stating that Russian intelligence agents in the country, such as the ones expelled earlier this month, “try to establish contacts with members of [the Czech] parliament, their assistants and employees of political parties’ foreign relations departments”.
South Korean arrested for collaborating with North Korean spy. The man, identified only as Kim, supplied travel documents, maps, and other information to a North Korean operative in Indonesia. South Korean intelligence sources may have leaked this case in order to sabotage the current thaw in North-South relations.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with CIA, Czech Republic, Czech Security Information Service (BIS), declassification, espionage, Indonesia, News, news you may have missed, North Korea, Russia, secret prisons, South Korea, Southeast Asia

News you may have missed #0089

September 1, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

German intelligence negotiating on Israel’s behalf. Israel has asked Gemany’s foreign intelligence service, the BND, to mediate in negotiations for the release Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held hostage in Gaza since June 2006. Intelligence sources say a prisoner exchange deal may be imminent.
France to send more spies to Somalia. Days after the dramatic escape of a French spy from his militant captors in Somalia, the French government has announced its intention to station more operatives in the country.
Senior Russian military officer jailed for spying for Georgia. Authorities said Lieutenant Colonel Mikhail Khachidze, who is an ethnic Georgian, passed Russian military secrets over the Internet to Georgian secret services in June and July 2008. Khachidze was allegedly recruited by Georgian intelligence in late 2007, while stationed on Georgian territory.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Africa, BND, France, Gaza Strip, Georgia, Germany, Gilad Shalit, informants, Israel, Mikhail Khachidze, News, news you may have missed, Russia, Russian military, secret meetings, Somalia

News you may have missed #0088

August 31, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

US state governors receiving suspicious laptops. Why are state governors’ offices in West Virginia, Vermont, Wyoming and Washington, receiving laptops which they have not ordered? Could there be a connection with malicious emails received recently by several US local officials?
Blackwater training foreign mercenaries in the Philippines. US military contractor Blackwater is now training mercenaries for covert operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. The Philippine government is denying it. What does Leon Panetta, who visited the country not long ago, know about this?
Swiss government agency is able to wiretap Skype. What about NSA? A Swiss software developer who released what he claims is the source code of a program for tapping into encrypted Skype communications, had previously sold it to the Swiss Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (UVEK) “to use in remote surveillance activities”. Does this mean that the NSA has been wasting its money?

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Blackwater, communications interception, computer hacking, Energy and Communications, Leon Panetta, mercenaries, News, news you may have missed, NSA, Philippines, Skype, Swiss Department of the Environment, Switzerland, Transport, United States, VOIP

News you may have missed #0087

August 30, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Lithuania will probe claims of secret CIA prisons. Lithuania has promised to investigate recent allegations that it hosted a secret CIA prison for al-Qaeda suspects on the outskirts of the capital Vilnius.
Book Review: Spycraft. Science News has published a review of Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA’s Spytechs, by Robert Wallace and H. Keith Melton, with Henry Robert Schlesinger.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with al-Qaeda, book news and reviews, CIA, H. Keith Melton, Henry Robert Schlesinger, Lithuania, News, news you may have missed, Robert Wallace, secret prisons, United States, Vilnius (Lithuania), War on Terrorism

News you may have missed #0086

August 29, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

New book examines history of Finnish domestic intelligence. The history of SUPO, Finland’s Security Police, is detailed in a new book by Professor Kimmo Rentola of Turku University.
Ex-KGB agent doesn’t regret sanctuary decision. Mikhail Lennikov is still living in a Vancouver church, defying an order of expulsion from Canada on national security grounds.
CIA used Canadian research for torture. The US Central Intelligence Agency used Canadian research to determine how cold they could make a detainee in water, newly released documents show.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with book news and reviews, Canada, CIA, Cold War, deportations, Finland, history, KGB, Mikhail Alexander Lennikov, News, news you may have missed, SUPO (Finland), torture, USSR, Vancouver (Canada)

News you may have missed #0085

August 28, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

How the ACLU got the CIA agents’ photos. As intelNews reported earlier this week, the ACLU has been trying to identify CIA agents who participated in torture of detainees, by taking surreptitious pictures outside the operatives’ homes. It is worth noting that uncovering the identities of CIA officers is legal, so long as it is based on publicly available records.
Russian espionage case is bigger than initially thought, say Czech officials. Intelligence authorities in the Czech Republic say the two Russian agents who were recently expelled from the country last week were not primarily interested in the US missile defense shield.
US spy community builds Wikipedia-style database. Intellipedia, the intelligence community’s version of Wikipedia has grown markedly since its formal launch in 2006. It now averages more than 15,000 edits per day and is home to 900,000 pages and 100,000 user accounts.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with ACLU, CIA, Czech Republic, databases, espionage, Intellipedia, lawsuits, News, news you may have missed, Russia, torture, United States, US Missile Defense Shield, Wikipedia

News you may have missed #0084

August 28, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Cargo ship with Israeli weapons destined for Philippines seized. The arms were apparently destined for “rebel groups or criminal organizations”. No word yet from the Israeli government.
Even more CIA documents to be disclosed. Word comes that, in response to pending requests from the ACLU, more CIA documents about Bush-era interrogations and detentions could be released as early as Monday.
Double spy’s son admits guilt. Nathaniel James Nicholson, youngest son of Harold James Nicholson, who in 1997 became the highest-ranking CIA officer to be convicted of spying on behalf of a foreign agency, pleaded guilty Thursday to collecting cash from Russian officials who owed his father for selling CIA secrets in the 1990s.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with ACLU, Bush Administration, CIA, declassification, double agents, Harold James Nicholson, interrogation techniques, Israel, lawsuits, maritime surveillance, Nathaniel James Nicholson, News, news you may have missed, Philippines, Russia, United States, weapons smuggling

News you may have missed #0083

August 28, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Indonesian police denies plan to spy on mosques. Indonesian authorities have denied the rumored existence of a plan to monitor religious sermons during Ramadan.
Reiss was nuclear spy, claim Iranians. Clotilde Reiss, a French student who was arrested in Iran last July, was involved in nuclear espionage, according to Iran’s ambassador to Paris, Seyyed Mehdi Mirabutalebi.
Canada still trying to deport Indian spy. Canada has been trying since last December to deport an Indian man for espionage, since he arrived at Vancouver International Airport under a false identity.
Somali militants use many tactics to woo Americans. Details are emerging about how Somali militants have lured young American men, including as many as 20 from Minnesota, back to their homeland to join the jihad.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Canada, Clotilde Reiss, deportations, France, India, Indonesia, Indonesian Muslims, Iran, Iranian embassy in France, News, news you may have missed, nuclear espionage, Seyyed Mehdi Mirabutalebi, Somalia, The Party of Youth (Somalia), United States, Vancouver (Canada), Vancouver International Airport

News you may have missed #0082

August 27, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

The spy who prayed. Profile of As’ad Said Ali, deputy chief of Indonesia’s National Intelligence Agency, who is actively involved in Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization.
Shadowy Turkish group used journalists as spies. Ergenekon, a shadowy ultranationalist network with strong links to the Turkish armed forces, which planned to topple the Turkish government, used journalists to spy on its high-profile targets, according to court documents.
CIA sacked Baghdad station chief after deaths. The CIA removed its station chief in Iraq and reorganized its operations there in late 2003, following “potentially very serious leadership lapses” that included the deaths of detainees in US custody.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with As’ad Said Ali, Baghdad (Iraq), CIA, CIA Baghdad station, coup plots, Ergenekon, Indonesia, Indonesian Muslims, informants, Iraq War, Nahdlatul Ulama, National Intelligence Agency (Indonesia), News, news you may have missed, torture, Turkey, United States

News you may have missed #0081

August 27, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Russians arrest “spies” at air show. The FSB says it uncovered two Dutch spies at the MAKS 2009 aviation and space show in Moscow.
Interview with Israeli intelligence minister. Dan Meridor gave a rare interview to German magazine Der Spiegel, saying he doesn’t “want to get into details” about rumors that Israel is considering bombing Iran.
Karadzic asks for French intelligence documents. Karadzic claims France has documents confirming that the USA and several Muslim countries supplied weapons to the army of Bosnia-Herzegovina in the 1990s, despite an international embargo.