News you may have missed #0039

July 24, 2009 by Leave a comment

  • Russians suspect sabotage behind ICBM test failure. The FSB is investigating the reasons behind the test failure earlier this month of a Russian Navy Bulava-30 (SS-NX-30) sea-based intercontinental ballistic missile, which disintegrated 28 seconds after launch. The Russian Navy developed the ICBM specifically to avoid future US ballistic missile defenses.
  • CIA kept bin Laden son’s death secret for months. US officials think that Saad bin Laden was killed in a Predator drone strike earlier this year in Pakistan, but CIA has tried to keep the news secret, allegedly in an attempt to confuse al-Qaeda. You may recall that some time ago intelNews reported that some in US intelligence believed Saad had been given government protection in Iran.
  • US DNI sees signs of North Korean succession. The Open Source Center of the US Directorate of National Intelligence adds its voice to widespread speculation that Kim Jong il may be preparing to hand power to his third son, Kim Jong Un.

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US Treasury intelligence division after bin Laden’s son

January 18, 2009 by Leave a comment

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews |
The US Treasury Department’s Division of Financial Intelligence has announced it intends to freeze all US assets of four individuals allegedly connected with al-Qaeda’s presence in Iran and Egypt. The four include Mustafa Hamid, who is said to be al-Qaeda’s semi-official envoy to the Iranian government, and Egyptian Islamic Jihad member Muhammad al-Bahtiyti. They also include Yemeni Ali Saleh Husain and Saad bin Laden, one of Osama bin Laden’s sons, who is said to be in Iran. US intelligence agencies have been monitoring Saad’s movements ever since he left Sudan, along with his father, in 1996. Read more of this post

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