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News you may have missed #0165

November 4, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

UK demands Russians deliver spy assassin. David Miliband, Britain’s foreign secretary pressed Russia during a visit to Moscow on Monday to turn over Andrey Lugovoi, the main suspect in the 2006 killing in London of Russian former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko. But, as before, Russia rejected the demand on legal grounds.
Analysis: Confusion in US intelligence secrecy policy. The decision last week by the Director of National Intelligence to declassify the FY2009 budget for the National Intelligence Program is inconsistent with other ODNI classification actions and highlights the confusion over the proper scope of national security secrecy that prevails in the US intelligence community today.
Equatorial Guinea pardons Western coup plotters. Four whites jailed for leading an alleged 2004 coup attempt in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea have been unexpectedly pardoned. They include Simon Mann, a British former Special Forces officer, and Nick du Toit, a South African mercenary. The Guinean government cited…”Jesus Christ” in making the decision to pardon the coup plotters.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Alexander Litvinenko, Analysis, Andrey Lugovoy, assassinations, coup plots, David Miliband, declassification, DNI, Equatorial Guinea, intelligence budget, KGB, London, mercenaries, News, news you may have missed, Nick du Toit, Russia, Simon Mann, South Africa, UK

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

Analysis: Major spy overhaul underway in South Africa

October 12, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

Moe Shaik

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
In July, Laurie Nathan, a former member of South Africa’s ministerial Review Commission on Intelligence, warned that a steadily declining culture of accountability in South Africa’s spy services was threatening the country’s constitutional order. Last week, based on the Commission’s findings and policy suggestions, the country’s minster for state security, Siyabonga Cwele, announced a “major restructuring” of South Africa’s security services. Already, the first generation of pro-ANC intelligence agents, who staffed the post-apartheid South African intelligence apparatus, is on its way out. The departures of Manana Manzini, who until recently directed the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Loyiso Jafta, of the National Communications Centre, and Taki Netshitenzhe of the Electronic Communications Security, were accentuated by the retirement of ANC “superspy” Hilton Tim Dennis, who headed for many years the NIA’s Counter Espionage unit. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Analysis, ANC, domestic intelligence, Electronic Communications Security (South Africa), Hilton Tim Dennis, intelligence oversight, intelligence reform, Laurie Nathan, Loyiso Jafta, Manana Manzini, Ministerial Review Commission on Intelligence (South Africa), Moe Shaik, National Communications Centre (South Africa), National Intelligence Agency (South Africa), Sheryl Cwele, Siyabonga C. Cwele, Siyabonga Cwele, South Africa, South African Ministry of Intelligence, South African Ministry of State Security, Taki Netshitenzhe

Does Norway engage in international espionage?

September 10, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

NIS HQ

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
The death sentences handed down earlier this week by a Congolese military court to two alleged Norwegian spies, prompted Brian Palmer, of Slate magazine, to ask: do small countries like Norway engage in international espionage? The answer, of course, is yes. Palmer explains that intelligence agencies of smaller countries tend to be extremely focused on bordering nations. As a result, when it comes to their immediate geographical neighborhood, their intelligence knowledge and capabilities often surpass those of larger intelligence powers. Norway is a good example of this. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Africa, Analysis, ANC, apartheid, Cold War, Democratic Republic of the Congo, intelligence cooperation, Kola Peninsula (Russia), military intelligence, Murmansk (Russia), Murmansk Oblast (Russia), NIS (Norway), Norway, Norwegian Intelligence Service, Russia, Russian Northern Fleet, South Africa, USSR

News you may have missed #0099

September 7, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Who killed London Times reported David Holden, in 1977, and what was the involvement of American, British and Egyptian intelligence services in the mysterious case?
Iran denies bodyguard’s arrest on spying charges. Iranian authorities deny earlier reports that a man belonging to a “senior official security squad” was arrested on suspicion of “espionage and anti-security activities”.
Profile of South Africa’s next spy chief. Moe Shaik, former member of ANC’s intelligence wing and a close friend of South African President Jacob Zuma will most likely head the country’s spy services. During ANC’s underground period, he was involved in Operation VULA, which involved smuggling large quantities of weapons into South Africa. He will be heading the nation’s intelligence establishment during one of the most challenging periods in its history.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with ANC, assassinations, CIA, David Holden, Egypt, espionage, Iran, Moe Shaik, News, news you may have missed, Operation VULA, South Africa, UK

News you may have missed #0076

August 24, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Revealing CIA report published today. The CIA is expected to come under some of its toughest scrutiny for years, after the publication today of a report detailing the agency’s use of mock executions, and the threatening of detainees with power drills and guns during interrogations.
North Korean spy director meets South Korean officials. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak met a delegation of visiting North Korean officials on Sunday, including Kim Yang Gon who heads the United Front Department (UFD), an intelligence agency under the Korean Worker’s Party (KWP) of the DPRK.
Changes imminent at South African spy agency. The administration of President Jacob Zuma intends to move to restructure South Africa’s National Intelligence Agency (NIA), the country’s primary domestic spy organization. In July, a former member of South Africa’s ministerial Review Commission on Intelligence warned that a steadily declining culture of accountability in the country’s spy services is threatening the country’s constitutional order.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with CIA, intelligence reform, Kim Yang Gon, Korean Workers' Party (North Korea), Lee Myung-bak, National Intelligence Agency (South Africa), News, news you may have missed, North Korea, South Africa, South Korea, torture, United Front Department (North Korea), United States, War on Terrorism

Spy services threaten South African democracy, warns researcher

July 23, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Laurie Nathan

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
A former member of South Africa’s ministerial Review Commission on Intelligence has warned that a steadily declining culture of accountability in South Africa’s spy services is threatening the country’s constitutional order. Laurie Nathan, who is currently a research fellow at the University of Cape Town and the London School of Economics, has written an article for Chatham House’s The World Today magazine, in which he summarizes the results of the Commission’s a study into the South African intelligence services. According to Nathan, the study found a “striking absence of executive policy on many critical intelligence issues” and “major weaknesses in control and oversight systems” of intelligence practices. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Africa, ANC, government secrecy, intelligence oversight, intelligence reform, Laurie Nathan, Ministerial Review Commission on Intelligence (South Africa), News, South Africa

South African spy chief’s wife implicated in drugs arrest

March 17, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

Sheryl Cwele

By IAN ALLEN| intelNews.org |
The wife of Siyabonga C. Cwele, South Africa’s Minister of Intelligence, has been implicated by South African and Brazilian authorities in an international drugs trafficking case. Sheryl Cwele, whose husband has headed South Africa’s intelligence Ministry since last September, was found to have exchanged dozens of emails, letters and text messages with a woman arrested last June in Brazil, while secretly transporting over $300,000-worth of raw cocaine. The woman, Tessa Beetge, from Margate, a resort town in KwaZulu-Natal, traveled last summer from South Africa to Colombia and Peru, and from there to São Paulo, Brazil, where she was arrested on June 13, while transiting through on a flight to Johannesburg. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Brazil, Colombia, KwaZulu-Natal, Margate (South Africa), narcotics trade, News, Peru, São Paulo (Brazil), Sheryl Cwele, Siyabonga C. Cwele, South Africa, South African Ministry of Intelligence, Tessa Beetge

Sudden reappearance of Zambia’s former spy chief raises suspicions

January 30, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

Xavier Chungu

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Zambian Police have announced the capture of Xavier Chungu, the country’s former spy chief, who had fled abroad in 2004, escaping trial for embezzlement charges. For nearly a decade, Chungu was the powerful Director of the Zambia Security Intelligence Service (ZSIS). In 2001, following the regime change in Lusaka after the election to the Presidency of the late Levy Mwanawasa, Chungu was dismissed from his post. He was then prosecuted for embezzling state funds and imprisoned for several months. In 2004, however, Chungu jumped bail and escaped to an unknown country (purportedly Canada) using a false passport. A warrant for his arrest was issued by the Zambian Police as well as by Interpol. Earlier last week, Xavier Chungu voluntarily surrendered himself to Zambian Police officers at Lusaka International Airport, after arriving there on a British Airways flight from South Africa. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Africa, corruption, Frederick Chiluba, informants, Interpol, Levy Mwanawasa, Maxwell Nkole, South Africa, Task Force on Corruption (Zambia), Xavier Chungu, Zambia, Zambian Police, ZSIS (Zambia)

South Africa pressed to cut diplomatic, intelligence ties with Israel

January 19, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
After Venezuela and Bolivia, which last week cut off diplomatic relations with Israel in protest of the Jewish state’s invasion of Gaza, the government of South Africa has come under pressure to do likewise. The powerful Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) urged the governing African National Congress (ANC) to “cease all relations with Israel and close down the Israeli embassy in Pretoria”. The organization also called on the governing party to expel “Israeli security agencies and Mossad” operatives from the country. Although it is unclear whether COSATU’s call will influence South Africa’s official relations with Israel, it will be difficult for the ANC to ignore it completely, especially with Jacob Zuma now at its helm. Read more of this post