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Westerners arrested for “spying” in Congo had Kenyan links

October 6, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Joshua French

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
The bizarre case of two Norwegian citizens arrested in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) last May on spying charges is getting ever more complex. Tjostolv Moland, 28, and Joshua French, 27 (photo), were arrested in Kisangani, DRC, after their Congolese driver was found murdered with a bullet wound in his head. Prosecutors also accuse the two Norwegians of trying to kill a murder witness on orders of the Norwegian government, which has denied any connection with the two prisoners. Now, according to an investigation by Norway’s TV2 channel, Moland and French are said to have had a formal contract with the government of Kenya to train a 120-member elite security unit responsible for protecting VIPs in the country. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, espionage, intelligence outsourcing, Joshua French, Kenya, Kenyan embassy in the DRC, Kisangani (DRC), News, Norway, personal security, private security firms, Project KILO, Special Intervention Group, Tjostolv Moland, Torgeir Friksen, weapons smuggling

News you may have missed #0110

September 19, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

So, was it pirates or Israeli spies that intercepted a ship carrying Russian missiles? Several observers are beginning to think that Israeli intelligence intercepted or was otherwise involved in the interception of the Arctic Sea, a Russian ship that reportedly carried Russian missiles destined for either Iran or Hezbollah.
Trial of accused Palestinian spy begins in Israel. Rawi Sultani is accused of having informed Hezbollah of his membership in the same fitness club as the head of Israel’s military forces, Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi, in the town of Kfar Saba, as well methods of access into the club. Sultani says that the whole case is nonsense and that he doesn’t even know what Ashkenazi looks like.
Czech spies see Russians behind antiwar group’s actions. The Czech Security Information Service (BIS) is monitoring a billboard agency, which has given free advertising space to an antiwar group opposing the country’s participation in US missile defense shield plans. The US announced on Thursday that it plans to abandon the plans. Newspaper Aktuálně reported that BIS suspects Russian involvement. People in the Czech Republic are incapable of opposing US missile shield plans without Russian prompting, it appears.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Czech Republic, Czech Security Information Service (BIS), Gabi Ashkenazi, Hezbollah, Iran, Israel, Kfar Saba (Israel), Lebanon, maritime intelligence, Palestine, Rawi Sultani, Russia, US Missile Defense Shield, weapons smuggling, weapons trade

Norwegians sentenced to death for “spying” in Congo

September 9, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

Joshua French

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Two Norwegian citizens were sentenced to death yesterday by a Congolese military court for arms smuggling, murder, attempted murder and spying for the Norwegian government. The two have been identified as Tjostolv Moland, 28, and Joshua French, 27 (photo). Both were arrested in May in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), after their Congolese driver was found murdered with a bullet wound in his head. Prosecutors also accuse the two Norwegians of trying to kill a murder witness. Immediately upon their arrest, Moland and French were treated as Norwegian government agents, because they carried Norwegian military identification. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, espionage, forgery, Joshua French, Kisangani (DRC), News, Norway, Tjostolv Moland, Uganda, weapons smuggling

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

Tinner nuclear smuggling ring documents may prove CIA connection

September 1, 2009 by intelNews 2 Comments

Urs Tinner

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Last January I wrote about Urs Tinner, a Swiss engineer who worked under Pakistani nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan, and was said at the time to be leading “the world’s biggest nuclear smuggling ring”. In 2003, Tinner was arrested, along with his father Friedrich and brother Marco, in connection with an attempt to smuggle centrifuges into Libya. Many were surprised, however, when in 2008 Tinner was released from prison, after the CIA, whose tip led to his arrest in Germany, said it was not interested in prosecuting him. Earlier this year, Tinner went on Swiss television and acknowledged that he had worked as an informant for the CIA –some say he was recruited in as early as 2000. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Abdul Qadeer Khan, CIA, Germany, Libyan nuclear program, News, nuclear proliferation, Swiss Ministry of Justice, Tinner nuclear smuggling ring, Urs Tinner, weapons smuggling

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

Mystery surrounds conviction of alleged Belgian spy in Morocco

July 29, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Belliraj

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
A court in Sale, Morocco, has sentenced to life a Belgian national of Moroccan origin, who Belgian media claim was a “golden informant” for the Belgian secret services. Moroccan authorities arrested Abdelkader Belliraj, 50, in early 2008, and charged him with a plethora of criminal offenses, including armed robbery, money laundering and arms smuggling. More importantly, Belliraj is accused of participating in at least six killings carried out in Belgium by Abu Nidal in the 1980s and early 1990s, supplying arms to the Algerian Islamic Salvation Front, and leading a militant group aiming to overthrow the government of Morocco. Interestingly, however, in March of 2008, Belgian newspaper De Tijd reported that Belliraj had acted as an invaluable informant for Belgium’s State Security Service (SV/SE) and had recently supplied information that helped foil a bomb attack in a Western European country. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Abdelkader Belliraj, Abu Nidal Organization, Alain Winants, Algeria, Belgium, double agents, informants, Islamic Salvation Front (Algeria), money laundering, Morocco, News, SV/SE (Belgium), War on Terrorism, weapons smuggling

Israel said to be behind mystery airstrikes on Sudan

March 29, 2009 by intelNews 5 Comments

Port Sudan

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Sudanese government officials revealed on Tuesday that Sudanese territory was hit thrice by foreign warplanes last January and February, killing hundreds. The airstrikes appeared to target convoys travelling in Sudan’s desert coastal region near Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast. The revelation was confirmed on Thursday by Fatih Mahmoud Awad, an official at Sudan’s Ministry of Transport, who claimed that the three airstrikes destroyed dozens of vehicles and killed “as many as 800 people”. Shortly afterwards, an Associated Press report cited Ali Youssef, a Sudanese official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who confirmed Awad’s revelations, but refused to speculate on the exact number of casualties. Interestingly, the Sudanese government did not disclose the airstrikes at the time, probably because it “was embarrassed to acknowledge that its sovereignty and air space could be violated so easily”, according to one observer. The question is who was behind the attacks. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Ali Youssef, Egypt, Ehud Olmert, Fatih Mahmoud Awad, Gaza Strip, Israel, Israeli Air Force, Mubarak Mabrook Saleem, News, Port Sudan, Sudan, Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sudanese Ministry of Transport, weapons smuggling

Analysis: Ex-CIA Agent Involved in Arms Scandal

February 23, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Imants Liepiņš

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS| intelNews.org |
Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission has heard allegations that a retired agent of the CIA was instrumental in facilitating a vast diamonds-for-arms smuggling operation on behalf of Liberian warlord Charles Taylor. Taylor, who headed the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), became the country’s President in 1997. He is currently held by the United Nations in The Hague, pending trial for crimes against humanity. Roger D’Onofrio Ruggiero, an Italian-American 40-year veteran of the CIA, worked with Charles Taylor and others to channel diamonds into Europe through a number of front-companies. According to the allegations, D’Onofrio helped organize the smuggling operation with Ibrahim Bah, a Senegalese with Libyan connections, who was connected with D’Onofrio in the 1970s, when the former was funded by the CIA to join the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan in the war against the Soviet Red Army. In the early 1990s, Bah, who by then had established al-Qaeda connections, became Charles Taylor’s “Minister for Mineral Resources”, a post that enabled him to handle the majority of NPFL’s diamonds-for-arms deals. Read article →

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Africa, al-Qaeda, Australia, Bulgaria, Charles Taylor, CIA, diamonds smuggling, First Liberian Civil War, former Yugoslavia, Ibrahim Bah, Imants Liepiņš, International Business Consultant Ltd, Joseph Fitsanakis, Kintex, Kosovo, Liberia, Liberia Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Muammar al-Gaddafi, Nicolas Oman, Nill Taylor, NPFL (Liberia), Public Investigation Bureau (Latvia), Roger D’Onofrio Ruggiero, Rudolf Meroni, RUF (Liberia), Slovenia, weapons smuggling

Is Blackwater being used in black ops in Iraq?

November 26, 2008 by intelNews Leave a comment

There is admittedly nothing special about the mercenary military firm, Blackwater, illegally smuggling weapons and related material into Iraq. The company is said to be facing large fines for having been caught around 900 times violating US State Department authorization prohibitions relating to the export of weapons or other technologies. The latest case, however, is a little bit different: Blackwater is being investigated for illegally shipping to Iraq assault weapons and silencers, hidden among sacks of dog food. Former CIA officer John Kiriakou has questioned the need for silencers by Blackwater and is quoted as saying that “the only reason you need a silencer is if you want to assassinate someone”. These latest revelations go some way toward confirming the suspicion of observers that, aside from security missions, the US is using Blackwater for certain black ops in Iraq. [JF]