Counterintelligence News for the week of:

January 28-February 3, 2001

Major stories this week: Ex-MI6 officer Richard Tomlinson's book, "The Big Breach" comes out; More excerpts from book; Defectors' case proceeds against CIA; Alleged Cuban spy's secret life surprised his girlfriend; British war-code wizard Leo Marks died; The lives of Cuban spies in the US; Industrial espionage exec sought by US has memory loss; Helms recalls helping would-be defector; MI5 foils Prince William wiretap plot; Moscow publisher launches Tomlinson's memoirs; Pentagon finds no damage from Deutch security lapse; Russian diplomat defects to US; Overhaul of national security apparatus urged; Belarus President offers western spy for Borodin; Guillaume's ex-wife wants extra aid; Canada an attractive cover for spies; One year prison sentenced recommended for Hagisaki; Britain freezes profits from Tomlinson's book; Cuba accuses Czechs of spying

Observer tells of fatal shoot down at trial

Sitting in the witness stand, Arnaldo Iglesias paused, choked back tears and slowly read aloud from four death certificates.....(Miami Herald, 3 Feb 01)

Pentagon Steps Up POW Probe

Despite misgivings in Moscow, Pentagon investigators are intensifying their search for Cold War-era Russian records that confirms reports that American servicemen from World War II and the Korean War were held and died in the network of labor camps known as the gulag......(AP, 3 Feb 01)

Castro accuses Czechs of spying

Cuban leader Fidel Castro has accused the Czech Republic of spying on his country in a blistering verbal attack....(CNN, 3 Feb 01)

No Deal in Cuba, Czech Meeting

A six-hour meeting Saturday between President Fidel Castro and a top Czech Republic official ended with no agreement on the case of two Czechs who met with Cuban dissidents and are now being held on charges of inciting rebellion.....(AP, 3 Feb 01)

Royalty Payments on Former British Spy's Memoirs Frozen

The British government has succeeded in preventing rogue spy Richard Tomlinson from receiving any royalty payments from sales of his memoirs......(AFP, 3 Feb 01)

Stanford Researcher Convicted and Sentenced Again in China

A Chinese-born researcher at Stanford University who was arrested here three years ago on charges of revealing state secrets has been convicted for a second time and given a 10-year sentence, according to relatives....(New York Times, 3 Feb 01)

Bug-sized robots could be next generation spies

Adding a new dimension to the world of creepy-crawlies, researchers at the Sandia National Laboratories have developed mobile, electronic micro-bugs - sensor-equipped robots the size of a nickel....(Scripps Howard News Service, 3 Feb 01)

Overflight is at heart of accused spy's defense

When Brothers to the Rescue founder José Basulto buzzed over Havana on July 13, 1995, he said he was encouraging ``civil disobedience'' by the Cuban people.....(Miami Herald, 2 Feb 01)

Mexico To Shift Role of Spy Agency

Mexico's intelligence agency, which for decades has conducted illegal spying and political intimidation, will now focus entirely on combating organized crime, the new president's national security adviser says.....(AP, 2 Feb 01)

No profits for spy author

The government has won an injunction preventing former MI6 spy Richard Tomlinson profiting from his memoirs.....(BBC, 2 Feb 01)

Spy's Wife Denied Extra Pension

Christel Boom, whose former husband triggered the spying scandal that forced West German Chancellor Willy Brandt to resign, will not receive an extra government pension for the seven years she served in a West German prison, a Berlin court ruled on Friday....(Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 2 Feb 01)

Tech `spies' work overtime at Sun, Oracle, Microsoft

In the $90 billion battle to dominate the enterprise market, Microsoft Corp., Oracle Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. are watching each other carefully -- very carefully....(San Francisco Business Times, 2 Feb 01)

Defense in Cuban spy case blasts exiles

Attorneys representing a group of alleged Cuban spies are taking aim at the actions of one of the exile groups they are accused of infiltrating....(Sun Sentinel, 2 Feb 01)

Russia Asks To Meet Defector

The Foreign Ministry has demanded a meeting with a diplomat said to have defected from Russia's United Nations mission last year and chided U.S. officials for refusing....(AP, 2 Feb 01)

Russian diplomats rile quiet Canada

A fatal car accident involving an allegedly drunk Russian diplomat has normally sedate Canadians clamoring for a rewrite of the rules on diplomatic immunity.....(Christian Science Monitor, 2 Feb 01)

New Police State Emerges in Russia

Russia’s regression into a police state must be halted, warns the head of a liberal political movement that has felt the hot breath of the FSB on its neck.....(NewsMax, 2 Feb 01)

Rogue spy withdraws claim of Mandela's links with MI6 

The renegade MI6 agent Richard Tomlinson has decided that Nelson Mandela did not, after all, have a "long-standing" relationship with the spy agency and has told his publishers to excise all such allegations from his book The Big Breach....(The Independent, 2 Feb 01)

Year in prison sought for accused MSDF spy

Prosecutors demanded Thursday a one-year prison term for former Maritime Self-Defense Force Lt. Cmdr. Shigehiro Hagisaki, 38, who is charged with passing defense secrets to a Russian military attache in exchange for cash.....(Japan Times, 1 Feb 01)

Canadian shield an attractive cover

The Canadian government's decision not to prosecute a civil servant who spied for the communist bloc for some 25 years recalls the bad old days of the Cold War when Canada's record for catching and prosecuting Soviet spies was the worst in the western world.....(Toronto Sun, 1 Feb 01)

Spy's Ex-Wife Wants Extra Aid

F.A.Z. BERLIN. Christel Guillaume, whose former husband triggered the worst spying scandal in West German history, is demanding that she receive an extra government pension for her work in prison as an East German spy.....(Frankfurter Allemagne, 1 Feb 01)

Belarus President Offers Western "Spy" for Former Kremlin Aide

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday offered to exchange an unidentified Western "spy" for former Kremlin aide Pavel Borodin, who has been detained in the United States on Swiss money-laundering charges.....(AFP, 1 Feb 01)

Overhaul of National Security Apparatus Urged

Citing U.S. vulnerability to terrorist attacks, porous borders and new technologies, a congressionally mandated commission on national security yesterday recommended the creation of a National Homeland Security Agency, sharply higher spending on scientific research and education, and an overhaul of government institutions....(Washington Post, 1 Feb 01)

Security team declares education 'crisis'

The deterioration of math and science education has contributed to a "crisis" in national security that must be addressed immediately to protect the nation in a post-Cold War era fraught with "distinctly new dangers," a report by the U.S. Commission on National Security concludes....(Washington Times, 1 Feb 01)

Pentagon: Deutch Did No Harm

A Pentagon investigation has concluded that former CIA director John M. Deutch did not compromise U.S. national security by storing classified information on unsecure computers while serving at the Defense Department, a senior Pentagon official said yesterday....(Washington Post, 1 Feb 01)

Pentagon: No Proof Security Weakened

Pentagon investigators found no evidence that national security was damaged by former deputy defense secretary John Deutch's practice of storing secret information on his home computer, a senior defense official said....(AP, 1 Feb 01)

How MI6 was told of Stasi spy

THE problem with the Lockerbie trial has been that the man who supplied the timer for the bomb which brought down the aircraft was never put on trial......(The Scottish Herald, 1 Feb 01)

AOL fighting ICQ ‘spying’ programs

A group of Ukrainian software developers say they’ve developed several programs that can turn America Online’s ICQ instant messaging software into a spy tool, and AOL is battling to keep the programs off the Internet......(MSNBC, 31 Jan 01)

Eyewitness describes MiG attack

It was 3:23 p.m. on Feb. 24, 1996, and First Officer Bjorn Johansen was on the bridge of the cruise ship Majesty of the Seas as it crossed the Straits of Florida headed for Miami.....(Miami Herald, 31 Jan 01)

U.S. Official Says Russian Diplomat Has "Defected"

Sergei Tretyakov, a diplomat from Russia who represented his country at the United Nations in New York, has "defected" to the United States, a U.S. official said Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity......(Reuters, 31 Jan 01)

Second Claim Staked To Tomlinson Memoirs

A second publisher for the memoirs of former British spy Richard Tomlinson came forward Tuesday, saying previous announcements of the book being published in Russia may be "an English joke.".....(Moscow Times, 31 Jan 01)

Changing the Nuclear Command

The transfer of command and control over all nuclear weapons occurs smoothly here in the United States, but serious problems have been revealed in Russia’s system....(Insight magazine, 31 Jan 01)

Cruise ship officer describes deadly Cuban MiG attack on planes

At first, it looked like a flare in the sky on a clear afternoon in the Florida Straits. It was only after a second plane exploded in a ball of fire that a cruise ship officer realized he was witnessing a missile attack by a Cuban MiG back in 1996......(AP, 30 Jan 01)

Russian Diplomat Defected to U.S.

A Russian diplomat working at his government's mission to the United Nations in New York quietly defected with his family last October, two U.S. officials said Tuesday.....(AP, 30 Jan 01)

Source: Pentagon reports 'no damage' from Deutch lapse

The Pentagon has found that there was no damage to U.S. national security despite extensive computer security violations by former CIA chief John M. Deutch, Defense Department sources told CNN Tuesday....(CNN, 30 Jan 01)

Moscow Publisher Launches Former British Spy's Memoirs

The memoirs of British rogue spy Richard Tomlinson were officially launched in Moscow Tuesday after 1,500 copies were put on a plane for sale in Britain....(AFP, 30 Jan 01)

Ex-Spy's Memoirs Released in Britain

The memoirs of a former spy were released for the first time in Britain after a failed attempt to stop their publication.....(AP, 30 Jan 01)

Prince William Wiretap Plot Foiled

MI5 has reportedly seized electronic bugging equipment intended to monitor Prince William when he attends university this fall, newspaper reports said Tuesday....(Fox News, 30 Jan 01)

Senator recalls 1985 effort to help Soviet defector

A former Soviet seaman calmly told a rapt Sen. Jesse Helms on Tuesday about his harrowing attempt 15 years ago to escape to the United States by jumping ship in New Orleans....(AP, 30 Jan 01)

Spanish exec sought by U.S. has memory loss-doctor

A Spanish doctor has concluded that a U.S. car executive wanted for extradition to the United States suffers from mental instability due to injuries from a road accident, backing defence claims he is unfit for trial......(Reuters, 30 Jan 01)

Spies on a Shoestrings: Cubans Spies In U.S. Lead Rather Mundane Lives

On April 1, 1997, Cuban secret agent "Giro" nearly banged into a legendary CIA operative with his shopping cart at a Costco superstore here. Camouflaging himself as a suburban bargain hunter, he bought himself an ice cream. Giro, a k a Gerardo Hernandez, later reported back to Havana on the near-miss with retired Central Intelligence Agency man Felix Rodriguez, contending that his quick-witted purchase saved him from blowing his cover......(Wall Street Journal, 30 Jan 01)

Could You Spot Real-Life Spies?

FORMER MI6 officer Richard Tomlinson's claim that Portsmouth and Gosport were used as training grounds by the secret service has shocked many.....(The Independent, 30 Jan 01)

The Big Breach

The government has failed to prevent the publication of extracts of ex-MI6 spy Richard Tomlinson's book, The Big Breach. Here's our guide to the best top-secret sites.....(The Guardian, 30 Jan 01)

Russians 'added to British spy book'

MI6 believes that Russian intelligence may have inserted passages in the book by the disaffected spy Richard Tomlinson to cause damage to Britain’s espionage service....(The Times of London, 29 Jan 01)

Leo Marks, British War-Code Wizard, Dies at 80

Leo Marks, who played a major role in Britain's sabotage operations against Nazi Germany in World War II as the chief designer of codes used by agents behind enemy lines, died.....(New York Times, 29 Jan 01)

Alleged spy's life surprised his girlfriend

Until a troop of FBI agents stormed through Maggie Becker's door -- forcing her boyfriend to the floor at gunpoint and rummaging through their belongings -- Becker had no idea she was living with a man the United States had labeled a Cuban spy....(Miami Herald, 28 Jan 01)

Cold War defectors' case proceeds against CIA

A Seattle federal judge has handed the Central Intelligence Agency a critical defeat in its effort to derail a lawsuit brought by a pair of defectors who claim they were abandoned by the agency after they risked their lives spying during the Cold War.....(Seattle Times, 28 Jan 01)

My life as a spy

For five years since MI6 sacked him, Richard Tomlinson has been trying to tell his story. A historic appeal court ruling last week ungagged him. Here, the former intelligence officer reveals what life is really like for those who spy for Britain....(The Sunday Times of London, 28 Jan 01

My life as a spy | The spying game that suddenly turned real | Missile secrets in a sewing box | Totally equipped for espionage | Building a perfect false identity

Rogue spy finds British publisher

THE biggest challenge to the Official Secrets Act to date will take place early next month when a book of the memoirs of Richard Tomlinson, the former MI6 officer, will be published in Britain......(The Sunday Times of London, 28 Jan 01)

Authorities shaken by spy book

A losing battle by British authorities to restrain disclosures about their intelligence services began on Sunday to look like a rout....(The Financial Times, 28 Jan 01)

'Publisher' of MI6 spy book is Russian agent

A SUSPECTED Russian agent is behind the publication of a book in Moscow by Richard Tomlinson, the former MI6 probationary officer turned traitor.....(The Daily Telegraph, 28 Jan 01)

A fantasist who does real harm

THERE can be no doubt that The Big Breach, the book by the renegade MI6 officer Richard Tomlinson, has appeared courtesy of the KGB....(Op-Ed by Oleg Gordievsky, The Daily Telegraph, 28 Jan 01)

The man with the golden tongue

RICHARD Tomlinson and I were born on the same day and went to the same Cambridge college together.....(The Daily Telegraph, 28 Jan 01)

From Russia with love: 5,000 copies of 'The Big Breach'

It is the book that will this week come in from the cold. More than 5,000 copies of former MI6 agent Richard Tomlinson's memoirs are being flown to Britain from Russia, recreating the kind of Cold War atmosphere much missed by conspiracy theorists and publishers of spy thrillers....(The Independent, 28 Jan 01)

Academics and Spies: The Silence That Roars

An academic controversy has revealed a most interesting fact: A significant number of social scientists, especially political scientists, regularly work with the Central Intelligence Agency....(Los Angeles Times, 28 Jan 01)