Counterintelligence News for the week of:

November 12-18, 2006

Today in History - Nov. 18

Ten years ago: One-time CIA station chief Harold J. Nicholson was charged with selling top secrets to the Russians for more than $120,000. (Nicholson later pleaded guilty to espionage and was sentenced to 23 1/2 years in prison; he was spared a life sentence for cooperating with investigators.)

Leahy Seeks Documents on Detention

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, who will chair the Senate Judiciary Committee next year, asked the Justice Department to release two newly acknowledged documents, which set U.S. policy on how terrorism suspects are detained and interrogated. The CIA recently acknowledged the existence of the documents in response to a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union….(AP, 18 Nov 06)

R. Blair Richards Jr. Defense Department Official

R. Blair Richards Jr., 56, a Bethesda resident who since 2003 had been supervisor of the printing and production staff at the Defense Intelligence Agency, died Nov. 8…..(Washington Post, 18 Nov 06)

CSIS seeks spy's identity

The Canadian government has detained a suspected Russian spy by using the controversial security certificate legislation now under review by the Supreme Court. The move has surprised those who believed the days of Cold War espionage were long gone…..(The Star, 17 Nov 06)

Russia quiet on alleged spy arrest

An alleged foreign spy arrested in Montreal this week is to appear in Federal Court on Wednesday for a hearing to decide whether he should be deported for espionage.... experts speculated the spy may not have been interested in Canadian secrets so much as in establishing a Canadian identity that would allow him to travel abroad on espionage missions with relative ease….(National Post, 17 Nov 06)

Spy Attributed to Russia

…Alexey Lisenkov, press attachй at the Russian embassy in Ottawa, told Kommersant that neither Canadian authorities nor Moscow had contacted the embassy about Hampel…(Kommersant, 17 Nov 06)

Minister defends alleged spy's arrest

…(Globe and Mail, 17 Nov 06)

Prosecutors Seek 20 Years for N. Korean Spy

…Jeong, born in North Korea and a member of the North Korean Workers’ Party, first started spying in the 1990s while based in Southeast Asian countries and came to the South three times between 1996 and 1998 using forged passports….(Korea Times, 17 Nov 06)

Uzbek court sentences 5 people to 15-20 years in jail for spying

A military court in Uzbekistan has sentenced three women and two men to 15-20 years in prison on charges of spying for the neighboring Central Asian republic of Tajikistan…The court found the defendants guilty of gathering information on the location, number of personnel, and armaments of military units in Uzbekistan's border areas….(RIA Novosti, 17 Nov 06)

The spy files
…from the man who plotted to overthrow the Bolsheviks with nothing more than a Colt revolver in his back pocket, to the embassy wife who fought the Cold War while pushing a pram round a Moscow park, the real-life escapades of the 20th century's most formidable spies went way beyond James Bond….(Belfast Telegraph, 17 Nov 06)

Bosses get into 007 gadgets

…More and more business executives are investing in secret agent-style hardware to make sure their top-secret company plans stay under wraps….(CNet, 17 Nov 06)

Russia's spy rings wider under Putin

..."The massive Soviet spy machine Russia inherited continues to operate just as before," said Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent security analyst in Moscow. "And in the years since Putin became president we've seen an increase in prestige and financing for the security and intelligence services."…Before it fell apart in 1991, the Soviet Union created one of the largest spy networks in history, with hundreds of thousands of KGB agents working at home and abroad….(The Star, 17 Nov 06)

The KGB's new legacy -- Russia's top business school?

…"Since 2003, there has been a tendency of placing former KGB people in the economy," said Olga Krishtanovskaya, who heads up a study centre on Russia's elites at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow. Valery Golubyev, who was promoted to become Gazprom's deputy chief executive officer on Wednesday, is one of three out of the 17 members of the management board of the state-controlled company to have worked for the KGB….(Globe and Mail, 17 Nov 06)

Charles Vetter; Trained USIA Officers, Peace Corps Recruits

Charles T. Vetter, 84, a former official with the U.S. Information Agency who later became an international consultant, died Nov. 10…After leaving USIA, Mr. Vetter was an independent consultant on international affairs and management with the State Deparment....(Washington Post, 17 Nov 06)

Uproar in Bulgaria at death of secret files keeper

…Bozhidar Doychev, head of the National Intelligence Service archives, was found dead on Wednesday, having apparently killed himself for what prosecutors said were probably personal rather than work-related reasons….(Reuters, 17 Nov 06)

Intelligence Archives Chief Found Dead on Job in Bulgaria

The chief of the "Archives and Secret Files" division in the National Intelligence Service was found dead in his office, but the news on his death emerged a day later. The body of Bozhidar Doychev was discovered Wednesday evening in his office…(Novinite, 17 Nov 06)

Spying on the Terrorists

INSIDE THE JIHAD

My Life With Al Qaeda, A Spy's Story

"Inside the Jihad" is the astonishing, well-told story of Omar Nasiri (a pseudonym), who penetrated al-Qaeda's training camps in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s as a spy for France's intelligence services......(Washington Post, 17 Nov 06)

Former CIA European chief : Politics hurts agency

On the Brink: An Insider's Account of How the White House Compromised American Intelligence, by Tyler Drumheller

The increased politicization of the CIA is hindering the effectiveness of the agency, as evident by the misinformation that led to the Iraq war, said Tyler Drumheller, former chief of the CIA European Division….(Indiana Daily Student, 17 Nov 06)

Gates's Opportunity at Defense

Robert Gates, nominated by President Bush to succeed Donald Rumsfeld as secretary of defense, will not have much time in office but he will have opportunity. Gates comes to the job without much baggage, either of ideology or policy. He didn't campaign for the job -- indeed, he turned down the position of director of national intelligence when it was offered -- so he has some independence….(Washington Post, 17 Nov 06)

tment, CIA, Defense Department, Commerce Department and other federal agencies and private companies….(Washington Post, 17 Nov 06)

Specter introduces new domestic surveillance bill

US Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), outgoing chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website], has introduced a new bill, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Oversight and Resource Enhancement Act of 2006 [pdf], that would authorize domestic surveillance of suspected terrorists….(Jurist, 17 Nov 06)

Russian Spy Suspect Held in Canada Airport

A suspected Russian spy has been arrested in Montreal as he was about to board a plane to leave the country, the National Post has learned, capping a Canadian counter-intelligence operation that suggests espionage is alive and well long after the Cold War...The man, who had been living in Canada under the name Paul William Hampel, was taken into custody….(MosNews, 16 Nov 06)

Suspected spy arrested

...The (security) certificate, a copy of which was obtained by the National Post, accuses the "foreign national" of "engaging in an act of espionage" as well as "being a danger to the security of Canada" and "being a member of an organization" engaged in espionage….(National Post, 16 Nov 06)

Government arrests man in Montreal suspected of spying

….(Globe and Mail, 16 Nov 06)

Lawmakers Told to Push China on Security

…The panel also admonished U.S. intelligence agencies, urging the United States to set up "a more effective program" for gathering information about China's massive military buildup and development….(AP, 16 Nov 06)

Taliban, Al-Qaeda Resurge In Afghanistan, CIA Says

…Five years after the United States drove al-Qaeda and the Taliban from Afghanistan, Gen. Michael V. Hayden, director of the CIA, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that both groups are back, waging a "bloody insurgency" in the south and east of the country. U.S. support for the Kabul government of Hamid Karzai will be needed for "at least a decade" to ensure that the country does not fall again…(Washington Post, 16 Nov 06)

Senator Outlines Plans For Intelligence Panel

Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) spelled out his agenda for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence yesterday, promising not only to look back at issues such as the surveillance of overseas phone calls, CIA detention activities and the use of prewar Iraq intelligence but also to look ahead at emerging global terrorist threats. Rockefeller will become chairman of the committee in January…..(Washington Pot, 16 Nov 06)

US arms expert indicted as spy for Israelis, others

A US engineer already facing trial for spying on behalf of China has also been indicted for passing secrets to Swiss, Israeli, and German businessmen. A superseding indictment filed against Noshir Gowadia, 62, a US citizen of Indian origin, last week in federal court in Hawaii, says that he faxed technical proposals for infra-red countermeasures for aircraft - containing secret US government information - to a Swiss government official and to foreign businessmen in Israel and Germany….(UPI, 16 Nov 06)

Cold war spying never really ended

..."Espionage is a time-tested tradecraft that serves political, military, strategic and economic ends, and for these reasons it is not about to disappear," Security Intelligence Review Committee wrote last month in its annual report to Parliament…(National Post, 16 Nov 06)

Report: Espionage in Canada

Invisible ink gives MSU look at spy life

…Even today, formulas for invisible ink are closely protected secrets. In 1999, the Central Intelligence Agency lobbied successfully to prevent formulas dating to World War I from being declassified.But the Stasi's files were declassified after the reunification of East and West Germany in 1989, when the once-feared internal and foreign espionage agency was disbanded….(Lansing State Journal, 16 Nov 06)

Two Taiwan businessmen arrested for spying

…Li did not give details about the arrest of the two men, surnamed Kuo and Leung. But Taiwan and Hong Kong media have reported in recent weeks that the two were arrested by the mainland's State security departments for allegedly providing military secrets to Taiwan….(China Daily, 16 Nov 06)

China confirms arrests of Taiwan businessmen

…China said it detained two Taiwanese businessmen on espionage charges, three months after it confirmed it had executed a high-ranking Chinese pension fund official for spying for Taiwan….(Taipei Times, 16 Nov 06)

HC quashes detention of UP’s ‘Pak spy’ arrested in JK

Jetinder Singh Sirohi, 31, came here in 2000 from Uttar Pradesh state and established a newspaper along with one Rahmatullah Khan….(Greater Kashmir, 16 Nov 06)

Sumner Shapiro, Long-Serving Director of Naval Intelligence

Sumner Shapiro, 80, a Navy rear admiral who served as director of naval intelligence from 1978 to 1982 and expressed early warnings about Jonathan Pollard, a Navy intelligence analyst later revealed to have spied for Israel, died Nov. 14…(Washington Post, 16 Nov 06)

Aye, Spy

…Some critics point out that Mr. Gates spent most of his career in C.I.A.’s intelligence directorate, and question whether that background is appropriate for the Pentagon job….(New York Times, 15 Nov 06)

Spin and Consequences

…For more than two years, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Justice Department have vigorously battled efforts to force the administration to account for the network of secret C.I.A. camps at which specially designated prisoners are hidden away….(New York Times, 15 Nov 06)

Spy who soaked up London life with his KGB mates

He is a maverick figure in Russian business and politics, but Alexander Lebedev, although he worked as a KGB spy in London in the 1980s, is not an obvious member of the Siloviki — the group of security services hardliners who dominate the Russian Government….(Times Online, 15 Nov 06)

Judge Outlines Evidence in CIA Leak Case

A federal judge outlined how much classified evidence former White House aide I. Lewis ''Scooter'' Libby must have access to in the CIA leak case Wednesday…(AP, 15 Nov 06)

Cheney Asks for Dismissal of Case

Vice President Dick Cheney asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought against him by a former operative of the Central Intelligence Agency who says the White House leaked her identity to reporters….(AP, 15 Nov 06)

US Spy Chief Warns of Long Commitment in Afghanistan

The head of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency says it will take many years and billions of dollars to stabilize Afghanistan…(Voice of America, 15 Nov 06)

U.S. Intel Chiefs Paint a Grim Picture of Iraq

…General Michael Hayden, director of the CIA, warned at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that the sectarian violence between Iraq's Shia and Sunnis has gotten so out of hand it "now presents the greatest immediate threat to Iraq's stability and future."…(Time Magazine, 15 Nov 06)

12 Detainees Sue Rumsfeld in Germany, Citing Abuse

… The lawsuit filed in Karlsruhe on Tuesday cites 11 other current and former American officials, including Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, who it says helped formulate legal reasoning legitimizing the use of torture….(New York Times, 15 Nov 06)

C.I.A. Tells of Bush’s Directive on the Handling of Detainees

The Central Intelligence Agency has acknowledged for the first time the existence of two classified documents, including a directive signed by President Bush, that have guided the agency’s interrogation and detention of terror suspects….(New York Times, 15 Nov 06)

Lawmakers Concerned About U.S.-India Nuclear Trade Deal
Congressional leaders requested a secret intelligence assessment of India's nuclear program and its government's ties to Iran in January amid concerns about a White House effort to provide nuclear technology to New Delhi. Ten months later, as the Senate prepares to vote on nuclear trade with India, the intelligence assessment has yet to be….(Washington Post, 15 Nov 06)

Ex-HP chairman pleads not guilty in boardroom spy case
Former Hewlett-Packard Co. Chairman Patricia Dunn on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to felony charges for spying on reporters and directors in a scandal that sullied the reputation one of Silicon Valley's most venerable and respected companies….(Reuters, 15 Nov 06)

Today in History - Nov. 15

In 1979, the British government publicly identified Sir Anthony Blunt as the ''fourth man'' of a Soviet spy ring that included Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean and Kim Philby.

Anthony Blunt (1907 - 1983)

Anthony Blunt was the most aristocratic of the infamous Cambridge spy ring - which also included Kim Philby, Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean - that betrayed British secrets to the Soviet Union in the 30s, 40s and early 50s. He was a distant relative of the Queen, and keeper of the royal family's pictures and drawings....(BBC)

The Cambridge Spies

Judge rejects challenge to evidence in Cuban agent case
A federal judge refused Wednesday to throw out a lengthy statement given to the FBI by a college professor charged along with his wife with acting as illegal agents of Cuba's communist government. U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Garber, whose recommendation must be approved by another judge, ruled that Florida International University (FIU) psychology professor Carlos Alvarez gave the statements voluntarily, was free to leave the FBI interviews any time and was never promised immunity from prosecution….(AP, 15 Nov 06)

The Crucial Phone Call: How Richard Nixon Nailed Alger Hiss and Launched His Rise to the Presidency

Alger Hiss died 10 years ago today. The former State Department official and alleged Communist spy, who had served 44 months in a federal prison on perjury charges, had just turned 92, and he had failed in his lifelong quest to overturn his conviction and clear his name…(American Heritage, 15 Nov 06)

Spy in Canada?

…The case is described as highly sensitive and officials were saying little yesterday. Investigators were trying to confirm the suspect's true identity and the foreign intelligence agency he works for, but the case is being compared to a 1996 spy operation by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, or SVR….(National Post, 15 Nov 06)

China Arrests 2 Taiwan Businessmen on Spying Charges

China said it detained two Taiwan businessmen on espionage charges, three months after it confirmed it executed a high-ranking Chinese pension fund official for spying for the island...The businessmen are based in China's southern province of Hunan, Li said. He didn't name the men or say what type of business they are involved in ….(Bloomberg, 15 Nov 06)

China confirms arrest of 2 Taiwanese businessmen, reportedly suspected of spying

China on Wednesday confirmed the arrest of two Taiwanese businesspeople who media reports have said were suspected of spying….(Taiwan Headlines, 15 Nov 06)

U.S. engineer indicted as spy for Israel

…A superseding indictment filed against Noshir Gowadia, 62, a U.S. citizen of Indian origin, last week in federal court in Hawaii, says that he faxed technical proposals for infra-red counter-measures for aircraft -- containing secret U.S. government information -- to a Swiss government official and to foreign businessmen in Israel and Germany….(UPI, 15 Nov 06)

Republicans propose last-minute spy bill

…Titled the "Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Oversight and Resource Enhancement Act of 2006," the latest Specter bill does not appear to grant as much latitude for warrantless spying as the approved House bill… Perhaps most notably, one section would erase the need for the government to obtain a warrant when tapping into "foreign-to-foreign" communications, even if Americans are involved in those exchanges….(CNet, 15 Nov 06)

Former CIA General Counsel, Environmentalist Anthony Abbot Lapham, 70

Anthony Abbot Lapham, 70, a former general counsel at the Central Intelligence Agency and a dedicated environmentalist, died of a heart attack Nov. 11…(Washington Post, 15 Nov 06)

Missed red flags on Israeli spy

Capturing Jonathon Pollard, by Ron Olive

…Ron Olive, the investigator who debriefed Pollard in 1985, says in a new book that 'The warning indicators and the problems were clear from the beginning of (Pollard`s) career' and even before, and that his bizarre behavior should have prevented him from ever working for the U.S. government…..(UPI, 14 Nov 06)

Girl spy murdered in Iraq blast

A woman spy was among the four British troops murdered by a Remembrance Day bomb attack on their patrol boat in Iraq….(The Sun, 14 Nov 06)

What a Master Spy Couldn't Master

…As chief of East Germany's foreign intelligence service, he had for three decades cultivated an aura of mystery, rejoicing in the nickname "Man Without a Face" (because Western intelligence long had no photograph of him) and in having allegedly been the model for Karla, John le Carre's fictional spymaster (though le Carre repeatedly denied it)….(Washington Post, 14 Nov 06)

Raymond Shoemaker CIA Finance Officer

Raymond Sidney Shoemaker, 86, a retired finance officer for the Central Intelligence Agency, died of complications of diabetes Oct. 30…(Washington Post, 14 Nov 06)

White House seeks dismissal of CIA leak suit

The Bush administration asked a federal judge on Tuesday to dismiss a lawsuit brought by former CIA officer Valerie Plame and her husband against Vice President Dick Cheney and others for alleged involvement in disclosing her employment as a clandestine CIA operative….(Reuters, 14 Nov 06)

Libby: No Plot, No Crime in CIA Leak

Attorneys for former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby dismissed the idea of a White House plot to leak a CIA operative's identity to the press and said Libby plans to tell jurors at his perjury trial that he had no reason to lie….(AP, 14 Nov 06)

ACLU Seeks Again to Block Wiretaps

Warrantless wiretaps that the government says are necessary to fight terrorism pose a threat to American democracy, the American Civil Liberties Union said in court papers filed Tuesday….(AP, 14 Nov 06)

CIA Acknowledges 2 Interrogation Memos
…But CIA lawyers say the documents -- memos from President Bush and the Justice Department -- are still so sensitive that no portion can be released to the public….(Washington Post, 14 Nov 06)

Gates Will Help Reshape U.S. Intelligence
...The relationship between Department of Defense policymakers and U.S. intelligence agencies outside of the Pentagon has been difficult during the Bush administration…One of the perennial areas of tension within the U.S. intelligence community is between the director of central intelligence (or its successor position, the director of national intelligence) and the secretary of defense....(Oxford Analytica, 14 Nov 06)

Gates May Rein In Pentagon Activities
The nomination of Robert M. Gates as secretary of defense has begun to ease concerns in the intelligence community about the rapid growth of Pentagon intelligence activities since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, said experts inside and outside the government and on Capitol Hill….(Washington Post, 14 Nov 06)

Nomination Still Stalled For Pentagon Oversight Job

Even as the Senate moves quickly to consider Robert M. Gates's nomination to be defense secretary, the nomination of the man who would be looking over Gates's shoulder on behalf of taxpayers remains bogged down nearly six months after he was tapped to fill one of the government's most important oversight roles….(Washington Post, 14 Nov 06)

Group Sues to Have Rumsfeld Investigated

Civil rights activists filed suit Tuesday asking German prosecutors to open a war crimes investigation of outgoing Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and a host of other U.S. officials for their alleged roles in abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison and Guantanamo Bay….(AP, 14 Nov 06)

Rumsfeld faces German legal test

….(BBC, 14 Nov 06)

China Arrests Two Taiwan Businessmen "Spies"

China has arrested two Taiwan businessmen suspected of spying for the self-ruled island Beijing considers its own, a government spokesman said on Wednesday, confirming a report in Taiwan media….(Reuters, 14 Nov 06)

Wife of jailed journalist urges Hong Kong leader to raise husband's case at APEC
…The jailed journalist, Ching Cheong, a correspondent for Singapore's The Straits Times newspaper, was sentenced to five years in prison by a Beijing court in late August on charges he was spying for rival Taiwan. He filed an appeal in September, but the hearing has been postponed….(AP, 14 Nov 06)

Israel's Supreme Court rejects jailed U.S. spy's former Mossad handler from Cabinet post

Israel's Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by jailed Pentagon spy Jonathan Pollard to boot his former Mossad handler from his Cabinet post. The court handed down its ruling on Monday, saying the Pollards did not have a "minimal foundation of evidence on which to base their allegations."…(AP, 14 Nov 06)

Stealth 'spy' facing death sentence

...Mr Gowadia, the former chief engineer of the B2 stealth bomber, was a joint director in a Canberra-based company with Arthur Lazarou, a retired Australian navy officer and current supervisor in the Defense Materiel Organization. The company, NTech Australia, was paid at least $1 million in Australian Defense Department contracts to adapt stealth technology to RAAF aircraft….(Australian, 14 Nov 06)

Constable ‘worked as a spy’

A Queensland policeman has revealed he’s a former secret agent who was involved in what was New Zealand’s biggest spy scandal. Constable Kit Bennetts has broken his cover to write a book about the case of respected New Zealand public servant William Sutch. Dr Sutch was accused by New Zeakand’s Security Intelligence Service of handing over government secrets to the Soviet KGB during the Cold War….(Border and Mail, 13 Nov 06)

More charges against B2 bomber designer accused of spying

…The indictment also alleges that Gowadia conspired with a Chinese agent to conceal his trips to the communist country to discuss the project. The indictment says the two arranged for Chinese border control authorities not to stamp Gowadia's passport and entry papers when he traveled there….(Christian Science Monitor, 13 Nov 06)

Russian defense minister reveals two top Kremlin officials are ex-intelligence agents

…Sergei Ivanov said that Putin's envoy to southern Russia, Dmitry Kozak, and a deputy Kremlin chief of staff, Vladislav Surkov, are both veterans of the Russian military General Staff's Main Intelligence Directorate, known by its Russian acronym GRU….(AP, 13 Nov 06)

3 Danish Journalists on Trial

…A former intelligence officer has previously been sentenced to prison for leaking the documents in the case, which is viewed in Denmark as a landmark test of media freedom. Niels Lunde, the Berlingske Tidende newspaper's top editor, and reporters Michael Bjerre and Jesper Larsen, face charges of publishing confidential government documents….(New York Times, 13 Nov 06)

Ex-spy charged for leaks to paper

…A 28-year-old man has been summonsed to appear in court to face allegations that he released to The Australian "nationally classified" intelligence reports warning the Australian Government about the potential danger of bomb attacks in Indonesia in the months before the 2002 Bali bomb, which killed 88 Australians…(The Australian, 13 Nov 06)

Is Tehran Maintaining a Clandestine Nuclear Fund?

Iran may have set aside a secret $418 million fund to protect its nuclear sites from attack and build a secret new nuclear plant, according to a Western intelligence service which says it has tapped phone calls by a top Iranian politician….(Der Spiegel, 13 Nov 06)

Intelligence body finds no evidence in spy case: source

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) has reportedly sent a high-profile espionage case to the prosecution after not having found substantial evidence. Kim Seung-gyu, head of the NIS, has claimed that five men under investigation were spies for North Korea, while those opposing the investigation say the men are victims of the National Security Law, long used against political dissidents….(Hankyoreh, 13 Nov 05)

The Spy Who Never Came Through the Berlin Wall

I well remember first meeting Markus Wolf; I guess anyone would remember meeting one of the most successful spymasters of the cold war, the man who founded and then ran the storied and feared East German foreign spy agency….(New York Times, 13 Nov 06)

US: How easy is it to leak documents from top secret facility?

...(YNet, 4 Nov 06)

Court snubs Pollard claim against Eitan

A panel of three High Court justices on Monday unanimously rejected a petition by Jonathan Pollard calling for the dismissal of Pensioners Minister Rafi Eitan, who was in charge of the intelligence unit that handled him when he spied for Israel in the early 1980s… Eitan was in a charge of a spy unit called Lekem, which enlisted Pollard, who was then working for the US navy. Pollard provided information on the deployment of Arab military forces and other classified documents taken from US military intelligence. He was arrested by the FBI on November 21, 1985, and sentenced to life imprisonment….(Jerusalem Post, 13 Nov 06)

Spooks Working Overtime
Britain's counter-espionage field officers are working double-shifts these days. The secret security service, better known as MI5, have their official HQ at Millbank, not far along the Thames from the Houses of Parliament….(Eursoc, 13 Nov 60)

Czech spy agency says it stopped exports of machines for N Korea nuclear program last year

The Czech counterintelligence service said Monday it foiled three attempts by North Korea last year to acquire technology that it could use in its nuclear program…Subrt said North Korea business representatives and state officials who, the agency believed, were linked to the program of research and development of nuclear weapons, arrived in the Czech Republic to make deals to get the equipment, which included special machine tools, their components and control units….(AP, 13 Nov 06)

Spiegel: Man Arrested In Germany For Helping Iran Missile Project

A man arrested in Germany this week is suspected of supplying machinery, chemicals and parts for Iran's missile program…(Playful, 13 Nov 06)

Los Alamos National Laboratory experiences security breach

...The classified material included at least one flash drive -- a portable computer storage device -- and about 200 pages of paper documents. It was discovered at the home of Jessica Quintana, 22, who was formerly employed as an archivist at LANL, when police arrested Justin Stone, 20, who was renting a room from Quintana, on drug and probation charges. The police then informed the Federal Bureau of Investigation about the documents because of the potential security risk…(California Aggie, 13 Nov 06)

Americans Adventuresome in Study Abroad

American college students are becoming more adventuresome as they study abroad, showing less interest in English-speaking destinations such as Great Britain and Australia and more in such alternatives as China, India, Argentina and Brazil….(AP, 13 Nov 06)

Judge: Libby May Use Classified Data

…Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby is charged with lying to investigators in the case and wants to present classified material at his trial in January to show jurors that he had a lot on his mind and couldn't remember details about the leak….(AP, 13 Nov 06)

Iran Arabic TV air US ship spy plane footage
Iran's Arabic language television station on Saturday broadcast footage showing an American aircraft carrier cruising in Persian Gulf waters, which it said was taken by an unmanned Iranian drone…(Iranian, 12 Nov 06 )

Failures of intelligence, the leaking of our secrets

ENEMIES: HOW AMERICA'S FOES STEAL OUR VITAL SECRETS -- AND HOW WE LET IT HAPPEN, by Bill Gertz

One of the more disgusting stories, among many, Mr. Gertz tells is the first full account of two agents in the FBI's San Francisco field office who had "illicit, long-term sexual affairs" with a Chinese Communist agent, Katrina Leung. Code-named "Parlor Maid," she also worked for the bureau as a supposed double agent. ….(Washington Times, 12 Nov 06)

Spymasters: A Final Exit, and a New Beginning

…A career intelligence analyst, Mr. Gates was forced to endure difficult confirmation hearings in 1991, when he was named director of central intelligence by President Bush, four years after his nomination for the same post was derailed in the wake of the Iran-contra scandal….(New York Times, 12 Nov 06)

Court-martial for Salem sailor delayed

…Fire Control Technician Third Class Ariel Weinmann of Salem faces three counts of espionage as well as three other charges. His court-martial had been scheduled to begin Monday, but it has been moved to Dec. 4….(KTVZ, 12 Nov 06)

Indian-Born Engineer Charged with Leaking US Info

…Gowadia, a naturalized American citizen from India, has been slapped with an 18-count superseding indictment charging him with sharing secret military information with representatives of China to benefit…(Daiji World, 12 Nov 06)