Read article--The Crossroads of History: The Struggle against Jihad and Supremacist Ideologies

"....The true challenge of Islamic supremacism to America and the free world is not about Islam, Islamism, or terrorism, but about us.

It is a historic challenge to determine whether we truly have the courage of our convictions on equality and liberty and we are willing to fight for these ideals, or if we will instead accept the continuing growth of anti-freedom ideologies here and around the world...."

Counterintelligence News for the week of:

November 19-25, 2006

A Rare Material and a Surprising Weapon

If substantial amounts of polonium 210 were used to poison Alexander V. Litvinenko, whoever did it presumably had access to a high-level nuclear laboratory and put himself at some risk carrying out the assassination…(New York Times, 25 Nov 06)

Brits Probe Ex-Spy's Radioactive Death

Scotland Yard detectives on Saturday traced the final steps of a former KGB spy turned Kremlin critic after officials determined he was poisoned by a rare radioactive substance….(AP, 25 Nov 06)

AP Video Report: Former Russian Spy Dies

Radioactive Poison Killed Ex-Spy

Former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko was fatally poisoned by a radioactive substance, traces of which were found in his urine, at his home and at a London restaurant and hotel he visited the day he became ill, according to the British health department. It called the case "unprecedented" in Britain….(Washington Post, 25 Nov 06)

London Riddle: A Russian Spy, a Lethal Dose

…The cause of his death was so unusual, so baffling and so chilling that a senior British official called it “unprecedented.” The government called a high-level meeting restricted to the most senior ministers — codenamed Cobra — and the Russian ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Office. Rebutting the accusations of foul play, Russian officials hinted at a devious conspiracy to discredit President Putin....(New York Times, 25 Nov 06)

Man Faces Death Penalty for Selling Defense Secrets

A grand jury indicted Noshir Gowadia, a Northrop Grumman engineer, for allegedly selling military secrets to China, Israel, Germany, and Switzerland. Gowadia, an Indian-born engineer who worked for 18 years at Northrop Grumman is possibly facing the death penalty if convicted. The federal grand jury handed down the 18-count federal charge indictment on Nov. 15 and He's scheduled to go on trial in January in federal court in Honolulu….(American Chronicle, 25 Nov 06)

What Was an Alleged Russian Spy Doing in Canada?

…The alleged Russian agent, known only as Paul William Hampel — the name on his bogus Canadian passport — was arrested Nov. 14 at Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport under a national security certificate signed only five days earlier by two senior Cabinet ministers in charge of public safety and immigration….(Time Magazine, 25 Nov 06)

China Rejects Journalist’s Appeal of Spying Conviction

A Beijing appeals court on Friday upheld a spying conviction of a prominent Hong Kong journalist in a case that has elicited criticism of China from human rights and press advocacy groups….(New York Times, 25 Nov 06)

9/11 Commission Ideas Not Easy to Enact

…Lost in the controversy this fall over the treatment of terrorism-war detainees was the 9/11 commission's endorsement of international detention standards for captured suspects. Allegations of prisoner abuse make it harder to build alliances to fight terrorism, the commission's report said….(AP, 25 Nov 06)

Despite a Year of Ire and Angst, Little Has Changed on Wiretaps

…The lack of a resolution has left many shaking their heads. Some officials said the unanswered questions had cast doubt on the public credibility of broader intelligence operations and created occasional confusion among intelligence agents over what was and was not allowed in tracking terrorism suspects…(New York Times, 25 Nov 06)

Gov't Asks Court Not to Block Records

…Shenon and Miller called the two organizations for comment about the information on freezing assets, a move the government says tipped off the charities of planned government raids. The federal judge who ruled in the Times' favor said there is no evidence in the case even suggesting the reporters tipped off the charities about the raids or that the reporters even knew of the government's plans to raid either charity….(AP, 25 Nov 06)

CIA Retools Web Site in Recruitment Push

...The agency's online personality test is the equivalent of a help-wanted sign, posted on the closest thing the agency has to a front door _ its Web site. The frivolous quiz is designed to encourage job applications while dispelling myths about the agency, some of them born of the James Bond stereotype….(AP, 25 Nov 06)

US man allegedly spied for Israel, China

…Justice Department officials told ABC News that (Noshir) Gowadia was paid about $2 million for the secrets he compromised on the B-2. The scientist was provided top secret access while he worked for Northrop, the designer of the B-2, from 1968 to 1986. He then later worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory before establishing his own consulting company….(Jerusalem Post, 25 Nov 06)

In full: a spy accuses and his father pays tribute

Here is the last statement of Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian spy who died in London last night, dictated from his deathbed on November 21…(Times Online, 24 Nov 06)

Poisoned Russian implicates Putin in statement dictated before death

…The statement, read to reporters outside the hospital where Alexander Litvinenko died late Thursday, accused the Russian leader of having "no respect for life, liberty or any civilized value. You have shown yourself to be unworthy of your office, to be unworthy of the trust of civilized men and women," Litvinenko said in a statement read by his friend Alex Goldfarb. "You may succeed in silencing one man but the howl of protest from around the world will reverberate, Mr. Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life."….(AP, 24 Nov 06)

Spy's dying words: 'bastards got me'

Litvinenko, a fierce critic of Putin, first began to feel ill on November 1, after having tea with two Russians at a central London hotel, followed by lunch at a London sushi bar with an Italian academic….(Sydney Morning Herald, 24 Nov 06)

Radioactive Substance in Ex-Spy's Body

…Litvinenko, a vociferous critic of the Russian government, suffered heart failure late Thursday after days in intensive care at London's University College Hospital battling a poison that had attacked his bone marrow and destroyed his immune system….(Mayesville, 24 Nov 06)

Businessman says he, 2 others, met Russian ex-spy

A Russian former intelligence officer was quoted in a newspaper on Friday as saying he and two other men met ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko in a London hotel on November 1, the day before Litvinenko complained of feeling unwell….(Reuters, 24 Nov 06)

American charged with selling stealth secrets to China

China obtained secret stealth technology used on B-2 bomber engines from a Hawaii-based Indian American spy in a compromise US officials say will allow Beijing to copy or counter a key weapon in the Pentagon's new strategy against China, according to a local daily….(IANS, 24 Nov 06)

NRI charged with selling US army secrets to China

...Details of the classified defence technology related to the B-2's engine exhaust system and its ability to avoid detection by infrared sensors were sold to Chinese officials by former defence contractor Noshir S. Gowadia, an India-born citizen charged with spying in a federal indictment released by prosecutors in Hawaii, the Washington Times reported on Thursday….(Times of India, 24 Nov 06)

Judge Finds Grand Jury Secrecy Breach in China Spy Case

Officials involved in investigating a California family's alleged espionage for China apparently violated grand jury secrecy rules by telling a reporter details of plans to seek a new indictment in the case, a federal judge ruled this week. Judge Cormac Carney concluded that defense lawyers were justified in their objection to a May 16 Washington Times story by William Gertz that said prosecutors were preparing to bring more serious charges against three related individuals, Chi Mak, Rebecca Chiu, and Tai Mak, who were charged initially with failing to register as agents of China….(New York Sun, 24 Nov 06)

Court Probes Communication With Reporter

A federal court plans to investigate whether government officials illegally supplied grand jury information in a U.S. military secrets case to a Washington Times reporter…The order, entered Wednesday by a federal judge in Orange County, comes at the request of a defense attorney for Rebecca Laiwah Chiu, one of five family members indicted in an alleged scheme to send sensitive information about Navy warships to China….(AP, 24 Nov 06)

Israeli agent in United States helped Moscow

According to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Jonathan Pollard, condemned in the US on life imprisonment for espionage in favour of Israel, became the reason of a failure of the American secret-service network in the territory of the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries….(Axis Globe, 24 Nov 06)

Dying hard on old habits

…The euphemistic-sounding Operational and Technical Directorate succeeded the Cold War poison factory created by Stalin, Kamera (Russian for chamber), but it still has a laboratory devoted to finding new ways of killing people. It supplies the lethal products for Department 12 of Directorate S of the SVR (the foreign intelligence service), which deals with biological warfare. Oleg Kalugin, who spent 32 years in the KGB and now lives in the West, revealed in his expose of Russian espionage, Spymaster, that the laboratory invented poisons that agents could slip into drinks, and jellies they could rub on a person to induce a heart attack….(Australian, 24 Nov 06)

Poisoned ex-spy warns Putin from beyond grave

…The diplomatic consequences of the affair are hard to predict. European countries depend on Putin's Russia for natural gas and have big investments in oil companies there. Putin has been an ally of the West against Islamic extremism since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.But relations have been strained in recent years over what Western governments call Moscow's slide toward authoritarianism….(Reuters, 24 Nov 06)

Poisoned Litvinenko Blames Kremlin in Last Interview Before Death — Paper

In his last interview the poisoned former Russian security agent Alexander Litvinenko said that the hit on him had been ordered from the Kremlin, The Times daily reported on Friday. “I want to survive, just to show them,” Alexander Litvinenko said in an exclusive interview given just hours before he died….(MosNews, 24 Nov 06)

Dead spy points finger at Putin

…In his last statement, which he dictated and signed two days ago when he realised he was dying, Alexander Litvinenko, a former Lieutenant Colonel in the FSB, the successor to the KGB, said it was "the time to say one or two things to the person responsible for my present condition": "You may succeed in silencing one man but the howl of protest from around the world will reverberate, Mr Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life. May God forgive you for what you have done, not only to me but to beloved Russia and its people."…(Times Online, 24 Nov 06)

Poisoned Litvinenko Blames Kremlin in Last Interview Before Death — Paper

In his last interview the poisoned former Russian security agent Alexander Litvinenko said that the hit on him had been ordered from the Kremlin, The Times daily reported on Friday. “I want to survive, just to show them,” Alexander Litvinenko said in an exclusive interview given just hours before he died….(MosNews, 24 Nov 06)

Probe as former Russian spy dies

…Alexander Litvinenko, 43, died in intensive care at London's University College Hospital despite the medical team doing "everything possible" to save his life. There had been a major deterioration in his condition overnight on Wednesday, when he suffered a heart attack and failed to recover...Confirmation of his death - a tragic climax to the spy thriller-style saga of Cold War era espionage - came as Mr Litvinenko's last, prophetic words were disclosed. "They got me, but they won't get everybody," he told his friend and film-maker, Andrei Nekrasov, according to The Times. "I want to survive, just to show them."…(Guardian, 24 Nov 06)

Mystery Grows as Former Russian Spy Dies

The former Russian spy who fell gravely ill early this month, apparently after being poisoned, died Thursday night after suffering a heart attack, the authorities said…(New York Times, 24 Nov 06)

In Canada, a Sequel to an Old Cloak-and-Dagger Story
…Federal authorities said little about him and nothing about his alleged spy targets, except to assert that he had been undercover in Canada for at least 10 years. The length of that stealth, and the man's apparent ease in operating here and abroad, hearkened back to Soviet moles who lived with false identities for decades without being exposed during the Cold War….(Washington Post, 24 Nov 06)

Bennett Willis Jr. Justice Department Official

Bennett Willis Jr., 90, a retired Justice Department lawyer and director of its Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, died Nov. 16…Mr. Willis began his federal career in the early 1940s as an FBI special agent in counterintelligence based in New York City…(Washington Post, 24 Nov 06)

Eugene Dennis Corkery Sr. USIA Officer

Eugene Dennis Corkery Sr., 85, a former U.S. Information Agency officer, died of aortic stenosis Oct. 31…Mr. Corkery worked for the USIA for 27 years, and his last position was deputy director of the U.S. Pavilion in Poznan, Poland….(Washington Post, 24 Nov 06)

Senate Democrats Revive Demand for Classified Data

Seeking information about detention of terrorism suspects, abuse of detainees and government secrecy, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are reviving dozens of demands for classified documents that until now have been rebuffed or ignored by the Justice Department and other agencies….(New York Times, 24 Nov 06)

Russian ambassador chides Canada for arrest of alleged spy

The Russian ambassador urged Canada Thursday to move beyond ''spy thrills'' and focus on co-operation, adding Moscow was providing intelligence that was safeguarding Canadian troops in Afghanistan….(National Post, 24 Nov 06)

In full: a spy accuses and his father pays tribute

Here is the last statement of Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian spy who died in London last night, dictated from his deathbed on November 21. Below is the tribute made by his father Walter, outside hospital this morning…(Times Online, 24 Nov 06)

Verdict for HK spy journalist upheld

The Beijing Higher People's Court on Friday rejected Hong Kong journalist Ching Cheong's appeal and upheld his original five-year sentence for espionage. Ching Cheong, who worked for Singapore's Straits Times newspaper, is also deprived of political rights for one year, and his personal property worth 300,000 yuan (about US$37,500) was confiscated….(Xinhua, 24 Nov 06)

Chinese court to rule Friday on jailed HK reporter's appeal: wife, lawyer

….(AP, 23 Nov 06)

Today in History - Nov. 23

In 1985, retired CIA analyst Larry Wu-tai Chin was arrested and accused of spying for China. (He committed suicide a year after his conviction.)

Russian `spy' at ease in court

He may be facing swift deportation, but the alleged Russian spy calling himself Paul William Hampel struck a cool and unruffled pose in a heavily guarded Montreal courtroom yesterday….(The Star, 23 Nov 06)

Russian Envoy Denies Canada Spying

Russia's ambassador to Canada Thursday dismissed suggestions that a man arrested on espionage charges was a Russian agent, saying "I don't run a spy shop here."…(AP, 23 Nov 06)

Indo-American involved in covert deals with foreign nations

…The court papers indicated that Gowadia sent e-mails to Israel, Germany and Switzerland in 2002 and 2004 that contained data labeled "secret" and "top secret" that was related to US stealth technology intended for use in the TH-98 Eurocopter and for foreign commercial aircraft, it said. It is said a computer file found in Gowadia's Maui, Hawaii, home was a file containing the radar cross-sections of U.S. B-1 and F-15 jets and the Air Force's air-launched cruise missile, information that would be useful to countering systems by anti-aircraft missiles or other air defense weapons….(PRI, 23 Nov 06)

China bought bomber secrets

...Details of the classified defense technology related to the B-2's engine exhaust system and its ability to avoid detection by infrared sensors were sold to Chinese officials by former defense contractor Noshir S. Gowadia, an Indian-born citizen charged with spying in a federal indictment released by prosecutors in Hawaii. Additionally, Mr. Gowadia provided extensive technical assistance to Chinese weapons designers in developing a cruise missile with an engine exhaust system that is hard to detect by radar, according to court papers made public recently....(Washington Times, 23 Nov 06)

'Spy' court case delayed a week

…Wearing chic glasses and a green-checkered shirt with a grey sweater draped over his shoulders, the accused spent much of the brief public hearing turned around in his seat looking at the dozens of media and curious spectators who filled the public gallery at the back of the court….(Canadian Press, 22 Nov 06)

Canada Claims Detainee Is Russian Spy

…Details of his three Canadian passport applications in 1995, 2000 and 2002 were included in the documents. Though most of the contents were blacked out, the first two applications claimed that Hampel was a lifeguard and travel consultant. …(Times Online, 22 Nov 06)

Russian 'spy' had tools of the trade

An accused Russian spy appearing in a Montreal court today was arrested carrying the signature tools of a 21st century secret agent, court documents show….(Star, 22 Nov 06)

Alleged Russian spy beat passport curbs

Canadian officials were supposed to tighten procedures for issuing passports after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the 1999 arrest of terrorist Ahmed Ressam…Paul William Hampel was supposed to be a 40-year-old Toronto native, a former lifeguard and travel consultant who has lived in Montreal since at least 1999….(Globe and Mail, 22 Nov 06)

'He's a ghost' Trail of Russian 'spy' winds from Serbia to Montreal to Cyprus

…The spy allegations, contained in a summary of the case disclosed by the Federal Court of Canada, claim the man, who has long lived in Canada under the name Paul William Hampel, is an undercover Russian intelligence officer. The documents do not disclose his real name or detail his activities, but an investigation by the National Post has discovered he operated a Montreal-based offshore company and traveled widely to such places as the Balkans…..(National Post, 22 Nov 06)

CIA role claim in Kennedy killing

New video and photographic evidence that puts three senior CIA operatives at the scene of Robert Kennedy's assassination has been brought to light….(BBC, 22 Nov 06)

Video Report:  Kennedy shooting night images

Exact Cause of Ex-K.G.B. Agent’s Illness Eludes Poison Experts

…Though general sale of thallium had been banned in Britain and the United States for many years, the material has industrial and medical uses and continues to circulate. It can still be purchased with relative ease on eBay, Dr. Cantrell said. The problem with implicating thallium in Mr. Litvinenko’s case is that it typically causes gastrointestinal problems, severe nerve pain and hair loss, but not failure of the bone marrow….(New York Times, 22 Nov 06)

European Union Panel Says Banks Broke Law by Giving Data to U.S.

A European Union oversight body concluded today that an international banking-data consortium broke the law when it gave the Central Intelligence Agency and other American agencies access to its records of millions of private financial transactions. The body called on the consortium to stop providing the data….(New York Times, 22 Nov 06)

New age for espionage: The same but different

…Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, spying has rarely been more important to the security of so many Western nations - Britain and the United States in particular - as they seek to penetrate the opaque world of Islamic terrorism. But the most compelling target is no longer the mole in the nuclear weapons plant or the double-agent crisscrossing Europe's razor- wire frontiers. Neither, for that matter, do the old spies boast too much of their tradecraft - chalk marks at dead letter-drops, or microfiche dots in secret texts. When Markus Wolf, the former East German spymaster, died earlier this month, it marked the final fizzling of an era….(New York Times, 22 Nov 06)

Gap that allowed alleged spy to get passport persists: report

It could be months or even years before the federal government closes a security gap that enabled an accused Russian spy to obtain a Canadian passport. …(CP, 22 Nov 06)

Nigerian court defers spy case

A Nigerian court on Tuesday deferred until January a case of alleged espionage involving a Romanian, an Irishman, an Israeli and three locals. The six suspects, who were on bail, were present on Tuesday at the Federal High Court here for the start of the hearing but Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako deferred it to January 25 at the request of the prosecution…(IOL, 22 Nov 06)

Alleged Russian spy believed to be 'elite' officer

..."The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (the Service) has reasonable grounds to believe the foreign national alleging to be Paul William Hampel is a member of the Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki (SVR)," according to a summary of the evidence released Tuesday afternoon. "An SVR illegal is an elite Russian intelligence officer. Illegals are secretly deployed abroad, operate covertly under assumed names and life stories, and masquerade as citizens of target countries."….(Globe and Mail, 22 Nov 06)

Poisoned Russian spy's condition deteriorating, friend says

…Litvinenko, 43, is being treated in intensive care, suffering from the effects of an unknown poison he believes was given to him on Nov. 1. The poison has caused his hair to fall out, swelling of his throat and damaged his immune and nervous systems….(AP, 22 Nov 06)

Russian Exile Got Warning On Day He Was Poisoned

…In a separate interview later, Scaramella said the e-mails mentioned "dangerous people" behind the killing of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin whose unsolved murder last month in Moscow has caused an international outcry. He said the e-mails indicated that those responsible for her death were members of the Russian mafia from St. Petersburg….(Washington Post, 22 Nov 06)

Poisoned former KGB agent was on email hit-list, says Italian contact

…Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist branch is investigating two meetings on the day Mr Litvinenko fell ill - one with two Russians at a London hotel and the second with an Italian espionage expert, Mario Scaramella, at a Japanese restaurant. Dr Scaramella emerged from hiding in Rome on Tuesday to give an account of their meeting at Itsu in Piccadilly…(Sydney Morning Herald, 22 Nov 06)

Russian spy agency: “Litvinenko is not that kind of person”

…“Litvinenko is not that kind of person to overshadow bilateral relations because of him,” (Spokesman for the Russian Intelligence Service) Ivanov said. The intelligence service hopes that the event will not affect Russia-UK relations….(Regnum, 22 Nov 06)

Target Iran

Target Iran –The Truth About the White House’s Plans for Regime Change, by Scott

…The overall impression is that the U.S. was constantly pushing for Security Council sanctions, as it had with Iraq, to make legitimate its claims against Iran, and following, to then find fault with those sanctions that could provide an excuse for attacking Iran. …(Palestine Chronicle, 22 Nov 06)

New Book Launched in Venezuela

Bush vs. Chavez: Washington’s War Against Venezuela, by Eva Golinger

…The 231 page, Bush vs. Chavez, deals with various issues including a well-established US media campaign, espionage, sabotage, and psychological war against Venezuela…..(Venezuela Analysis, 21 Nov 06)

Poisonous relations

....Poisoning dissidents cannot be part of a modern, democratic agenda.....(Guardian editorial, 21 Nov 06)

Different name, same tactics

....In virtually all cases, the Kremlin has used the state-controlled media to spread the message that it was not to blame: the usual gambit is to suggest the victims brought it on themselves by being mixed up in shady business dealings or espionage......(Guardian, 21 Nov 06)

Spy received 'death threats'

The last man to see the Russian spy before he was poisoned tells Channel 4 News that he received death threats days before....(Channel 4 UK, 21 Nov 06)

UK Channel 4 Did Putin poison him?-- Watch the video report

The reality is Bond’s a mass murderer

Has the irony escaped us? Even as the poisoned Russian Alexander Litvinenko lay fighting for life in a hospital, thousands of people were happily pouring out of the latest showing of Casino Royale, in which 007, the British secret agent, noisily bombs, shoots and executes numerous enemies of the state, to the general glee of all concerned and to the tune of £13m in the weekend box office....(The Herald, 21 Nov 06)
 

Does Russia's spy service use license to kill?

From ice axes, to poisonous umbrella tips, deadly cups of tea and toxic sushi, Russia's spy service has often been the prime suspect in outlandish assassination attempts...(Reuters, 20 Nov 06)

Is Russia poisoning its relations with the West?

.....But the British government cannot be seen to accept a situation in which a citizen of the United Kingdom is subjected to a murderous attack under conditions that raise grave, and reasonable, suspicions of the involvement of foreign agents......(Telegraph editorial, 21 Nov 06)

U.S. worries about Chinese espionage

University professor Gao Zhan, a human rights activist once celebrated in Washington, is today in U.S. custody, convicted of selling sensitive U.S. technology to China — microprocessors that could be used in missiles. Gao's activities are part of what senior U.S. officials say is an intensified campaign by the People's Republic of China to steal military and civilian technology.  "Right now I would say that China is the No. 1 counterintelligence threat to the United States," says Dave Szady, the FBI's former top counterespionage official. .…(NBC, 21 Nov 06)

NBC VIDEO:  Is China Spying on us?

Cybercrime threat keeps growing

Former White House security adviser Howard Schmidt has warned that businesses of all sizes face an increased threat from cybercriminals, who now have the power to attack key parts of the internet. Industrial espionage by foreign governments, attempted fraud and internal threats all need to be taken into account by IT managers…(ZD Net, 21 Nov 06)

'Thirty spies' in Russian embassy

The collapse of the Soviet Union nearly 15 years ago did nothing to curb the Russian appetite for espionage. There is still a significant Russian spy presence in Britain, mainly represented by the GRU military intelligence and the SVR, the new name for the overseas operations of the old KGB.....(Telegraph, 21 Nov 06)

Moscow 'steps up spying in UK'

The suspected poisoning in London of Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian spy, follows growing evidence that Russian intelligence has stepped up its activities in the city in recent years.....(Financial Times, 20 Nov 06)

Killings point to power of spy agency in Putin's poisoned Russia

....Whether or not the Baisarov, Litvinenko and Politkovskaya cases are connected, former Soviet spies say there is no doubt that the FSB has grown increasingly powerful under Russian President Vladimir Putin.....(The Age, 21 Nov 06)

Uzbekistan sentences Tajik ‘James Bond’ to 15 years in jail
A court in Uzbekistan has handed a 15-year jail term to a Tajik citizen, described as a "James Bond" figure, who was ordered to infiltrate the country and kill several people, Uzbek media said yesterday. Myrodilla Juraev admitted in court that he had instructions from a high-level police officer of his country to kill certain people in the southern Uzbek province of Surkhandaria…(Agence France-Presse, 21 Nov 06)

J&K Police set up 'spy school' in Jammu

…The Intelligence Traning School (ITS) will train officers and field staff to become ace spies in intelligence gathering, information warfare, political analysis, governance monitoring…..(Zee News, 21 Nov 06)

Sudan expels Norwegian refugee agency from Darfur

Sudan has ordered the Norwegian Refugee Council to leave South Darfur state, accusing the aid agency of espionage and publishing false information, officials said on Tuesday…(Reuters, 21 Nov 06)

Italy's spy chief ousted over CIA kidnap case

…Pollari's No. 2 was arrested over the summer, and Italian prosecutors are seeking the arrest of 26 Americans, mostly CIA operatives. The Americans are accused of hunting down and seizing the cleric and then transporting him secretly to Egypt, where he says he was tortured….(LA Times, 21 Nov 06)

Italian Spy Chief Out; Investigated In Abduction

…..(Washington Post, 21 Nov 06)

Israeli Arab convicted as Iranian spy

… Jaris Jaris, 59, was arrested on December 12, 2005, after investigators discovered that he had been recruited by Iran and was asked to use his political contacts to infiltrate the corridors of power by making efforts to be elected to the Knesset on a Meretz ticket…..(Jerusalem Post, 21 Nov 06)

Alleged agent's confession allowed at trial

…U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Garber rejected Florida International University professor Carlos Alvarez's bid to throw out his statements on grounds that he only spoke with the FBI because of alleged promises not to prosecute if he cooperated as a “double agent.”  Garber said two FBI agents made no such promises during three days of interviews in a hotel last year, nor did they have that authority. The judge also found that the agents did not place him in custody, nor did Alvarez make his statements involuntarily….(Miami Herald, 21 Nov 06)

Today in History - Nov. 21

In 1985, former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Jay Pollard was arrested, accused of spying for Israel. (He later pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to life in prison.)

Litvinenko Moved to Intensive Care

....One of the Russians with whom Litvinenko met was Andrei Lugovoi, a former KGB officer who worked with Litvinenko in the 1990s in a private security service for then-powerful businessman Boris Berezovsky, Goldfarb said...."Lugovoi was put in prison, and when he was released, he made a quick career. This could only have been possible with the help of the KGB," Gordievsky said......(Moscow Times, 21 Nov 06)

Anti-terrorism unit takes over investigation into poisoned spy

Counter-terrorism officers from Scotland Yard took charge last night of the investigation into the suspected deliberate poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko as the first pictures were published of the former spy’s dramatically changed appearance.....(Times of London, 21 Nov 06)

I busted Pollard

In 1985 when the Jonathan Pollard case broke wide open I was the assistant special agent in charge of counterintelligence for the Naval Investigative Service (NIS). I retired from what is now called NCIS in January of 1999. I led the whirlwind investigation for NIS and garnered Pollard's confession. (The writer (Ron Olive), now a security consultant, is author of Capturing Jonathan Pollard - How One of the Most Notorious Spies in American History Was Brought to Justice.)…(Jerusalem Post, 21 Nov 06)

Intelligence Panel Staffer Reinstated

A Democratic staff member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has had his security clearances reinstated and yesterday resumed work for the panel, ending a pre-election drama during which senior House Republicans alleged he may have leaked an intelligence report…(Washington Post, 21 Nov 06)

Military Documents Hold Tips on Antiwar Activities

… The latest Talon documents showed that the military used a variety of sources to collect intelligence leads on antiwar protests, including an agent in the Department of Homeland Security, Google searches on the Internet and e-mail messages forwarded by apparent informants with ties to protest groups….(New York Times, 21 Nov 06)

'No proof' of Iran nuclear arms

The BBC's Adam Brookes in Washington says if the New Yorker article is correct, it would suggest that the CIA is being more cautious than the Bush administration in evaluating whether or not Iran is on its way to building a bomb.  And he says, as with Iraq, it suggests political battles to come over how intelligence is used as a basis for American foreign policy….(BBC, 21 Nov 06)

Canada Says It's Arrested Russian Spy

…The documents detailed items allegedly found by authorities on Hampel after he was detained at Pierre Elliot Trudeau Airport, including a fraudulent Ontario birth certificate in a travel pouch under his shirt, $6,810 in five currencies, three cell phones, two digital cameras and a short wave radio…..(AP, 21 Nov 06)

Has Gates learned his lesson?

…In 1985, during Ronald Reagan's second term as president, the U.S. faced enormous diplomatic and military challenges in the Middle East and in Central America. Reagan and then-CIA Director William J. Casey were known for their aggressive anti-Soviet rhetoric and policies. Gates, as Casey's deputy, shared their ideology….(LA Times, 21 Nov 06)

Poisoned KGB defector moved to intensive care

The condition of Alexander Litvinenko deteriorated today, causing him to be taken into an intensive care unit, as the head of Scotland Yard’s anti-terrorist department took over the investigation.....(Telegraph, 21 Nov 06)

Two Russians and a hotel meeting: was this when the poison trap was sprung?

...But it was the first of his two meetings that is currently of more interest to Scotland Yard. It was held at an unknown central London hotel in the morning of Nov 1 with two Russians who, although not suspects, may yet have important information togive as witnesses. One was well known to Mr Litvinenko.....(Telegraph, 21 Nov 06)

Pale, gaunt and ghost-like, the former KGB agent who is fighting for his life

Ex-KGB agent's illness vexes experts

As a former Russian KGB agent remained seriously ill Tuesday in a London intensive care unit and Scotland Yard investigated a possible poisoning, doctors were uncertain what substance felled Alexander Litvinenko or how it was delivered....(International Herald Tribune, 21 Nov 06)

Litvinenko Poison Baffles Doctors

British doctors treating former spy Alexander Litvinenko said Tuesday that they might never know what was used to poison him...(Reuters, 21 Nov 06)

Russia denies it poisoned former spy

Russia dismissed as "pure nonsense" suggestions it had ordered the murder of former agent Alexander Litvinenko, 41, an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin....(Reuters, 21 Nov 06)

Critic of Putin had met murdered journalist

Alexander Litvinenko and the murdered Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya met in London soon after she had survived an attempt to poison her, The Times has learnt....(Times of London, 21 Nov 06)

Clinging to life and under armed guard, the spy the Kremlin denies poisoning

Family and friends of the Russian dissident poisoned in London released a photo of him in his hospital bed last night as a graphic illustration of the effects of the deadly toxin thallium....Oleg Gordievsky, the most senior KGB officer to defect to Britain, yesterday had no doubt who was responsible. "Only the KGB can do it," he said, referring to the Russian security service, the Federal Security Service or FSB, by its Soviet title. "They have been planning it for months. It was obviously sanctioned [by the Kremlin].".....(Guardian, 21 Nov 06)

Former Russian spy gaunt, weak in first photos

....Mr Litvinenko has been placed under police surveillance at London's University College Hospital and his case has been transferred to the Counter-Terrorism Command, SO15, indicating the high level of importance given to the case.....(AFP, 21 Nov 06)

The murky world away from glamour of Bond

....Last night, the 44-year-old Russian spy-turned-activist was in intensive care in London, his hospital ward under armed guard and the events that took him to the brink of death under investigation by counter-terrorist police and intelligence officers from MI5....(Scotsman, 21 Nov 06)

'Radioactive poison' used on KGB defector

…Prof John Henry, a clinical toxicologist at Imperial College London, today said the former spy’s symptoms and the latest test results suggested the use of radioactive thallium. The substance, widely used in hospitals, was used in a failed attempt by the KBG to kill Nicolai Khokhlov, an agent who refused to comply with an order to kill a prominent Russian dissident in 1957….(Telegraph, 21 Nov 06)

Radioactive agent eyed in spy poisoning

Doctors examining a former Russian spy said Tuesday that radioactive substances might have been used in the poisoning of Col. Alexander Litvinenko, who lies critically ill in an intensive care ward.......(AP, 21 Nov 06)

Who poisoned a former KGB agent?

…"I think someone very high up in the Moscow security services ordered this hit," said Alex Goldfarb, a friend of Litvinenko's and director of the International Foundation for Civil Liberties, which was founded by exiled Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky, who is a critic of Russian President Vladimir V. Putin….(LA Times, 21 Nov 06)

Former spy may have radiation poisoning

…“Mr Litvinenko has got some symptoms consistent with thallium poisoning, and he has also got symptoms consistent with some other type of poisoning – so it’s not 100 percent thallium,” Henry told reporters outside University College Hospital, where the former spy is in intensive care. “It could be radioactive thallium.”…(Financial Times, 21 Nov 06)

Britain Orders Crack Anti-Terror Police Force to Probe Litvinenko Poisoning Case

…Russia dismissed as “pure nonsense” suggestions it had ordered the murder of former agent Alexander Litvinenko, 41, an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin. Evidence of a Kremlin hand in such an incident on British soil would have far-reaching diplomatic consequences at a time of mounting concern in the West at Moscow’s human rights record….(MosNews, 21 Nov 06)

Italy Replaces Intelligence Chief

Italy's spy chief was replaced on Monday amid suspicions he was involved in the alleged CIA abduction of an Egyptian cleric, government officials said. The office of Premier Romano Prodi said the Cabinet met Monday to name new security officials. Government officials who declined to be named pending the official announcement said Nicolo Pollari had been replaced….(AP, 20 Nov 06)

Condition of Former KGB Spy Worsens
A former KGB agent turned Kremlin critic who was poisoned three weeks ago was moved into intensive care Monday after his condition deteriorated, and his doctor said the toxin has attacked his bone marrow....."Permission to assassinate abroad can only be given from the top," Oleg Gordievsky, former deputy head of the KGB at the Soviet Embassy in London told The Associated Press. "How can it not be state-sponsored?".....(AP, 20 Nov 06)

Some Believe 'Truth Serums' Will Come Back

… In the 21st century, however, the answer appears to be: No. There is no pharmaceutical compound today whose proven effect is the consistent or predictable enhancement of truth-telling….(Washington Post, 20 Nov 06)

KC's Russia's Expert Rejects Putin's Whitewashing By Western Colleague

Other Russian exiles in London may be feeling nervous after the apparent poisoning of former security agent Alexander Litvinenko, an "expert on Russian affairs" said.....(Kavkaz Center, 20 Nov 06)

FSB: Litvinenko Poisoned Himself

A certain Mukhin, director of the FSB-sponsored "Centre for Political Information" in Moscow, expressed scepticism about suggestions that the Russian government was behind the poisoning. "This could all be part of a big political game, an information war on the Kremlin, organised by Boris Berezovsky," he said....(Kavkaz Center, 20 Nov 06)

Russian media shun poisoning case

....Most noticeably for a media landscape dominated by television, Russia's three main TV networks seem to have steered clear of the story....(BBC Monitoring, 20 Nov 06)

Poisoning raises ghosts of Cold War

The suspected poisoning by thallium of the exiled former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko has raised suspicions that this might be the work of his old Russian security service colleagues….(BBC, 20 Nov 06)

Report: Israeli spies active in Iran

Iran has developed and tested a trigger device for a nuclear bomb, Israeli agents stationed there have told the White House, according to a report published in the New Yorker on Monday morning….(Jerusalem Post, 20 Nov 06)

White House brushes off CIA report on Iran: report

The White House dismissed a classified CIA draft assessment that found no conclusive evidence of a secret Iranian nuclear weapons program, the New Yorker reported…(Reuters, 20 Nov 06)

Judge Rejects Request for NSA Documents

The National Security Agency is not required to release details about its secret wiretapping program, a federal judge said Monday….(AP, 20 Nov 06)

CIA analysis finds no Iranian nuclear weapons drive: Report

A classified draft CIA assessment has found no firm evidence of a secret drive by Iran to develop nuclear weapons, as alleged by the White House, a top US investigative reporter has said….(Zee News, 19 Nov 06)

Pakistani Killed for Alleged U.S. Spying

Militants beheaded an Islamic school teacher, accusing him of spying for the U.S. in a northwestern Pakistani tribal region, a government official said Sunday. Maulana Hashim Khan's decapitated body was found early Sunday by local people near a road in al-Fatah Kot village in North Waziristan, said Zafar Ali Shah, a government administrator based in the area. Khan, 45, had been missing for the past eight days from his school in Shawal, a mountain valley west of Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan. A note left with his body said that he and Maulana Salahuddin, a cleric assassinated last month, operated as spies for America, Shah said….(AP, 19 Nov 06)

Bye-Bye to Secret Spy Program?

Republicans who limped back to Washington for a lame duck congressional session last week found a host of marching orders from President Bush, but perhaps none more urgent than this: Before Democrats take control of Congress in January, they must pass legislation authorizing the National Security Agency's domestic eavesdropping program….(US News, 19 Nov 06)

Russian spies target Western technology

As Canadian security agencies scrambled to arrest an alleged Russian spy this month, President Vladimir Putin landed by helicopter atop the new $400-million headquarters for one of his country's intelligence agencies….(Globe and Mail, 19 Nov 06)

Spy leaves egg on U.S. faces

Triple Cross, by Peter Lance

…How the al-Qaida superspy manipulated FBI intelligence watchdogs, as well as one of America's most respected U.S. attorneys, is a chilling bedtime story...The 600-plus-page opus -- released by Regan publishing next week but given an exclusive Canadian advance here -- is a detailed account of how Mohamed worked worry-free under the gaze of U.S. watchdog…(Toronto Sun, 19 Nov 06)

©Copyright 2008 The Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies (CI Centre)^®

Premier Education and Training in Counterintelligence, Counterterrorism and Security since 1997

A David G. Major Associates, Inc. Company

Alexandria, VA  |  703-642-7450  |  1-800-779-4007  |  Contact Us

The CI Centre provides dynamic, in-depth and relevant education, training and products on counterintelligence, counterterrorism and security. Our programs are designed to enhance your organization's mission and to protect your information, facilities and personnel from global terrorists, foreign intelligence collectors and competitor threats. The CI Centre teaches courses on Counterintelligence Strategy and Tactics, Security/OPSEC Awareness, Understanding Terrorism, Economic Espionage Protection, and International Travel and Safety. See the complete list of our 42 CI, CT and Security training courses.