Army jawan nabbed for spying

A soldier has been arrested on charges of spying for Pakistan's ISI and sensitive documents pertaining to national security seized from him…Mohammad Naeem, a Lance Naik with the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry, was nabbed by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police from north Delhi on Thursday night. He had come to Delhi to hand over the documents to an ISI agent, who police officials said was a Pakistani. Naeem, a resident of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir, had been involved in espionage activities for some months and had visited the capital several times in the past, police claimed…..(Times of India, 30 Jun 07)

'Legacy of Ashes' looks at the consequences of the U.S.' ineffectual spying

Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA, by Tim Weiner

…Weiner, a New York Times reporter who covered the CIA for that paper during the 1990s, has been working on this book for at least 20 years. He's a superb reporter who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1988 at the Philadelphia Inquirer for stories he did on the Pentagon's "black," or secret, budget. He turned that material into his first book, which was followed by what many people consider the definitive book on Soviet mole Aldrich H. Ames' devastating betrayal of the CIA…..(LA Times, 29 Jun 07)

U.S. Reaches Tentative Deal With Europe on Bank Data

…In the deal, announced by the European Union late Wednesday, the Bush administration has agreed to impose new privacy safeguards on the program, which gives the Treasury Department and the Central Intelligence Agency access to one of the global banking system’s most important conduits of international financial records. In one provision of the agreement, the United States has agreed that it will keep the banking data collected under the program for only five years….(New York Times, 29 Jun 07)

Senate and White House Near A Deal on Surveillance Bill

…If completed, such a deal would allow the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence to resume action on a bill to modernize the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. However, the bill's prospects are far from assured since it also has to go through the Senate's Judiciary Committee, which is squaring off with the administration over subpoenas issued for documents related to the firings of U.S. attorneys and the warrantless-wiretapping program approved by President Bush shortly after 9/11…..(Wall Street Journal Online, 29 Jun 07)

Who killed Egyptian billionaire Ashraf Marwan?

Ashraf Marwan, the Egyptian billionaire who died aged 62 Wednesday in London was the third Egyptian to have jumped off a balcony in London. One young Egyptian blogger wrote Friday there "must be something very appealing about a London balcony which tempts famous Egyptians to throw themselves off it." Six years ago - also in June - the famous Egyptian actress Soaud Hosni allegedly threw herself off the balcony of a residential tower in Maida Vale, North London. In the mid-1970s, Leithy Nassif, the former head of the presidential guard under the late Egyptian president Anwar Sadatthe threw himself off a balcony in the very same tower in Maida Vale. The common link between the three is that they all had intelligence links and were rumored to have been writing their memoirs at the time of their alleged suicides….(Earth Times, 29 Jun 07)

Ex-security officer admits spying for British secret service

A former Russian security service officer has admitted working for British intelligence and receiving money for the reports he provided, Russia's NTV television company said Friday. However, the TV channel reported, "A former intelligence officer used to spy for [Boris] Berezovsky."  An FSB spokesman said the alleged spy Vyacheslav Zharko had disclosed the names of four British intelligence officers, and given locations in Europe where meetings had taken place, including information regarding the assignments he had been given…..(RIA Novosti, 29 Jun 07)

Russian spy agency identifies man allegedly recruited by MI6

…in an unusual documentary film broadcast by NTV, a man who was identified as Zharko described how he befriended exiled billionaire tycoon and Kremlin critic Boris Berezovsky in the late 1990s in London, and how he eventually came to meet Alexander Litvinenko, the former KGB agent who was poisoned late last year. Litvinenko, he said, eventually introduced him to British secret agents in London. He said he was paid initially up to €2,000 a month to gather information on the Russian economy. By 2005, British spies were pressing him for information on the FSB and Russian counterintelligence efforts directed against British spies….(AP, 29 Jun 07)

Muslim Journalist on Trial for Supporting Israel

Muslim journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is on trial in Bangladesh for the crime of supporting Israel, although the official charges are listed as treason and blasphemy. Choudhury, who has urged the Bangladeshi government to recognize the State of Israel, was back in the courtroom Thursday to face allegations of spying for the Mossad, Israel’s international espionage agency.  Although the government privately agreed to drop the charges, which officials quietly admitted were false, the Public Prosecutor said in the brief court session that he intends to proceed with the case… The real issue, according to the Independent Media Review Analysis (IMRA), is his Zionism, which he expresses in articles that also expose the rise of radical Islam in Bangladesh. “He is on trial because he writes plainly about the danger of extremist madrassas teaching children as young as five to hate Jews and Israel.”….(Israel National News, 29 Jun 07)

Nuclear engineer gets life

Jailan Halawi listens to engineer Mohamed Saber minutes before a state security court convicts him of espionage and sentences him to 25 years behind bars…Egypt recently announced its intention to restart the nuclear energy programme it abandoned more than two decades ago in the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. In statements made earlier this year, Minister of Electricity and Energy Hassan Younis said that Egypt could have an operational nuclear power plant within 10 years. The current plan is to build a 1,000 megawatt nuclear power plant at Al-Dabaa on the Mediterranean coast. Saber's is the second espionage case this year. In April a state security court sentenced Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Essam El-Attar to 15 years in prison. Three Israeli accomplices, tried in absentia, were also found guilty. ….(Ahram, 29 Jun 07)

London police probe death of Yom Kippur War Mossad agent

…Dr. Ashraf Marwan's body was found near his apartment at Carlton House Terrace in central London. He fell from his balcony. It is as yet unclear whether the death was an accident, suicide, or homicide. The official version presented by the Egyptian media is that Marwan was a private businessman. In Egypt, at least publicly, Marwan was not seen as an Israeli agent. Marwan is Gamal Abdel Nasser's son-in-law, and he worked as a special envoy

 and private assistant to his successor Anwar Sadat…..(Haaretz, 29 Jun 07)

Romanians Pull Out Of PACE Over CIA Report

Romanian lawmakers have pulled out of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) to protest against a Swiss investigator's report that said Bucharest hosted CIA secret prisons…The 10-member Romanian delegation said in a statement that it had decided to take no further part in the assembly's activities until Marty visits Romania "to check the so-called information and proofs that represented the basis for the incrimination."…..(RFE/RL, 29 Jun 07)

Spy submarine is blamed for sinking trawler in war games

A mystery surrounding the deaths of five French fishermen in a trawler accident three years ago deepened yesterday when a judge said that the boat was probably sunk by an unknown submarine spying on Nato exercises……(Times Online, 29 Jun 07)

Former intelligence chief arrested on fraud charges

The former head of Japan's intelligence agency was arrested yesterday on fraud charges involving a land purchase from a pro-North Korea group that he had monitored…Mr. Ogata, 73, is the former chief of Japan's Public Security Intelligence Agency, whose duties include surveillance of North Korean activities in Japan. He retired in 1997…..(AP, 29 Jun 07)

Russian spies threaten Poland and USA

The Russian special services are operating in Poland very aggressively, and threat from their party is considerably high, the chief of military counterespionage of Poland Anthony Matserevich said…“In contrast to British and other western intelligence services, we observe very aggressive behavior of the Russian services in territory of Poland. Threat has considerably increased really”, - the main Polish counterspy remarked…..(Kashmir Watch, 29 Jun 07)

CIAs Dominican station was world’s 2nd largest, historian says

During the United States intervention of Dominican Republic in April ,1965 the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had the world’s second largest station in this country, only after Saigon, Vietnam, said the historian Bernard Vega yesterday…Dominican Republic’s ex- ambassador in Washington said that during the 1965 Revolution, after World War II the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) is sent for the first time to another country, and came to Dominican Republic with some 28 agents. Vega, interviewed by the newspaper Hoy, said the documents declassified by the CIA on Tuesday had as much as two thirds of the text erased, and many are reports on Dominican Republic. ….(Dominican Today, 29 Jun 07)

Nehru duped by Chinese 'guile', pulled in two directions: CIA

Washington : India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru comes across as a man duped by Chinese "guile" over the Sino-Indian border row that led to a war in 1962, according to a three-part working paper prepared by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in mid-1963. "The Chinese diplomatic effort was a five-year masterpiece of guile, executed and probably planned in large part by (then Chinese premier) Chou En-Lai," says the CIA paper declassified recently….(Indian Muslims, 29 Jun 07)

Don’t Kick the Inspectors Out of the U.N.

Today, the United States and Britain will ask the United Nations Security Council to abolish the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission — the organization it created to oversee the elimination of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction…..(New York Times, 29 Jun 07)

Bush Claims Executive Privilege on Subpoenas

The White House invoked executive privilege yesterday in withholding subpoenaed documents on fired U.S. attorneys out of confidence that it can prevail in court and weather a political storm by blaming Congress for overreaching… The White House's action yesterday did not address the separate Senate subpoenas this week for documents related to the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping program. If Congress insists on those subpoenas, a senior administration official said, "we will have to deal with that. . . . I am not going to speculate at this point."…..(Washington Post, 29 Jun 07)

'Double agent' dead in London

A former Egyptian president's son-in-law accused of spying for Israel has reportedly been found dead outside his London home.  Police have not confirmed his identity, but Egyptian state news claimed that the body of 62-year-old Ashraf Marwan was discovered outside his flat. His father-in-law was the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Mr Marwan was suspected of working as a double agent for Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.....(BBC, 28 Jun 07)

Told you so, U.N. Iraq arms inspectors' report says

…In a voluminous report detailing the history of Iraq's banned weapons programs and U.N. efforts to dismantle them, it said the episode had shown that on-the-ground inspections were better than intelligence assessments by individual countries. The report by the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, or UNMOVIC, did not name its targets but several of its conclusions appeared aimed at the United States and Britain, which invaded Iraq in March 2003….(Reuters, 28 Jun 07)

EU Deal Lets U.S. Keep Data for 5 Years

...The deal, reached Wednesday, clarifies how the United States will use data from Belgian-based bank transfer consortium SWIFT in anti-terror investigations. A provisional deal was also reached on sharing data on trans-Atlantic air passengers…..(AP, 28 Jun 07)

How to catch a spy or insider threat

The Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive (ONCIX) -- part of the federal government's Office of the Director of National Intelligence -- has released a set of guidelines meant to help agencies identify potential insider threats to information security, including spies. The ONCIX -- which is led by Joel F. Brenner, the United States National Counterintelligence Executive and Mission Manager for Counterintelligence -- said that it produced the guide to help government workers understand their responsibilities for reporting suitability issues and potential espionage indicators" in their colleagues' behavior patterns….(InfoWorld, 28 Jun 07)

Judge Drops Remaining Charges in HP Case

A Santa Clara County judge dismissed the remaining charges against three defendants in the Hewlett-Packard Co. boardroom spying case Thursday, calling their conduct a "betrayal of trust and honor" that nonetheless did not rise to the level of criminal activity…..(AP, 28 Jun 07)

Finland's Supo ignored ministry in burying Rosenholz files

Finland's Security Police (Supo) acted against foreign ministry policy by acquiring and labelling secret documents thought to contain records on Finns who allegedly spied for the German Democratic Republic (GDR), Tampere-based daily Aamulehti reported on Thursday. Aamulehti quoted formerly secret documents obtained by Alma Media's Helsinki office as saying that Supo and key cabinet ministers had agreed in 2000 that the so-called Rosenholz files were to be made available to both researchers and affected individuals…..(Newsroom Finland, 28 Jun 07)

Profile: David Miliband

The appointment of David Miliband as foreign secretary signals a potential shift in British foreign policy to one in which criticism of the United States and Israel is not off the agenda - as it was under Tony Blair. Within the Cabinet, Mr Miliband criticised the Israeli attack on Hezbollah last summer while his prime minister was defending Israel…..(BBC, 28 Jun 07)

Text Messages Giving Voice to Chinese

…"The Chinese government controls the traditional press, so the news circulated on the Internet and cellphones," Wen, also a blogger, said later. "This showed that the Chinese people can send out their own news, and the authorities have no way to stop it entirely. This had so much impact. I think virtually every media worker in China was looking at it and keeping up with it."….(Washington Post, 28 Jun 07)

Libby Becomes Inmate No. 28301-016

…The assignment of an inmate number by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons represents another step on the road to prison. Inmate numbers stay with prisoners even after their release. Libby, however, is hoping that an appeals court will intervene and put the sentence on hold before he is ordered to surrender….(AP, 28 Jun 07)

Dissenting U.S. Diplomats Honored

…Zorick will be presented on Thursday with an American Foreign Service Association award for "constructive dissent" at a State Department ceremony along with Ronald Capps, a former political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum who lobbied for direct U.S. intervention in Sudan's troubled western Darfur region. It never came. After Zorick objected to U.S. policy, he was ostracized by the foreign policy establishment and moved from Kenya to Mali. Later, even after the covert U.S. aid stopped, his dire predictions came true: the warlords collapsed, the triumphant Islamists marched into Mogadishu and began to consolidate their hold on the country…..(AP, 28 Jun 07)

Policy experts split on spyware laws

Two of the agencies most actively involved in bringing cyber-criminals to justice in the United States have expressed opposing opinions over pending anti-spyware legislation. Even as a trio of spyware bills is moving forward on Capitol Hill, officials from the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said their two organizations have differing views on the need for passage of the proposed laws….(InfoWorld, 28 Jun 07)

Meeting With U.S. Campaign Aides Shows China's Interest in the Race

One of China's top government officials reached out to the leading U.S. presidential contenders last week, holding an unpublicized meeting with several of their top foreign policy advisers during a visit to Washington for high-level talks with Bush administration officials…"What came out of it was a pretty strong consensus that, no matter who was elected president, there was likely to be a much more sustained high-level engagement with China," said one person present…..(Washington Post, 28 Jun 07)

Broader Experience for Higher Intelligence

If you're an employee at the FBI or the Defense Intelligence Agency, you may soon be pulling a tour of duty at the CIA -- especially if you want to qualify for a promotion to a top job in the U.S. intelligence community. The 16 intelligence agencies in the federal government are moving to a "joint duty" requirement for promotions…..(Washington Post, 28 Jun 07)

Lessons Of The 'Family Jewels'

CIA Director Michael Hayden has been getting loads of good press for releasing the so-called “family jewels”—a massive stash of internal documents chronicling the agency’s dirty laundry compiled more than 30 years ago…..(Newsweek, 28 Jun 07)

White House Is Subpoenaed on Wiretapping

…the subpoenas seek documents that could shed light on the administration’s legal justification for the wiretapping and on disputes within the government over its legality. In addition, the panel is seeking materials on related issues, including the relationship between the Bush administration and several unidentified telecommunications companies that aided the N.S.A. eavesdropping program….(New York Times, 28 Jun 07)

Senators Subpoena The White House
…..(Washington Post, 28 Jun 07)

Wiretap subpoenas prod administration

…Legal experts suggested Wednesday that the administration would fight or ignore these subpoenas, too, throwing the issue into federal court, perhaps even the Supreme Court. The ultimate outcome, they said, could be an out-of-court compromise that gives lawmakers at least some insight into the legal machinations surrounding the top-secret National Security Agency program…..(LA Times, 28 Jun 07)

'Double agent' dead in London

A former Egyptian president's son-in-law accused of spying for Israel has reportedly been found dead outside his London home. Police have not confirmed his identity, but Egyptian state news claimed that the body of 62-year-old Ashraf Marwan was discovered outside his flat. His father-in-law was the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Mr Marwan was suspected of working as a double agent for Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War…..(BBC, 28 Jun 07)

Mossad: The Institute for Intelligence and Special Tasks

Why Are Three Americans Still Being Held in Iran?

Amnesty International is lobbying for the release of three American scholars of Iranian descent now being held in the notorious Evin prison in Tehran. There is little chance, however, that Amnesty's appeal will have any impact on Iranian authorities, who are currently engaged in a widespread crackdown on civil society inside Iran. The best known prisoner is Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, a distinguished professor and director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for scholars in Washington….(ABC, 28 Jun 07)

Egyptian who tipped off Tel Aviv dies

An Egyptian billionaire businessman identified as the Mossad agent who tipped Israel off on the eve of the 1973 Yom Kippur War about the coming attack was found dead yesterday outside his home in London in suspicious circumstances. Police said Ashraf Marwan, the son-in-law of the late Egyptian president Gamel Abdel Nasser, had fallen from the fourth-floor balcony of his home overlooking St James's Park. Police were treating his death as suspicious. Friends of Dr Marwan said he had feared assassination after being named four years ago as an Israeli agent during the Yom Kippur war. Dr Marwan's link to the Mossad was publicly revealed four years ago by Israeli researchers and confirmed this month in a Tel Aviv judicial proceeding in which the head of Israeli military intelligence in 1973, now retired Major General Eli Zeira, was found to have leaked Dr Marwan's identity to journalists and others….(Australian, 28 Jun 07)

Egyptian 'double agent' found dead in London

A billionaire son-in-law of a former Egyptian president who reportedly spied for Israel in wartime has been found dead in London, media reports said on Thursday. Ashraf Marwan, 63, was alleged to have acted as a secret agent for Israel's Mossad spy agency during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, reportedly with the code name "Babel"…..(Middle East Online, 28 Jun 07)

Suspected Israeli Double Agent Dies

Ashraf Marwan, the controversial son-in-law of Egypt's late President Gamal Abdel Nasser, has died, a state-run news agency reported Wednesday. He was 62. The death of Marwan, suspected of being a double agent for Israel during the 1973 war, comes amid a controversy in Egypt about his role in the intelligence and business worlds…..(AP, 28 Jun 07)

Editor Reveals the Sources of His Unease

OFF THE RECORD: The Press, the Government, and the War Over Anonymous Sources, by Norman Pearlstine

… Along the way he traces the evolution of Time Inc.’s legal strategy, which sounds boring but isn’t. His many years as a reporter and editor for The Wall Street Journal are evident in the clean, engaging way he tells such back-room tales as his decision to dump the renowned First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams….(New York Times, 28 Jun 07)

CIA Releases Files On Past Misdeeds

…Prompted by the then-unraveling Watergate affair, and by fears that CIA involvement in that scandal would be exposed along with other illegal operations, the agency combed its files for what it called "delicate" information with "flap potential." The result was a collection of documents the CIA called the "family jewels." Partly disclosed yesterday, the documents chronicle activities including assassination plans, illegal wiretaps and hunts for spies at political conventions. One document spoke of a plan to poison an African leader. Another revealed that the CIA had offered a Mafia boss $150,000 to kill Cuba's Fidel Castro…..(Washington Post, 27 Jun 07)

Full Coverage

CIA Released Documents

Download all the Documents (22 mb)

Hopkins gets $48 million for intelligence collection computers

Johns Hopkins University has received a grant from the Department of Defense to develop computer systems to assist military and intelligence agencies process the huge amounts of data they collect. The $48 million grant will be used for a new research center. It will emphasize improving technology to translate and analyze speech and text in several languages….(Baltimore Sun, 27 Jun 07)

Prominent sociologist and critic advised not to return to Egypt

A prominent Egyptian-American sociologist and human rights activist, known for his opposition to the government, has been advised not to return to Egypt…Professor Saad Eddin Ibrahim was Tuesday still out of the country on a trip in Europe and Arab countries. He was not likely to return to Egypt any time soon….(DPA, 27 Jun 07)

Espionage trial begins in Yemen

A man charged with distributing false documents claiming Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were funding a terrorist cell to target tourists in Egypt went on trial in the Yemeni capital Tuesday. Yemeni Hamad al-Thahouk, 50, contacted an employee of the Egyptian embassy in Sanaa in March and asked for money in return for documents stating Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were financing a cell in Yemen…..(Agence France-Presse, 27 Jun 07)

Intelligence agencies snooping on judges: Chaudhry`s lawyer

The lawyer for Pakistan's suspended Chief Justice on Monday alleged that the telephones of judges were being tapped by intelligence agencies, and asked the Supreme Court to build "firewalls" to prevent "snooping". ….(Zee News, 27 Jun 07)

Polish Church Reports Secret Police Ties

A special commission of Poland's Roman Catholic Church said Wednesday that documents in secret police files showed "about a dozen" living bishops had ties to the communist-era secret services…..(AP, 27 Jun 07)

Govt appoints Palenik as new Czech military intelligence chief

The Czech government today appointed Ondrej Palenik as new director of the military intelligence service, Defense Minister Vlasta Parkanova (Christian Democrats, KDU-CSL) who proposed Palenik for the post confirmed to CTK today. The military secret service, including the military intelligence and counter-intelligence, was provisionally headed by Pavel Adam as former regular head Miroslav Krejcik resigned a few weeks ago….(Ceske Noviny, 27 Jun 07)

Sarkozy ally named head of French domestic intelligence

A close ally to President Nicolas Sarkozy, Bernard Squarcini, was named Wednesday as the new head of the French DST domestic intelligence agency…..(Agence France-Presse, 27 Jun 07)

Govt's Condemned Over Prison Accusations

European governments have built "a wall of silence" around accusations that they let the CIA abduct their residents and run clandestine prisons on their territory, a European investigator said Wednesday….(AP, 27 Jun 07)

Comparing Today’s Tactics With Those Used in the Past

…Comparisons between different historical eras are always tricky. With an incomplete account of C.I.A. misdeeds in its first quarter century from the so-called family jewels, released this week with many redactions, and a presumably even more incomplete knowledge of the spy agencies’ actions since 2001, such a comparison is inevitably flawed. But it is also irresistible….(New York Times, 27 Jun 07)

Soldiers Who Betrayed Hitler To Be Pardoned

Germany is poised to pardon the very last soldiers who were executed during World War II for betraying the Nazi regime. But the move, which follows a decades-long national debate, has revived bitter differences of opinion over what remains an acutely sensitive subject…..(Daily Telegraph, 27 Jun 07)

Keeping an Eye on Communism

…Yesterday, many of those Cold War-era papers were suddenly available to the public on the CIA's own Web site, at http://www.foia.cia.gov/cpe.asp. But what impressed Goodman 40 years ago looks more mundane today, because the agency's analysts had little hard information about the major communist powers in the two decades up to 1972. The 11,000 pages released yesterday appeared to contain no startling revelations and a number of goofs. For example, in a 1962 paper called "The Decline of Mao Tse-Tung," agency analysts predicted the demise of Mao as China's leader 14 years before he finally declined into his grave…..(Washington Post, 27 Jun 07)

Bungled plots, wiretaps, leaks

…Known inside the agency as the "family jewels," the collection of memos, investigative reports and handwritten jottings confirms many details of the CIA's troubled past from the 1960s and '70s. It reveals the determined work of the American espionage bureaucracy to conceal some of its worst deeds behind its sizable cloak of government secrecy. Many of the allegations addressed by the documents have been reported before… Much of the "family jewels" file was leaked to The New York Times in December of 1974. Though now declassified, the document contains numerous deletions and many pages that are entirely whited-out…..(Chicago Tribune, 27 Jun 07)

Bush's offices reportedly refused probe

A federal watchdog agency planned to inspect the president's executive offices in the White House in 2005 for evidence of suspected leaks of classified information, but it was rebuffed by Bush administration officials…White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters Monday that the president considered his office and that of the vice president exempt from his directive…Waxman, the chairman of the powerful House oversight committee, told Card that his staff investigators also found numerous problems with the way the White House handled classified information…..(LA Times, 27 Jun 07)

Files on Illegal Spying Show C.I.A. Skeletons From Cold War

…Large sections are censored, showing that the C.I.A. still cannot bring itself to expose all the skeletons in its closet. And many activities about overseas operations disclosed years ago by journalists, Congressional investigators and a presidential commission — which led to reforms of the nation’s intelligence agencies — are not detailed in the papers…..(New York Times, 27 Jun 07) VIDEO

U.S. Investigates Saudi Deal for British Arms, Company Says

…The new inquiry by the United States government into the practices of a major British military contractor could put the new government of Gordon Brown, who is expected to succeed Tony Blair as British prime minister on Wednesday, in an awkward position… The investigation comes at a time when BAE Systems is trying to expand in America, where its customers include the United States Army and Navy…..(New York Times, 27 Jun 07)

Premier intelligence agencies ruling Pak since October 1999

All principal decisions taken since the October 12, 1999 coup in Pakistan have the stamp of approval of premier intelligence agencies…In the three years from 1999 to 2002 and after the last general elections, intelligence agencies performed an unquestionable overriding role in every major decision that the government took. The reliance of General Musharraf on the intelligence agencies has been immense and plays the most singular role in his decision-making…..(New Kerala, 27 Jun 07)

Pakistan's general problem

In return for cooperation in the war on terror since 9/11, the United States has provided Pakistan's military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, with billions of dollars in aid and almost total support in his quest to remain president — until recently. Eight years after seizing power in a coup, Musharraf is trying to grab five more years through political manipulation and blatant coercion…..(LA Times, 27 Jun 07)

Spymasters Run Pakistan, Says Report

Pakistan's intelligence agencies have gained unprecedented ascendance since President Pervez Musharraf seized power. Their role has been the 'solitary decisive factor', particularly since 2002….(New Pos India, 27 Jun 07)

CIA reveals Cold War secrets

…The records are part of a trove of jealously guarded documents long known within the agency as "the family jewels." Assembled in the early 1970s as part of an internal inquiry of potentially embarrassing or illegal activities, the records were subsequently turned over to Congress, prompting investigations and sweeping intelligence reforms. The records were ordered released by CIA Director Michael V. Hayden as part of what he characterized as an effort to close an embarrassing chapter in the agency's history…..(LA Times, 27 Jun 07)

Self-guided tour to the CIA's family jewels

FSB Tells of Russian Who Met with MI6

…The man, whose name has not been released, went to the FSB earlier this month after Britain's MI6 contacted him and "insisted on a meeting in a European city," the agency said in a statement. The FSB said self-exiled businessman Boris Berezovsky contacted him as well…. The FSB said the exchanges took place after a Moscow news conference last month called by businessman Andrei Lugovoi, whom Britain has charged with the murder of Alexander Litvinenko and wants extradited. Lugovoi implicated Berezovsky in Litvinenko's death, saying he was working on the orders of MI6. The would-be spy gave the FSB the names of several of his British intelligence contacts and also disclosed when and "in which European cities" the meetings took place, as well as which "tasks" they gave him, the statement said…..(Moscow Times, 27 Jun 07)

Inside the Jihad, by Omar Nasiri

…Nasiri claims that he has tried to explain the logic of Jihad to Western intelligence operatives who just didn’t get it, but then at times Nasiri seems pretty clueless himself. He expresses no sympathy for the Americans who died on 9-11, and claims that he acted not to save the West from terrorism, but to save Islam from the excesses of the Islamists…..(Strategy Page, 26 Jun 07)

Russian Agent of M16 Surrendered to FSB after Berezovsky Calls

…According to FSB, the MI6 officers hooked that Russian in London. In FSB, the so-called agent gave names of Britain’s spies, described them in detail, specified the states of Europe and hotels, where he had secret meetings with M16. The Russian came to FSB on fear for his life. He said Britain’s officers pressurized him for immediate meeting in some city of Europe in the wake of the news conference of Andrey Lugovoy, whose extradition Britain is seeking on charges of poisonous murder of Alexander Litvinenko, former officer of FSB and then the political refugee in Britain….(Kommersant, 26 Jun )

FSB considers opening criminal case over agent's report

…“A MI6 agent came to us and said he would cooperate,” he said. “I believe a criminal case will be opened in time. At the present moment our investigation department is considering that,” the FSB director said.  “But I don’t believe we must be actively making information public at the moment. First we must look into many issues, and then we shall inform the population,” Patrushev said. “We won't hush it up,”…The Russian national gave himself up several days after a news conference of Britain’s chief suspect in the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, Andrei Lugovoi, who spoke about active attempts of MI6 officers to recruit him. ….(Itar-Tass, 26 Jun 07)

Russian accuses MI6 of trying to recruit him

Russia said on Tuesday it would investigate accusations by a Russian national that British intelligence had tried to recruit him, an announcement likely to further tax fraught relations between London and Moscow. Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said the man charged that the MI6 and self-exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky had approached him to spy for Britain…..(Reuters, 26 Jun 07)

Venezuela's Chavez seen wanting office "for life"

Insecurity, "malignant narcissism" and the need for adulation are driving Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's confrontation with the United States, according to a new psychological profile. Eventually, these personality traits are likely to compel Chavez to declare himself Venezuela's president for life….(Reuters, 26 Jun 07)

Mobile devices ripe targets for spies

Privacy advocates warn that the shift to using handheld devices for email, telephone calls and Internet searches has created a global gold mine for snoops and spies… European officials have long suspected that a US-led program code-named Echelon established during the Cold War to intercept and decode electronic messages has been used to spy on their nations since the Iron Curtain's fall…..(Agence France-Presse, 26 Jun 07)

Scottish ruling could reopen Lockerbie mystery

A Libyan intelligence agent will learn this week if he can appeal against his conviction for blowing a Pan Am airliner out of the sky over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988. An eight-member independent review commission will announce at noon (1100 GMT) on Thursday whether it will refer the case of Abdel Basset al-Megrahi to the Scottish High Court as a possible miscarriage of justice…..(Reuters, 26 Jun 07)

Judge Discusses Details of Work On Secret Court

...Lamberth's defense of the court's speed and efficiency came after senior Bush administration officials said its procedures were too cumbersome to meet counterterrorism needs in the post-9/11 world, and created a system of warrantless wiretapping by the National Security Agency that did not include judicial review. Taking direct aim at the administration's assertion, Lamberth noted that members of the court had approved almost 99 percent of the FISA applications presented. He added that he could not see a better way of conducting such surveillance…..(Washington Post, 26 Jun 07)

Mystery 'Irish spy' is jailed for life in Egypt

An Irishman was sentenced to life in jail by an Egyptian court yesterday, but the Department of Foreign Affairs can find no evidence that he exists. The man, named by Egyptian authorities as Brian Peter, was convicted of paying an Egyptian nuclear scientist to steal state secrets and then passing the information on to Israel. He was tried in absentia along with a Japanese national, and both received life sentences yesterday. However, their co-defendant, nuclear scientist Mohammed Sayed Saber (35), was present in court. He was convicted of spying for Israel and was also sentenced to life in prison…"The minister [Dermot Ahern] ordered a trawl of all passport documents to see if we could trace this guy and we weren't able to," a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. "Following the trawl of all our documents, we don't have anyone of that name who holds an Irish passport…..(Independent, 26 Jun 07)

Why the CIA is Airing its Dirty Laundry

…CIA Director Michael Hayden's declassifying this stuff is news, and good news at that. Hayden's plan is not only to draw a line under the past but make a point to this and future White Houses: Politicize intelligence and you'll find your name on the front page of the newspaper…..(Time Magazine, 26 Jun 07)

Today in History - June 26

2006: President Bush said it was "disgraceful" that newspapers had disclosed a secret CIA-Treasury program to track millions of financial records in search of terrorist suspects.

Iran Launches English Satellite Channel

…The 24-hour PRESS TV news channel said its goal was to ''break the global media stranglehold of Western outlets,'' and ''show the other side of the story'' in the Mideast. The English-speaking network has 26 correspondents around the world and is due to launch on July 2, Mohammad Sarafraz, the vice president of Iran's state broadcast company, told reporters. Sarafraz accused Western networks of bias against Middle East nations and of spinning the news the way the U.S. government wants. He said that ''under the pretext of combating terrorism,'' the U.S. government used the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to ''legitimize its invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq.''…..(AP, 26 Jun 07)

The Very Strange Case of Hussein Ali Sumaida

Hussein Ali Sumaida is back… Sumaida is relaxed, flashing an engaging smile as he begins to recall playing both sides of the espionage divide, having worked as an operative for former dictator Saddam Hussein’s ruthless intelligence service and for Israel’s espionage agency, the Mossad.  But the Iraqi-born double agent isn’t supposed to be in Canada….(Walrus Magazine, 26 Jun 07)

Israeli Spy Satellite Going to Taiwan?

… Described by some military analysts as reconnaissance or spy satellites, the two in-orbit Eros satellites—Eros A and Eros B—are owned and operated by the Israeli company, ImageSat International. Taiwan is reportedly interested in the older Eros A that carries a high-resolution camera capable of discerning objects 1.8 meters across. The satellite is in low Earth orbit and carries a price tag of $300 million, according to sources. The newer Eros B can identify objects 70 centimeters across and is now used to monitor Iran’s nuclear program…..(Sat News, 26 Jun 07)

The Specter of Illegal Eavesdropping

A revision of the Protection of Communication Secrets Act that would legalize the monitoring of cell phone conversations is a long-cherished dream of the National Intelligence Service. To permit mobile phone tapping since the 2005 eavesdropping scandal, the NIS has lobbied the legislature and the media as if its life depended on it....(Chosun, 26 Jun 07)

Intel agencies accepting applicants for joint duty

If you’re an intelligence employee and want to reach your agency’s top ranks, start getting familiar with other intelligence agencies. Beginning Oct. 1, the intelligence directorate will start requiring most employees to have experience working with other intelligence agencies before they can be promoted to jobs where they would report directly to the head of their agency or intelligence component…..(Federal Times, 26 Jun 07)

White House Stymies Move To Declassify Report On Pre-War Iraq Intelligence
The White House is resisting a bipartisan move to declassify a Senate report on pre-war intelligence surrounding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction…The dispute revolves around a little-known federal panel, the Public Interest Declassification Board, established by Congress in 2000. The PIDB was created with the express purpose of promoting public disclosure of significant U.S. national security decisions and activities…Under current law, only the President can initiate a review. Although they have requested him to do so in this case, he has reportedly ignored the request….(AHN, 25 Jun 07)

Two Agendas: Why Iran, U.S. Stand Far Apart

…For its part, Washington claims Iran is backing Iraqi insurgent groups that are attacking U.S. forces and wants it to stop. But the Iranians are countering with demands, both in public and through private channels, that the Bush administration break up an Iranian terrorist group, the Mujahedin e-Khalq, or MEK, that opposes the Iranian government and is being sheltered by U.S. forces in Iraq near the Iranian border…"The MEK has been a constant irritant to the Iranians, and they have brought [the group] up repeatedly, both directly and indirectly,"…(Wall Street Journal, 25 Jun 07)

Russian citizen says he was recruited by British secret services

A Russian national has informed the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) that he was recruited in London by staffers of British secret services. Itar-Tass has learnt that the man came to the FSB reception office of his own free will several days after businessman Andrei Lugovoi gave a news conference in the Russian capital, telling reporters about active attempts by Mi6 agents to recruit him…..(Itar-Tass, 25 Jun 07)

Tipping off the enemy

…It's not exactly clear why the Iranians have detained these American citizens, nor what they plan to do with them. But consider this: On Jan. 15, 2002, nearly five years before the detentions began, the Los Angeles Times ran a story under the headline "CIA Looks to Los Angeles for Would-Be Iranian Spies," disclosing on its front page that the CIA was recruiting Iranian Americans in Southern California, home to the largest concentration of Iranian emigres in the United States. According to the paper, the agency was "offering cash for useful information" to Iranian Americans who "have business connections [in Iran] or relatives in [a] position to provide valuable information from inside the largely impenetrable republic."….(LA Times, 25 Jun 07)

Egypt nuclear engineer convicted of spying for Israel

…Mohamed Sayed Saber Ali was accused of taking documents from Inshas, the site of one of Egypt's small nuclear reactors, and handing them for $17,000 to foreign contacts said to be working for Israeli intelligence... Egypt says Ali's contacts were interested in information about the capability of the Inshas reactor, how many hours it operated, the type of experiments conducted with it, and any technical problems and the reasons for them. They also wanted to know how frequently the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspects the reactor….(Reuters. 25 Jun 07)

Egypt jails engineer for spying for Israel

Egypt's state security court sentenced an engineer to 25 years' jail on Monday for betraying nuclear secrets to Israel. Mohammed Sayyed Saber, 35, who was arrested at the beginning of the year, had pleaded not guity to the charges…During his trial, he insisted that any information he had divulged was already in the public domain and had been handed over with the blessing of the authorities. Saber acknowledged that he had supplied information about the Egyptian atomic energy authority where he worked to presumed agents of Israel's Mossad overseas intelligence agency…..(Middle East Online, 25 Jun 07)

Round-the-world British adventurer held as spy in Egypt

A British adventurer has been accused of spying in Egypt after he entered the country's territory without permission during a round-the-world charity tour…He (Jason Lewis) had been waiting for weeks in Wadi Haifa, northern Sudan, for permission to cross into Egypt to continue the odyssey he began nearly 13 years ago in London. His visa for Sudan had run out so he was in that country illegally and was in an "impossible position" so he had to "give it a go regardless"...Mr Lewis said he was facing espionage charges "with a potential prison sentence of 40 years in a military prison".  He continued: "During the ensuing interrogations, I was asked to explain all the satellite communications equipment I was carrying. "They did not buy my story of being on an expedition.….(Daily Mail, 25 Jun 07)

Egypt nuclear engineer gets life

…Mohamed Sayed Saber Ali was tried by a state security court for handing over documents in return for $17,000. Two foreign nationals were given life sentences in their absence… The two men tried in their absence were named as Irishman Brian Peter and Japanese national Shiro Izo. Their whereabouts were not disclosed……(BBC, 25 Jun 07)

CIA Describes Soviet Shakeup

The Soviet leadership undertook a hasty shakeup of top government and Communist Party posts following the death of Josef Stalin in March 1953 to head off possible "panic and disarray" among the country's long-repressed population, newly released CIA documents show…..(AP, 25 Jun 07)

Trove of F.B.I. Files on Lawyers Guild Shows Scope of Secret Surveillance

…From 1940 to 1975, thousands of reports like these were part of extensive files compiled by the F.B.I. while it carried out a clandestine surveillance campaign on the National Lawyers Guild, an organization founded in New York in 1937 and associated with the labor movement and liberal causes. They are among a trove of documents that archivists are poring over for the first time…..(New York Times, 25 Jun 07)

Kyrgyzstan Reportedly Indicts Alleged Spy With Treason

A female employee of the Kyrgyz parliament's press service has reportedly been charged with treason…Jypargul Arykova was detained in Bishkek on June 19 as she was allegedly passing classified materials to a Chinese national, who has reportedly been indicted with espionage…..(RFE/RL, 25 Jun 07)

German prosecutors want CIA agents extradited

Prosecutors in Munich, Germany, are requesting the extradition from the United States of 13 suspected CIA agents they say took part in the 2003 kidnapping of a German citizen. Earlier this year, a Munich court ordered the arrest of the 13 on suspicion of kidnapping Khaled el-Masri, a German of Lebanese descent who says he was flown from Macedonia to Afghanistan where he was imprisoned for months and tortured….(Reuters, 25 Jun 07)

Hard Realities of Soft Power

As a senior adviser to the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, David Denehy is charged with overseeing the distribution of millions of dollars to advance the cause of a more democratic Iran…Now, a year after its unveiling and with the administration requesting an additional $75 million for 2008, the democracy fund faces criticism, not only from Iranian officials but also from some of the very people whose causes it aims to advance….(New York Times, 25 Jun 07)

Fresh Security Breaches at Los Alamos

…Barely 10 days after revelations of a leak of highly classified material over the Internet, NEWSWEEK has learned of two other security breaches. In late May, a Los Alamos staffer took his lab laptop with him on vacation to Ireland.  A senior nuclear official familiar with the inner workings of Los Alamos—who would not be named talking about internal matters—says the laptop's hard drive contained "government documents of a sensitive nature."  The laptop was also fitted with an encryption card advanced enough that its export is government-controlled.  In Ireland, the laptop was stolen from the vacationer's hotel room.  It has not been recovered…Then, 10 days ago, a Los Alamos scientist fired off an e-mail to colleagues at the Nevada nuclear test site. The scientist works in Los Alamos's P Division, which does experimental physics related to weapons design, a lab source says. The material he e-mailed was "highly classified," the same source says.   But he sent his e-mail over the open Internet, rather than through the secure defense network…..(Newsweek, 25 Jun 07)

CIA "kidnap" victim eyes political career in Egypt

An Egyptian cleric who says he was kidnapped by the CIA in Italy and flown to Egypt for torture is considering a political career in his home country thanks to the fame the case has brought him. Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, announced his political intentions in a wide-ranging interview with La Stampa newspaper in Italy, where 26 Americans are being tried in absentia for kidnapping him in 2003…..(Reuters, 26 Jun 07)

Castro Says Bush 'Authorized' His Death

Fidel Castro on Monday accused President Bush of "authorizing and ordering" an attempt on his life, although his rambling essay on the subject provided no details…..(AP, 25 Jun 07)

Air Force expands intelligence efforts at Langley

The Air Force is expanding surveillance and intelligence operations at Langley Air Force Base that find enemy troops and roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan. The service will spend $42 million for a new facility to analyze video and data from spy planes and aerial drones that is interpreted by airmen at Langley and fed back to troops on the battlefield…..(AP, 25 Jun 07)

Spying on campus? FBI warns MIT, Harvard

…The FBI is concerned that universities—in the name of being open—might instead be opening US inventions and research to foreigners who are here for more than an education. Harvard and MIT have both been visited by agents already, and more visits are in the works. The FBI describes its effort as an educational one, helping to make faculty more aware of dangers….(ARS Technica, 25 Jun 07)

Law firms major targets of corporate spies – IBA

Law firms are among the biggest targets as corporate spying takes a firm hold in SA, sparked by increased commercial competition, according to an investigation by the International Bar Association (IBA). Detailed findings of the investigation will not be released until November, but a Business Times report says early indications are that SA companies are being hit by industrial espionage on a large scale. The biggest targets locally are multinationals, banks and financial institutions, law firms and technology-dependent industries….(Legalbrief Today, 25 Jun 07)