Sentence delayed for wife in Cuba spy case

A federal judge Friday delayed the start of Elsa Alvarez\'s three-year stretch until the end of the month so she could have a growth removed. Alvarez, 57, pleaded guilty to charges she failed to tell investigators that her husband, Carlos, was acting as an unregistered agent of the Castro regime and feeding Havana information about the Florida exile community…..(UPI, 12 May 07)

Bangladesh police arrest Burmese spy

A suspected Burmese spy, collecting information on Bangladesh border troops and activities of Burmese opposition in exile, was arrested by Bangladesh authorities on May 8. Harbi Rorarman (24) was arrested by the police…(Mizzima, 12 May 07)

Spy Chief Backs Study of Impact of Warming

Stepping into the middle of a partisan debate on Capitol Hill, the United States’ top intelligence official has endorsed a comprehensive study by spy agencies about the impact of global warming on national security…..(New York Times, 12 May 07)

New Charges Against Former CIA Official

New charges have been filed alleging that a former top CIA official pushed a proposed $100 million government contract for his best friend in return for lavish vacations, private jet flights and a lucrative job offer. The indictment, returned Thursday, replaces charges brought in February against Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, who resigned from the spy agency a year ago, and Poway-based defense contractor Brent Wilkes. The charges grew from the bribery scandal that landed former U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham in prison…..(AP, 12 May 07)

Intelligence Chief Backs Climate Study

Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell believes it is "appropriate" for global climate change to be considered in a future National Intelligence Estimate, according to a letter he sent Wednesday to Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.), a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. In the letter, made available to The Washington Post by Eshoo's office, McConnell wrote, "I believe it is entirely appropriate for the National Intelligence Council (NIC) to prepare an assessment on the geopolitical and security implications of global climate change." The NIC supervises national intelligence estimates….(Washington Post, 12 May 07)

Judge: Government pressured AIPAC

The judge in the classified information case against two former AIPAC staffers determined that the government pressured the lobby to fire the staffers and affirmed AIPAC's contractual obligation to fund their defense. It is unclear if Judge T.S. Ellis' determinations have legal consequence, because his overall decision Tuesday rejected the defense motion to dismiss the case….(JTA, 11 May 07)

Engineer guilty in plot to give data to China

…Chi Mak, 66, was found guilty of helping provide China unclassified but export-controlled information, including data on a submarine electronic system and a quiet electronic propulsion system planned for future warships. Mak was found guilty of conspiracy to violate export regulations and for failing to register as a Chinese agent, after several days of deliberations. The trial lasted six weeks. Sentencing was set for Sept. 10, and Mak faces up to 35 years in prison...They said Mak's brother Tai Mak was the courier in the spy ring and will face those charges in a later trial. The trial was the first in what U.S. officials say will be several cases involving a family spy ring that also included both Mak brothers' wives and Tai Mak's son Billy Mak. A second trial is set for June 5…..(Washington Times, 11 May 07)

Engineer in China case convicted

…Chi Mak, a naturalized citizen, was convicted of conspiracy to violate export control laws, attempting to violate export control laws, acting as an unregistered agent of the People's Republic of China, and lying to the FBI… Prosecutors described Mak as a sleeper agent who began preparing for his assignment in the U.S. in the 1960s, when he moved from China to Hong Kong, then a British colony. Federal agents said Mak admitted sending military-related documents to China and they found thousands of pages of the files in his home. "To the extent that there is Chinese espionage going on in the United States, I hope [the conviction] sends a strong message,"….(LA Times, 11 May 07)

Industrial Espionage Reveal Problems at KIA

Five former and present employees of Kia Motors have been indicted for selling car manufacturing technologies to China. Since November last year, the five allegedly delivered 57 corporate secrets, including the technology to assemble the Kia SUV Sorento and plans for new models, to a local consulting firm established by some of Kia's former workers…..(Chosun, 11 May 07)

Current, former Hyundai-Kia workers indicted

Seven current and former employees of the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group have been indicted over alleged technology leaks to Chinese automakers… They allegedly leaked the technology to a Chinese carmaker in return for 230 million won ($249,000), the statement said. They also allegedly tried to leak technology to another Chinese automaker…..(AP, 11 May 07)

Guilty verdict in US 'spy trial'

A US court has found a Chinese-born engineer guilty of conspiring to export sensitive defence technology to China. Chi Mak, 66, was also convicted of acting as a foreign agent and of making false statements to federal agents….(BBC, 11 May 07)

Engineer Guilty in Military Secrets Case

After a six-week trial, a federal jury convicted a Chinese-born engineer of conspiring to export U.S. defense technology to China, including data on an electronic propulsion system that could make submarines virtually undetectable…..(AP, 11 May 07)

Fighting Terror Selectively: Washington and Posada

…Luis Posada Carriles is a Cuban-born terrorist who has accurately been called the Osama bin Laden of the Western hemisphere… Posada has a long history of ties to the U.S. government.  He became a CIA agent in 1961.  The U.S. government claims his CIA service ended in 1976….(ZMag, 11 May 07)

House Passes Intelligence Measure

Once again, the House had comparatively little difficulty pushing through the annual bill to renew spy programs that has faltered recently on the other side of the Capitol, although a dustup over classified earmarks temporarily threatened to derail the measure (HR 2082). The legislation passed by a vote of 225-197…..(Congressional Quaterly, 11 May 07)

Intelligence Director Urged to Take Charge
The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence wants the new director of national intelligence, retired Adm. Mike McConnell, to assume a greater managerial role to correct what it describes as gaps in what is known about enemies and threats and to close those gaps "as quickly as possible."….(Washington Post, 11 May 07)

Australia hosts new US spy facility

…Geraldton in Western Australia is best known for its busy fishing port that also exports natural resources to Asia. But very few Australians know that amid the trees and farmland near the town is a large satellite ground station that will soon welcome the US as a new tenant. Philip Dorling is a former diplomat, foreign affairs adviser and expert on joint defense facilities between the US and Australia…Dorling says: "The Geraldton facility will be the station that controls that satellite or satellites over the Indian Ocean to provide coverage for the US military over the Middle East and Indian Ocean region."….(Aljazeera, 11 May 07)

Olson Picked to Lead U.S. Special Operations Command

President Bush today nominated Navy Vice Adm. Eric T. Olson to lead U.S. Special Operations Command, replacing Army Gen. Bryan "Doug" Brown, according to a Pentagon release. Olson would be the first Navy officer to head Socom. The command is responsible for about 48,000 elite troops, such as Army Green Berets, Rangers, Delta Force operatives, Navy SEALs and Air Force rescue teams….(Washington Post, 11 May 07)

Tehran accused of harassing 3 Iranian-American women

Iran has detained a well-known Iranian-American academic and is preventing two other dual citizens from leaving the country, a US official said Wednesday, calling on Tehran to allow the three to return home…..(Middle East Times, 10 May 07)

RAF Intercepts Russian Spy Planes

…Two Russian Bear bombers flew from their base in Murmansk on the Kola Peninsula in the far north of Russia with the intention of spying on a big Royal Navy exercise off the coast of Scotland's Outer Hebrides. Two RAF Tornado F3s, on short-notice quick-reaction status at RAF Leuchars in Fife, flew alongside the bombers until they turned away….(EURSOC, 10 May 07)

RAF jets intercept Russian planes

Tornado F3 jets from RAF Leuchars in Fife were sent to intercept two Russian aircraft spotted observing a Royal Navy exercise, it has emerged…..(BBC, 10 May 07)

Technology Acquisition and the Chinese Threat

…Efforts to collect sensitive technology are conducted not only by individual intelligence agents, but also by the many corporations established and controlled by the Chinese government. One such corporation is the Xinshidai Group, which was established by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and is one of China's two largest military hardware conglomerates. One of the armaments companies Xinshidai controls is Norinco, which is widely known in the United States for sales of light arms and ammunition….(Strafor, 10 May 07)

Kia Motors officials indicted over alleged technology leakage

Nine former and incumbent officials of Kia Motors, South Korea's No. 2 automaker, were indicted on charges of illegally transferring key carmaking technologies to China, the first such case ever brought to light…The nine allegedly delivered 57 types of secret information, including a key car-assembling technology, via e-mail to a local consulting firm established by some of Kia's former workers, from last November until recently….(Yonhap, 10 May 07)

Prosecutors indict current, former Hyundai-Kia employees over alleged technology leak

Prosecutors said Thursday they have indicted seven current and former employees of the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group over alleged technology leaks to Chinese automakers…They allegedly leaked the technology to a Chinese carmaker in return for 230 million won (US$249,000; €184,000), the statement said. They also allegedly tried to leak technology to another Chinese automaker….(AP, 10 May 07)

S Korea Kia Motors workers arrested for allegedly selling auto secrets to China
…..(Forbes, 10 May 07)

Two Britons Found Guilty In Transcript Leak Case
Two former British government employees were convicted Wednesday of violating Britain's Official Secrets Act for leaking a transcript of a White House conversation between Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bush, a disclosure that prosecutors said could have jeopardized the lives of British soldiers. Former civil servant David Keogh, 50, and former parliamentary researcher Leo O'Connor, 44, were found guilty of leaking a document that British news organizations said recounted an April 2004 conversation….(Washington Post, 10 May 07)

U.S. Labels 2003 Leaked Memo 'Sensitive'

…The administration argues that ex-marshal Robert MacLean, 37, who is trying to win his job back, should have known the unlabeled memo he received on his unsecured cell phone was considered "sensitive security information." MacLean, who admits he gave the memo to a reporter, counters there was no way to tell that air marshal officials would designate the cost-cutting plan years later as sensitive national security information. He was fired in April 2006. Lawyers who handle national security cases said they could not recall an instance when the classification of "sensitive security information" was formally applied to a document made public years earlier. If the retroactive designation is upheld, lawyers say, it would instill new fears in whistle-blowers who want to release important but unclassified information to the public…..(AP, 10 May 07)

Savage Peace: Hope and Fear in America 1919

Savage Peace: Hope and Fear in America 1919, by Ann Hagedorn

…In 1919, America was embroiled in a communist scare, court battles over free speech, a lingering war in arctic Russia, labor strife and racial unrest. Amid the chaos, President Woodrow Wilson pursued his obsession, the League of Nations, leaving leadership to men who used fear of Bolshevism to keep control…..(McClatchy Newspapers, 10 May 07)

China alarms ringing

Fifteen years ago, the U.S. intelligence community judged that the People's Liberation Army of China was more than 20 years behind the West. In January, the PLA brought down a satellite with an ultra-sophisticated "kinetic kill vehicle" weapon. Today, no one views China's nuclear or missile capabilities as anything other than cutting-edge…..(Washington Times, 10 May 07)

The machine that is putting together the Stasi's 600m-piece spy jigsaw

…German scientists have finally got the go-ahead from the government to put their "unshredder" - said to be the world's most sophisticated pattern- recognition machine - into use. After years of debate, £4m has been set aside by the parliament to start piecing together 600m snippets of paper, or 45m documents, which were ripped up in a secret operation by panicked Stasi officers after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The officers were ordered by the Stasi boss, Erich Mielke, to destroy the files and stuff them into sacks to be burnt. But in what proved to be a veritable comedy of errors….(Guardian, 10 May 07)

Anti-shredder aims to stick spy files back together

…The pieces of torn documents are scanned on both sides, and the digital images are then analysed by a cluster of 16 computers for 25 features, including colour, shape, texture, handwriting and typeface, Nickolay says. Just like a person doing a jigsaw, the computer then groups the images into clusters with similar features, and finally fits pieces in each cluster together. The software should get better with time, Nickolay notes. "It learns as it processes."…Stasi files contain not only information about East Germans, but also about foreigners and spying operations abroad. Under German law, anyone can request that the BStU check to see whether they are mentioned in Stasi documents and, if they are, can gain access to their personal files. Since 1992, 1.5 million people have done so…..(Nature, 10 May 07)

Former FBI Agent Center of Global Saga

A former FBI agent who vanished in Iran two months ago was apparently investigating a cigarette-smuggling operation, according to a hunted assassin who says he was with the American on the day he disappeared. What happened to the burly, 6-foot-4 Robert Levinson in the weeks since then remains an international mystery…..(AP, 10 May 07)

U.S. Faults Detention By Iran of Dual Citizens

The State Department yesterday sharply criticized Iran's detention of Washington scholar Haleh Esfandiari and journalist Parnaz Azima and acknowledged a growing problem with Tehran over its actions against U.S. and dual U.S.-Iranian citizens…..(Washington Post, 10 May 07)

Bush Changes Continuity Plan

President Bush issued a formal national security directive yesterday ordering agencies to prepare contingency plans for a surprise, "decapitating" attack on the federal government, and assigned responsibility for coordinating such plans to the White House….(Washington Post, 10 May 07)

Legal Victory by Militant Cuban Exile Brings Both Glee and Rage

An elderly exile linked to deadly bombings in Cuba and on a Cuban airliner was on his way back to Miami as a free man on Wednesday, his indictment on charges of immigration fraud dismissed by a federal judge in Texas. The exile, Luis Posada Carriles, had been in El Paso preparing for his trial in the fraud case….(New York Times, 10 May 07)

Unsolved Attack Still Fuels Speculation

…Joyal, a frequent commentator on Russian affairs and a vice president of National Strategies, a government consulting firm, said he believes the shooting could be connected to his Feb. 25 appearance on "Dateline NBC." In his television interview, he accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being behind the poisoning in London last year of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko with a lethal dose of polonium-210, a rare radioactive isotope. The Russian government has denied any involvement...Joyal, 53, was shot by two men in front of his Adelphi home March 1, four days after his "Dateline" interview. Followed four days later by the mysterious death in Moscow of a well-known Russian journalist, Joyal's shooting briefly fueled international speculation that the incidents were part of a wide-ranging plot to silence Kremlin critics…..(Washington Post, 10 May 07)

Iran Releases Former Nuclear Negotiator

…Hossein Mousavian was part of Iran's nuclear negotiating team under former President Mohammad Khatami, the reformist predecessor of the current hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Mousavian also is seen as close to one of Ahmadinejad's top rivals, Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who preceded Khatami as president…..(AP, 10 May 07)

Balibo five let down by spy slips

Australia's former top intelligence official yesterday slammed a failure to "connect" crucial reports that might have saved the five newsmen killed at Balibo, East Timor, in 1975…..(Brisbane Times, 10 May 07)

DUP to get 'secret intelligence'

The DUP has said it has been promised access to secret intelligence on the IRA and loyalist paramilitaries from MI5 and other security agencies. The party has said the move will help it judge whether republicans remain committed to peaceful means…..(BBC, 10 May 07)

Philip Jones; CIA Analyst Was a Specialist on China

Philip J. Jones, a retired CIA research analyst who died May 3 at 82…Fluent in Chinese, Mr. Jones served in China during World War II with the Office of Strategic Services (forerunner to the CIA)…..(Washington Post, 10 May 07)

Gennaro 'Jerry' Ferrara CIA Officer

Gennaro "Jerry" Ferrara, 91, a former CIA officer, died April 27… He joined the Central Intelligence Agency in 1950 and served as an intelligence officer until retiring in 1978…..(Washington Post, 10 May 07)

CIA Cited for Not Disclosing Covert Action

…after CIA Director Michael V. Hayden took his post in May 2006 and learned about the program and that Congress had not been fully briefed, "the agency itself took the issue to the Hill [and] corrected what was an inadvertent oversight." The committee gave no hint of what the covert activity involved. It disclosed the issue in support of provisions it placed in the bill that would require the CIA inspector general to conduct audits of each covert action program at least once every three years and to submit a report on the findings to both the House and Senate intelligence panels…..(Washington Post, 10 May 07)

The Ultimate Insider: FBI Analyst Steals National Secrets

…Leandro Aragoncillo -- a career Marine who had served under two vice presidents in the White House -- was stealing information in an attempt to foster a political coup in the Philippines, his home country. He knew he had no authorization to take or pass along the information, but, so far, it had been so easy. What Aragoncillo didn't know was that on this particular morning, after nearly four years of espionage, the feds were spying on the spy. Agents were watching him at his desk via video surveillance….(Information Week, 10 May 07)

FBI reaches out to clamp down on economic espionage

America has no friends when it comes to the research that gives its companies, universities and government a competitive edge. Countries all over the world _ including friends and allies _ would like to have that research, and they would love to get it for free. To combat that, the FBI is approaching universities and businesses to offer guidance and advice on how to better recognize security breaches and to take steps to keep them from happening….(AP, 9 May 07)

Tehran Jails Iranian American Scholar After Long House Arrest

Iran yesterday detained prominent American academic Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East Program at the Smithsonian Institution's Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, according to center president and director Lee H. Hamilton and Esfandiari's husband. Esfandiari, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen who has lived in the United States for more than a quarter-century, has been under virtual house arrest since December, when the government refused to allow her to leave Iran after visiting her 93-year-old mother. Since then, she has been summoned repeatedly for interrogations by intelligence officials about U.S. programs on Iran…..(Washington Post, 9 May 07)

Computers Restore Ripped-Up East German Files

A project using computers to reconstruct ripped-up files kept by former East Germany's Stasi secret police began on Wednesday, raising hopes that more communist misdeeds will be brought to light…..(Deutsche Welle, 9 May 07)

Computers restore ripped-up German secret files

A project using computers to reconstruct ripped-up files of former East Germany's Stasi secret police began Wednesday, raising hopes that more communist misdeeds will be brought to light…Each scrap will be scanned and a computer will try to match images by shape, jigsaw style, to others from the same sack…Jan Schneider, 36, the Fraunhofer engineer heading the project, said the scraps will be placed on a conveyer belt leading to digital scanners which would obtain images of both sides of the paper…..(Earth Times, 9 May 07)

Military court reduces sentence of officer convicted of spying

… In April 2006, a military court in Tel Aviv found Lieutenant Colonel Omar al-Hayeb – a decorated Bedouin officer - guilty of severe espionage and contact with a Hizbullah agent, as well as two charges of drug trafficking from Lebanon. He was acquitted of another drug dealing offense and of treason. In June of the same year, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison….(YNet, 9 May 07)

Alleged Plotter in Rainbow Warrior Bombing Selling Weapons to U.S. Government

In 1985, the Rainbow Warrior, a vessel operated by Greenpeace, was blown up in Auckland harbor. It had been sent there to protest French nuclear testing in the Pacific. It subsequently emerged that the bombing—which killed a photographer on board—was a French government operation….(Harpers, 9 May 07)

US Intelligence Identifies the Balkans as Islamist Foothold
US intelligence reports from the Balkans have identified a support structure for several terrorist groups, including Al-Qaeda, among the Muslim communities in Albania and in the former Yugoslavia, including Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Macedonia…The six foreign-born Muslims accused of planning a shooting attack at the U.S. military base included four ethnic Albanians….(Novinite, 9 May 07)

CIA Accused Of Killing 50 In Taliban Hunt

… The American mission was conducted outside the NATO command structure and was therefore subject to different rules of engagement. It is understood that the special forces unit included men known in America as CIA paramilitaries, while support was provided by aircraft including the C130 Specter gunship…..(New York Sun, 9 May 07)

U.S. Must Decide Fate Of Militant

Attorneys for an anti-Castro Cuban militant whose immigration fraud case was thrown out said Wednesday they expect he will remain free while U.S. authorities decide whether and to what country they can deport him. A federal judge threw out the indictment against Luis Posada Carriles on Tuesday, drawing accusations from Cuba and Venezuela that the White House had manipulated the legal system…..(AP, 9 May 07)

Steven Hale, dead at 63: Seattle attorney took on the CIA

Case a highlight of distinguished career in law

As a youthful CIA intelligence officer, Steven Hale briefed U.S. presidents on Soviet arms. Decades later, the Seattle attorney worked pro bono against the agency for two spies he believed had been left out in the cold. Hale, a Laurelhurst resident, died Saturday….(Seattle PI, 9 May 07)

US-Iran academic detained in Iran

A prominent US think-tank has said that one of its researchers has been detained in the Iranian capital Tehran… On Tuesday - after effectively being prevented from leaving the country for more than four months - she was taken to the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran. The Iranian authorities appear to be particularly suspicious currently of attempts by the Bush administration to promote democratic change in Iran…..(BBC, 9 May 07)

President nominates aid chief's successor

President Bush has nominated the State Department's top management officer, Henrietta H. Fore, to replace Randall Tobias, who resigned 10 days ago in a sex scandal, as director of U.S. foreign assistance, with a rank equivalent to deputy secretary of state. In another Foggy Bottom personnel change, George M. Staples, director-general of the Foreign Service, told a senior staff meeting yesterday that he would step down at the end of July…..(Washington Times, 9 May 07)

Cal's well-kept secret -- spies on campus

Retired CIA and FBI agents mingled with investigative reporters Saturday at an all-day symposium at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism called "The CIA: In Fact and Fiction" -- just decades after agency recruiters were banned from campus. The unusual pow-wow was not advertised. "You may have noticed that the event was not mentioned on the J-school's public Web site,"….(San Francisco Chronicle, 9 May 07)

CIA did not focus enough on Khan network: researcher

…"There's no doubt that the CIA knew about some of Khan's activities at various stages of his proliferation" operation, said Mark Fitzpatrick, a former top U.S. non-proliferation official now with the International Institute of Strategic Studies think tank. "There's also no doubt that the CIA didn't give enough attention to this area of private sector proliferation in looking at Iran's nuclear development program over the years"….(Reuters, 8 May 07)

Sam sold war plans: Gauhar

Gauhar Ayub Khan, son of the former President of Pakistan, General Ayub Khan, tonight virtually identified Field Marshal S.H.F.J. Manekshaw as the alleged mole in the directorate of military operations, who sold the country’s battle plans in the 1950s. Gauhar alleged he sold the plans when he was a Brigadier for a sum of Rs 20,000 about a pre-emptive attack on East Pakistan….(Tribune India, 8 May 07)

Immigration Case Against Cuban Militant Dismissed

A federal judge on Tuesday threw out immigration fraud charges against Luis Posada Carriles, the Cuban exile militant who was facing trial later this week, saying the government manipulated his statement to investigators. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone said the interpretation of the April 2006 interview "is so inaccurate as to render it unreliable as evidence of defendant's actual statement."….(AP, 8 May 07)

Chances Slim for Return of USS Pueblo

The State Department says it can't negotiate the return of the USS Pueblo from North Korea while the United States is trying to get the communist nation to drop its nuclear ambitions….(AP, 8 May 07)

Elements of Espionage

One of the largest collections of Hollywood spy memorabilia on exhibit at the Queen Mary….(Daily Bulletin, 8 May 07)

Analysis: Another Bad Technology Bill

… a new bill is quickly tracking its way through Congress and looks to have broad bipartisan support. If passed, the Securely Protect Yourself Against Cyber Trespass Act, aka Spy Act, could do for corporate spyware what CAN-SPAM did for commercial spam. Come to think of it, this could end up being much worse than CAN-SPAM…..(PC World, 8 May 07)

Homeland insecurity

A vanished computer hard drive has left 100,000 current and former Transportation Security Administration employees fearing for their financial security. The rest of us should be wondering why the federal government -- especially the agencies with "security" in their names -- cannot even safeguard its own assets….(Washington Times, 8 May 07)

Curbs on Satellite Photos May Be Needed

The director of a little-known U.S. spy agency that analyzes imagery from the skies says that the increasing availability of commercial satellite photos may require the government to restrict distribution. "If there was a situation where any imagery products were being used by adversaries to kill Americans, I think we should act," Vice Adm. Robert Murrett, director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, said Tuesday in a rare interview at his office in Bethesda, Md...Throughout the Cold War, U.S. spy satellites were secret military assets. But in the late 1990s, commercial companies got into the gam….(AP, 8 May 07)

India backs Manekshaw

There have been angry reactions to former Pakistan foreign minister Gohar Ayub Khan's claims that Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw was a spy. Army veterans call the charge malicious and nonsensical. In a recent interview to a media organization, Pakistan's former foreign minister Gohar Ayub Khan and the son of former Pakistan dictator General Ayub Khan has claimed Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw was a spy who sold India's war secrets to Pakistan in the 1950s.…(Times Now, 8 May 07)

AJC Concerned Over Government Delays in Rosen-Weissman Case

The American Jewish Committee expressed today its ongoing concern with the consequences of serious delays by the government in going forward with its case against former AIPAC staffers Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, and the resultant impact on their constitutional rights…..(Press Release Newswire, 8 May 07)

Communist spy ring tried to steal Space Shuttle plans

…Chi Mak, a 66-year-old naturalised US citizen born in Guangdong Province, China, was found guilty of conspiracy to violate export regulations and of failing to register as a Chinese [import] agent after a six week trial. Mak had apparently supplied his brother Tai with quiet-drive related documents which were then put on disc in order to be taken to China. The documents were unclassified, but were proprietary and export-controlled. But at the last minute the feds stepped in, snapping the bracelets on Tai Mak and his wife at LAX in October 2005 as they were preparing to leave the US…..(Register, 11 May 07)

Downgraded O.C. 'spy' case goes to jury

The counterespionage operation was authorized by the top-secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court. FBI agents snapped photos of one suspected spy with cameras they had hidden in his house and mounted on light poles across the street and in his company's parking lot. In fall 2005, authorities dismantled what they said was a family spy ring that had been sending U.S. military secrets to China for two decades. Two alleged spies were arrested at Los Angeles International Airport before they could board a midnight flight to Guangzhou with encrypted information about U.S. warships. The arrests were followed by media reports fueled by government leaks that billed the investigation as a major espionage case. But what began as a spy thriller has morphed into a mundane prosecution of violations of federal export control laws. At the center of the spy ring…..(LA Times, 8 May 07)

Military secrets case against Chinese-born engineer goes to jury

…"The defendant was spying for China," Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian said Monday in closing arguments. "This man's life has been defined by one thing and that is hiding his connection to the People's Republic of China." The six-week case against Chi Mak, 66, a naturalized U.S. citizen, went to the jury later in the day after prosecutors claimed he took material from his employer and gave it to his brother to pass along to Chinese authorities…..(AP, 8 May 07)

Trial of Chinese-American engineer accused of defense exports nears close

…Authorities believe Mak, a naturalized U.S. citizen, took thousands of pages of documents from his employer, Power Paragon of Anaheim, and gave them to his brother, who passed them along to Chinese authorities for years. A jury is expected to get the case Monday after closing arguments. The six-week trial featured testimony from a parade of FBI agents, U.S. Navy officials, encryption and espionage experts and the 66-year-old engineer himself. If convicted, Mak could get more than 50 years in prison….(AP, 7 May 07)

Gohar implies Manekshaw was Pakistani spy

A former Indian Army chief was a Pakistani spy in the 1950s, a Pakistani politician known for shooting off his mouth has implied - without substantiating the claim. Former Pakistani minister Gohar Ayub Khan made the allegation during an interview to Karan Thapar on CNBC-TV18 but refused to categorically state whether he was referring to Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, known as the architect of the Indian Army operations that led to the break up of Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh in December 1971…Manekshaw, 95, is recuperating in a military hospital in south India from age-related complications and was not reachable for comment.…..(IANS, 7 May 07)

Iran jails suspected nuclear spy for 3 yrs

A man arrested on suspicion of leaking secrets of Iran’s disputed nuclear activities to an exiled opposition group has been sentenced to three years in jail, the semi-official Fars news agency said on Saturday. Fars said the lower court had also fined the man, who it said worked in the parliament’s research centre but did not name, 25 million rials….(Daily Times, 7 May 07)

They flew for the CIA, but not really

…In 14 years working for Air America, Jordan was never formally told who was footing the bill for his often-harrowing flights. But he and the other Air America pilots knew. They called their mystery client "the customer," Jordan said. "And the CIA was always the customer." Few Americans know it, but Air America is embedded in some of the most iconic images of the Vietnam War. In the famous photo of the evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, the helicopters lifting stranded diplomats off the rooftop belonged not to the military but to Air America…..(LA Times, 7 May 07)

AIPAC on Trial

…Describing the actions of Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, two former top officials of AIPAC, the premier Israel lobbying group, who passed purloined intelligence to Israeli government officials, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist characterized them as “activities that go on every day in Washington, and that are clearly protected under the First Amendment.” If what Rabinowitz says is true—if passing classified information to foreign officials is routine in the nation’s capital—then we are all in big trouble….(American Conservative, 7 May 07)

Defense Intelligence Chief Gordon Negus

Gordon Negus, 72, former executive director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, died May 4.. Mr. Negus spent 32 years in government, working primarily as an analyst of Soviet strategy. He was the DIA's executive director from 1986 to 1990, providing strategic planning and guidance for the military intelligence agency, managing the agency's global intelligence resources and overseeing worldwide intelligence operations…..(Washington Post, 7 May 07)

Pakistani clerics have accused the intelligence agencies in the country of supporting ''jehadi'' organizations
Pakistani clerics have accused the intelligence agencies in the country of supporting ''jehadi'' organizations whose actions now cannot be checked even by religious decrees. Lawmaker Qazi Fayyaz-ur-Rehman Alvi of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) said numerous jehadi organizations and people were terrorizing the country and some of them had the support of the intelligence agencies….(India Daily, 7 May 07)

Alleged spying risk earns full pay -- for no work

A bureaucrat born in China who was fired from her job in the nerve centre of the Canadian government on allegations of being a potential spy has since been reassigned to a less sensitive department and has been awarded a pay raise. Haiyan Zhang is not allowed to go to work because of persistent security concerns…..(Globe & Mail, 7 May 07)

Search for agents to detect spies

The Territorial Army has launched a recruitment drive in Devon for people to work in military intelligence. Volunteers will help the fight against espionage, sabotage, subversion and terrorism threats. They no longer need a university degree…..(BBC, 7 May 07)

Journalists Intend to Sue Hewlett-Packard Over Surveillance

…The dispute stems from an investigation of Hewlett-Packard’s directors initiated under the company’s former chairwoman, Patricia C. Dunn. To try to uncover leaks from board members, private investigators examined the phone records of nine journalists who covered the company, as well as the records of some of their relatives…(New York Times, 7 May 07)

FBI's Turnabout On Letters

…The USA Patriot Act, which greatly expanded the FBI's powers for using national security letters, wasn't without its stipulations. But as recent events have shown, the agency just didn't follow them. And because the FBI can issue national security letters without probable cause or judicial oversight, the system lacks the checks and balances needed to protect against abuse…..(Courant, 7 May 07)

New Authority to Oversight Foreign Intelligence Needed, Says Center for Advanced Studies

The Center for Advanced Studies in Science and Technology Policy urges that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) be updated to enable necessary foreign intelligence activities while still protecting privacy and civil liberties. "FISA currently is inadequate to authorize needed foreign intelligence activity and to protect privacy and civil liberties," said K. A. (Kim) Taipale, executive director of the Center for Advanced Studies, in written testimony submitted to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence last week…..(PR Newswire, 7 May 07)

Department of Homeland Security data on 100,000 staff goes AWOL

The agency responsible for security at US airports cannot find an external hard drive packed with the personal records of about 100,000 current and former employees…..(PC World, 8 May 07

Early Departures Clip Bush Security Team

…At the White House, four top officials have stepped down, including Crouch; Meghan O'Sullivan, another deputy national security adviser who worked on Iraq; Tom Graham, the senior director for Russia, and director for Asian affairs Victor Cha, point man for the Koreas…..(AP, 7 May 07)

Alleged Canadian Spy Coin Deemed Harmless

An odd-looking Canadian coin with a bright red flower was the culprit behind the U.S. Defense Department's false espionage warning earlier this year...The odd-looking — but harmless — "poppy coin" was so unfamiliar to suspicious U.S. Army contractors traveling in Canada that they filed confidential espionage accounts about them. The worried contractors described the coins as "anomalous" and "filled with something man-made that looked like nano-technology," according to once-classified U.S. government reports and e-mails obtained by the AP…Intelligence and technology experts were flabbergasted over the warning when it was first publicized earlier this year…..(AP, 7 May 07)

Exhibit at Ford Museum traces terrorism in U.S.

…An exhibit opening May 19 at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum demonstrates that home-grown terrorism is as American as apple pie. "The Enemy Within: Terror in America -- 1776 to Today," a traveling exhibit from the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., traces the history of terrorist acts on American soil back to the nation's founding in the 18th century. That's when a group of British loyalists plotted to kidnap the impending revolution's leader, George Washington. ….(Grand Rapids Press, 6 May 07)

Hezbollah chief denies fugitive Arab Israeli lawmaker spied for guerrillas

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday denied that a former an Arab Israeli lawmaker wanted by Israeli authorities for espionage had ever spied for the militant Lebanese group.Israeli police said earlier this month that while Israel and Hezbollah battled each other last summer, Azmi Bishara, who has resigned from Israel's parliament, advised the Shiite Muslim group. They alleged he passed on sensitive information and suggested ways of causing more harm to Israel…..(AP, 6 May 07)

The plot to steal U.S. secrets for a foreign coup

…Aragoncillo, a retired career U.S. Marine trusted enough to work for two vice presidents, passed state secrets from his home computer using an easily traceable Hotmail account. Aquino, a former high-ranking officer in the Philippines National Police, sought tips by buying a book, "Coup d'Etat: A Practical Handbook," over the Internet. And they contributed as much as any federal agent to their downfall. Wanted for murder in his homeland, Aquino applied for a work visa at a U.S. immigration office in New York as if no one would notice he was on the lam. He was jailed. Then Aragoncillo, using his FBI credentials, pressed for Aquino's release, raising the red flag that prompted the unprecedented investigation…..(Star-Ledger, 6 May 07)

US government moves to gag terrorist on CIA ties

With his trial on immigration charges set for May 11, the US government has filed a motion in federal court seeking to bar the international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles from testifying on his role as an agent of the Central Intelligence Agency. Venezuela has demanded that Posada Carriles be extradited to face charges there related to his masterminding of a 1976 bombing of a Cuban civilian passenger jet that killed 73 people….(Global Research, 6 May 07)