SA Intelligencer Number 75
18 April 2010 Initiator: Johan Mostert Editor: Dalene Duvenage Contributions and enquiries dalene@4knowledge.co.za
Reports from 6 - 17 April 2010
Africa: 1. African Army chiefs unite against desert terrorism 2. 2. 3. 4.
Zim: CIO agent who denounced Mugabe found dead Sierra Leone: Anti-corruption campaign nabs top officials US Names 2 Guinea-Bissau military men drug kingpins Botswana: Intelligence and banks work together against financial crime
America 4. White House okays killing of US-born terror cleric 5. Obama’s Intel czar plugs a new counterterrorism catchphrase 6. Obama bans Islam, Jihad from national security strategy document 7. A case of retaliation at CIA 8. Former NSA Senior Executive charged with illegally retaining classified information 9. CIA security investigator – solitary unglamorous work 10. Opening statements begin in Hawaii spy trial Canada 11. CSIS struggles to adapt to new public scrutiny 12. CSIS increasingly follows money down terror trail 12. Canadian researchers reveal online spy ring based in China Europe 13. Germany: new BND building 14. French spy chief probed Sarkozy marriage rumours 14. Netherlands: Arrests after AIVD provides intel on Iran trade 14. UK: Alleged MI6 traitor also accused of betraying spies 15. Three Turks accused of spying for Greece Middle East 15. Israeli Arab jailed for spying on army chief at gym 16. Hamas executes two for spying New Zealand and Australia 17. NZ Greens want more info on spybase 18. Aus: Iranian embassy in Canberra spying on activist students 18. Aus orders spy agencies to probe Dubai hit 19. Aus: Money laundering crack down
Asia 19. Malaysia: police to probe Anwar’s Israeli spy claims 20. South Korea: Intel release draws fire from govt 21. Prosecutors arrest S Korean for spying for N Korea 22. Taiwanese intelligence capabilities questioned 23. Taiwan: Spies deserve the gratitude and support of the nation 23. Taiwanese business man indicted for spying for China 24. Japan boosting intel on China 25. India: short of staff and intel input: NIA suffers
People
26. US: Senior leadership changes at CIA 26. Rwanda: New Defence Minister, military chiefs sworn in
Africa African army chiefs unite against desert terrorism ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU (AP) – 14 April 2010 (Ed: Excerpted) ALGIERS, Algeria — Army chiefs from seven African nations gathered Tuesday in Algiers to coordinate efforts against a regional al-Qaida offshoot and arms and drugs traffickers that roam across their porous common borders in the Sahara. The army summit in Algiers follows a similar meeting last week by intelligence chiefs. Their goal is to boost cross-border patrols and surveillance, so that al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, and other criminal groups can't increase their footprint over the no man's land stretching across the Sahara, the world's largest desert. Army chiefs of staff are "discussing issues of defense and common security, to lift possible misunderstandings and establish a common strategy against migratory threats," said Gen. Ahmed Gaid Salah, the Algerian army chief of staff and meeting host, according to the state news agency APS. Other nations attending included Libya, Chad, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Mauritania. All join borders in the Sahara and the sprawling semi-desert region to its south, known as the Sahel, an area the size of western Europe regularly plagued by insecurity and local rebellions. The threat has increased since AQIM, formed in 2006, reached beyond its bases in northern Algeria to other African nations, where it has taken dozens of tourists hostage and has increasingly bonded with traffickers. He said Algeria is wooing Nigeria to join the group, because AQIM has increasingly been recruiting among Islamist extremists there, and because Nigeria is the only other country in the region to have a significant air force that could help patrol the zone. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gg jEF6dVCqywSmSztHu51NVoD1tAD9F28I0G1
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Zimbabwe: CIO agent who denounced Mugabe found dead Nehanda Radio Headlines, Lest We Forget, News —April 14, 2010 (Ed: Excerpted) A member of the notorious Central The murder is reminiscent to that of Ignatius Intelligence Organization (CIO) who Mushangwe, a Zimbabwe Election denounced President Robert Mugabe for Commission (ZEC) official who disappeared using them to kill opposition activists was after leaking information on how Mugabe had murdered and dumped in the Mwerahari planned to rig the 2008 elections. His dead River in Buhera. and partially burnt body was dumped in a bush near Norton. Several weeks ago Innocent Makamure opened up to the media and confessed to Evidence which later emerged suggested how he and other CIO agents felt used by the Mushangwe was murdered by a hit-squad regime to torture, harass and kill members of from the military intelligence allegedly led by the MDC party led by Prime Minister Morgan one Staff Sergeant Makwande to silence him Tsvangirai. in an operation approved by the Joint Operations Command (JOC). A senior Makamure had even expressed his wish to intelligence source at the time told the pologize to the chief in the area for his part in Zimbabwe Times website that his murder was the abuses. Immediately after his confession “a dry operation, a dry disposal,” which he he went missing. But on Monday this week described as an assassination carried out in a his dead body was found floating in the hurry. Mwerahari River, after family members intensified their searches. http://nehandaradio.com/2010/04/14/cio-agent-who-denounced-mugabe-found-dead/
Sierra Leone: Anti-Corruption Campaign Nabs Top Officials Lansana Fofana: 17 April 2010 Freetown — The crusade against corruption seems to be gathering momentum in this West African country, with the arrest and prosecution of senior government officials, including cabinet ministers. The latest to be roped in by the country's Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), is Afsatu Kabba, the then-Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, who is currently facing a 17count indictment for graft and abuse of office. Kabba was sacked immediately the indictment was announced. She was charged shortly after the conviction, in March, of another cabinet minister, Sheku Tejan Kamara, who was heading the Health and Sanitation ministry. Koroma was found guilty of awarding contracts to his cronies without opening them up to public tender. He was sentenced to five
years imprisonment, but avoided jail by paying the alternative fine of $40,000. At his inauguration in September 2007, President Ernest Bai Koroma announced a zero tolerance approach to corruption and vowed that public officials who engaged in graft would be arrested and prosecuted. "No one, not even members of my family, will be spared (in this fight against corruption). There will be no sacred cows in my administration," the president announced at the national stadium, in front of a crowd of more than 25,000, including foreign diplomats and donor representatives. Within a year, he had strengthened the ACC, enabling it to take on cases without waiting from approval from the attorney-general or the justice ministry. The ACC also now has its own court and judges, separate from the normal judicial set-up.
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Before Koroma took office, prosecution of cases of corruption depended wholely on the whim of the attorney-general and there was seen to be major political interference in the operations of the ACC. The ACC, which was set up in 2000, is partly funded by the British Department for International Development. DFID has often insisted on the independence of the anti-graft body. DFID has a staff member attached to the ACC and Commonwealth judges and
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investigators help run the affairs of the commission. The ACC boss adds that his commission has introduced new strategies in the fight against corruption. These include the setting up of Integrity Clubs in schools, publicly recognising Sierra Leoneans who are deemed to have demonstrated the highest integrity, radio and TV jingles, as well as rewarding individuals who report suspected cases of public graft to the Commission.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201004170002.html
US names two Guinea-Bissau military men 'drug kingpins' 9 April 2010. BBC News The two men will also have their US-based assets frozen. The US has accused two senior military men from Guinea-Bissau of drug running. One of the drug kingpins, Mr Na Tchuto, has been accused of plotting a 2008 coup and Air force head Ibraima Papa Camara and was due to be handed over to the former navy chief Jose Americo Bubo Na government of Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Tchuto have been named "drug kingpins". Junior for trial. Under the Drug Kingpin Act, But last week he emerged from financial sanctions have been a UN building in Bissau - where imposed on the two men and US he had been taking refuge since citizens are barred from doing December 2009 - and joined an business with them. apparent coup attempt led by Guinea-Bissau is a major transit army Vice Chief of Staff Gen point for cocaine smuggled from Antonio Indjai. Latin America to Europe, and last During the unrest, soldiers week suffered an apparent army entered the office of Mr Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto coup attempt. Gomes and detained him Adam Szubin, head of the US was involved in last week's along with the army Chief of unrest Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Staff Gen Jose Zamora Induta. Control, said Mr Camara and Mr Na Tchuto The US fears the drugs trade will further have played "significant roles in international destabilise the already volatile country. narcotics trafficking. "We certainly have noted with concern that "Naming these two individuals as kingpins the narcotics trafficking and the revenues enables us to then target their facilitators, from it play a destabilising role, not only in people who might be laundering money for Guinea-Bissau, but in other countries in West them or assisting them in moving drugs," Mr Africa and throughout the world," said Mr Szubin told the BBC's Focus on Africa Szubin. programme. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8610924.stm
Editor: Dalene Duvenage
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Botswana: Intelligence and Banks work together against financial crime Mmegi, 15 April 2010 (Ed: Own heading and Excerpted) Financial institutions should increase their Kgosi said financial crime activities tended to vigilance and compliance systems because flourish in institutions with weak internal organised financial crime is growing rapidly controls, poorly trained staff, poor vigilance, in Botswana, the Director General of the violation of laid down procedures and poor Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS), inter-agency and institutional collaboration. Isaac Kgosi, has warned. "Because criminals and their supporting He was speaking at a Standard Chartered structures do network, it is only fitting for us Bank breakfast meeting held to foster a closer to strengthen our networking initiatives to working relationship between DIS fight the criminal networks," he agents and the bank for fighting added. financial crime at Cresta Lodge in In a related development, the Gaborone yesterday. government is in the process of "We have noticed a sharp increase establishing a financial intelligence in organised financial crimes in this agency following the adoption of country over the last few years," the Financial Intelligence Act in Kgosi said. "These range from cheque April last year. Issac Kgosi, DIS DG and card fraud to money laundering, It is envisaged that the fraudidentity theft and counterfeiting of busting agency will prescribe fines of up to P1 banknotes. million for organisations and individuals who "Financial institutions, especially banks, have fall foul of the law, either by commission or lost a lot of money due to financial crime, and omission. It will also refer cases to the I must say most of the losses could have been Botswana Police Service and the Directorate avoided if banks had been more vigilant. on Corruption and Economic Crimes while working in tandem with a spectrum of "Banks are losing money because of trust. judiciary, legal and financial bodies. Proper background checks are not being done when financial transactions are made. In most These developments come against the cases, it is either because people are just lazy background of the Bank Adjudicator or there is too much trust between the bank attending to 140 complaints last year, 15 staff and clients." percent of which were related to fraud. http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?sid=4&aid=1655&dir=2010/April/Thursday15
America White House 'okays killing of US-born terror cleric' AFP Wed Apr 7 2010 WASHINGTON (AFP) – President Barack Obama's administration has authorized the targeted killing of an American citizen, radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaqi, a US official said on Wednesday. The rare step was reportedly approved earlier this year after US intelligence agencies concluded the USYemeni cleric was now directly involved in
Editor: Dalene Duvenage
plots against the United States, and not merely publicly encouraging such attacks. In February, the director of national intelligence, Dennis Blair, confirmed that US spy agencies had the authority to kill American citizens if they posed a direct threat to the United States.
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The US-born cleric, now based in Yemen, rose Citizenship is "factor" that has to be taken to prominence last year after it emerged he into account, the US official said, "but it had communicated extensively by email with certainly isn't a shield for those who have Major Nidal Hasan, a US Army psychiatrist plotted the murder of innocent Americans." accused of opening fire on colleagues at Fort The US administration last month for the first Hood, Texas, killing 13. Accused time offered a legal justification for of having had ties to the drone strikes against Al-Qaeda and September 11, 2001 hijackers, Taliban militants in Pakistan and Awlaqi has praised the Fort elsewhere, citing the right to "selfHood attack and said Muslims defense" under international law. The like Hasan should only serve in CIA attacks by unmanned aircraft in the US military if they planned to Pakistan, Somalia and elsewhere have carry out similar attacks. The sharply increased under President imam has also been linked to Barack Obama's administration, with Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian some human rights groups charging the student accused of trying to blow up a bombing raids amount to illegal Detroit-bound flight with explosives in his assassinations underwear on December 25. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100407/wl_afp/usattacksyemenqaedaawlaqi_20100407154215;_ ylt=AvRWuEyJG8nY2C91G3_dcqKQOrgF;_ylu=X3oDMTMxb29vMXMwBGFzc2V0A2FmcC8yMDEwM DQwNy91c2F0dGFja3N5ZW1lbnFhZWRhYXdsYXFpBHBvcwMyNQRzZWMDeW5fcGFnaW5hdGVfc3V tbWFyeV9saXN0BHNsaw
Obama's 'Intelligence Czar' Plugs a New Counterterrorism Catchphrase Mark Hosenball Posted Tuesday, April 06, 2010 (Ed: Excerpted) anonymity when discussing internal Not long after President Obama took office, administration discussions, said that use of he unofficially put an end to a favorite phrase the new buzzwords "evolved" from of his predecessor: the "global war on terror." discussions among counterterrorism officials. True, George W. Bush used it so much that (The discussions apparently evolved enough GWOT, as it became known in Washington, that, in typical Washington fashion, insiders had largely lost its impact. But it got the job have already granted the phrase its own done—and Obama had yet to find a tough, abbreviation: CVE.) pithy replacement. Until now. CVE has been slowly catching on among the In a speech today before a conference on Obama crowd. Daniel Benjamin, the State post-9/11 intelligence-reform efforts, Department's top counterterrorism adviser, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair used it in testimony he gave to the Senate didn't once utter the words "global war on Armed Services Committee last month. As terror." But at least twice he talked about the Benjamin explained it, "The primary goal of administration's efforts at "countering violent countering violent extremism is to stop those extremism." most at risk of radicalization from becoming Blair's aides had no immediate comment on terrorists. Its tools are noncoercive and how the intel czar came to use the include social programs, counter-ideology catchphrase. Two officials of another initiatives, and working with civil society to government department involved in delegitimize the Al Qaeda narrative and, counterterrorism efforts, who asked for where possible, provide positive alternative Editor: Dalene Duvenage
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Two U.S. intelligence officials, who also asked narratives." He added, "We are working hard for anonymity, said that in practice, to develop a variety of CVE programs." "countering violent extremism" refers to a Last August, John Brennan, the former CIA desire by the Obama administration to use officer who serves as the top "public diplomacy" and "strategic counterterrorism adviser in the Obama White communications" as one part of its effort to House, gave a speech in which he explained thwart emerging threats. CVE is a "soft that the president had made a conscious power" approach intended to win the support effort to move away from using the GWOT of moderate Muslims at home and abroad. catchphrase. "The president does not This involves efforts by police and other describe this as a 'war on terrorism,' " government representatives to develop Brennan said. "That is because 'terrorism' is closer relations with local Muslim but a tactic . . . [and] by focusing on the tactic, communities and to support anti-extremist we risk floundering among the terrorist trees elements in Muslim communities overseas. while missing the growth of the extremist However, the officials noted, "strategic forest . . . Likewise, the president does not communications" can also include clandestine describe this as a 'global war.' Yes, Al Qaeda "information operations" intended to disrupt and other terrorist groups operate in many terror groups. And the Obama administration corners of the world and continue to launch has not shied away from using "hard power" attacks in different nations, as we saw most where soft power fails. In his first year in recently in Jakarta. And yes, the United States office, the president authorized an intensive will confront Al Qaeda aggressively wherever campaign of drone-missile attacks on terror it exists so that it enjoys no safe haven. But suspects. describing our efforts as a 'global war' only plays into the warped narrative that Al Qaeda propagates." http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/declassified/archive/2010/04/06/obama-s-intelligence-czarplugs-a-new-counter-terrorism-catchphrase.aspx
Obama Bans Islam, Jihad From National Security Strategy Document AP : April 07, 2010 (ed: Excerpted) President Barack Obama's advisers will remove religious terms such as "Islamic extremism" from the central document outlining the U.S. national security strategy and will use the rewritten document to emphasize that the United States does not view Muslim nations through the lens of terror, counterterrorism officials said. The change is a significant shift in the National Security Strategy, a document that previously outlined the Bush Doctrine of preventative war and currently states: "The struggle against militant Islamic radicalism is the great ideological conflict of the early years of the 21st century."
Editor: Dalene Duvenage
The officials described the changes on condition of anonymity because the document still was being written, and the White House would not discuss it. But rewriting the strategy document will be the latest example of Obama putting his stamp on U.S. foreign policy, like his promises to dismantle nuclear weapons and limit the situations in which they can be used. The revisions are part of a larger effort about which the White House talks openly, one that seeks to change not just how the United States talks to Muslim nations, but also what it talks to them about, from health care and science to business startups and education.
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That shift away from terrorism has been then-withdrawn plan to prosecute 9/11 building for a year, since Obama went to mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in Cairo, Egypt, and promised a "new beginning" New York. in the relationship between the United States Peter Feaver, a Duke University political and the Muslim world. The White House scientist and former Bush adviser, is skeptical believes the previous administration based of Obama's engagement effort. It "doesn't that relationship entirely on fighting terror appear to have created much in the way of and winning the war of ideas. strategic benefit" in the Middle East peace Obama's foreign policy posture is not without process or in negotiations over Iran's nuclear political risk. Even as Obama steps up ambitions, he said. Obama runs the political airstrikes on terrorists abroad, he has proven risk of seeming to adopt politically correct vulnerable to Republican criticism on security rhetoric abroad while appearing tone deaf on issues at home, such as the failed Christmas national security issues at home, Feaver said. Day airline bombing and the announcedhttp://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/07/obama-bans-islam-jihad-national-security-strategydocument/
A case of retaliation at CIA Jeff Stein, Washington Post Blog April 6, 2010 (ed: Excerpted) weirder” when investigators discovered that Even spies get caught up in the struggle for Keyes’s wife, a CIA officer by the name of promotions, demotions, pay raises and Margaret Peggy Lyons, knew all about the dismissals, just like their brethren in other classified documents her husband kept at federal agencies. The difference in the CIA is home -- and even had some of her own. And that personnel decisions are wrapped in Lyons, as it turns out, was Peter B.’s secrecy, making it as difficult for supervisor. He knew too much. employees as for outsiders to find In his own sworn declaration to the out what’s really going on. court in February, Peter B. So it’s been with the long-running elaborated on his suspicions, which case of “Peter B.,” a onetime deep sounds like material for the next cover counterterrorism agent for Matt Damon thriller. “I believe that the CIA, who alleges he was unfairly the work I was doing, and about to fired back in 2002. He also alleges do, potentially risked exposure of that the CIA intervened with agency the illegal activities of her husband, “ he contractors to get them to rescind job offers. declared, “and that defendant Lyons sought Why? to eliminate me as a threat to her husband, Peter B. asserts that the answer can be found and perhaps, her own actions. Thus, she took in the coils of a spy case involving a State certain steps to disparage me, and to destroy Department officer and a Taiwanese not only my CIA craeer but my ability to intelligence agent four years ago. The State pursue my chosen profession.” Department officer, Donald Keyser, pleaded He is demanding that the CIA restore his guilty to charges less severe than espionage officer status and benefits and to have his in 2006, which prosecutors sought to rescind case reviewed through due process. Lyons when they discovered Keyes had lied to them “either acted illegally or outside of her scope about the extent of his relationship and the of employment to retaliate against Peter B.,” hoard of secret documents he kept at home. his Washington, D.C., lawyer, Mark S. Zaid, But as Time magazine’s Adam Zagorin alleges in court documents, reported here for reported back then, the case “got even Editor: Dalene Duvenage
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the first time. Moreover, Zaid maintains, counterterrorism operations against high Lyons’s part in the CIA’s dismissal of him was priority targets from Oct. 2001 to Oct. 2005, “of a personal nature, unlawful and/or stepped out of the shadows in late February retaliatory.”` to say she has information that could help him. “I believe many individual(s) in this The CIA is seeking a summary dismissal of the summary process have made decision based case . Lyons, who admitted to prosecutors in on false data/information …” Hesterberg told 2006 that she and Keyser had failed "to the court in a four-page statement on Feb. properly secure" her husband's secret 26, “and therefore have tarnished the good material, subsequently went to work for the name of the Central Intelligence Agency Directorate of National Intelligence. She could (whether deliberately or not) for reasons I not be reached for comment. Meanwhile, still do not understand.” “In that process,” Peter B., who, unknown to him, was Hesterberg continued, “the Agency lost a commended by CIA Director George Tenet for competent operational officer at a time “services rendered for our country” at the crucial in the fight on terrorism, one that was same time in 2002 that Lyons was allegedly totally unnecessary hence abusing CIA’s good plotting to destroy him, is no longer alone in name and good conduct towards its his fight with the CIA. Rosemarie Hesterberg, employees.” a 40-year CIA veteran who managed agency http://blog.washingtonpost.com/spytalk/2010/04/a_spooky_case_of_retaliation_a.html?wprss=spy-talk
Former NSA Senior Executive Charged with Illegally Retaining Classified Information, Obstructing Justice and Making False Statements DOJ website: 15 April 2010 (ed: Excerpted) A federal grand jury in the District of Maryland has returned a 10-count indictment charging former National Security Agency (NSA) senior executive Thomas A. Drake with the willful retention of classified information, obstruction of justice and making false statements, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division. According to the indictment, Drake, 52, was a high-ranking NSA employee from 2001 through 2008, where he had access to highly classified documents and information. The indictment alleges that between approximately February 2006 and November 2007, a newspaper reporter published a series of articles about the NSA. The indictment alleges that Drake served as a source for many of those articles, including articles that contained classified information.
Editor: Dalene Duvenage
The indictment also alleges that Drake took a series of steps to facilitate the provision of this information to the reporter, including: • exchanging hundreds of e-mails with and meeting with the reporter; • researching stories for the reporter to write in the future by e-mailing unwitting NSA employees and accessing classified and unclassified documents on classified NSA networks; • copying and pasting classified and unclassified information from NSA documents into untitled word processing documents which, when printed, had the classification markings removed; • printing both classified and unclassified documents, bringing them to his home, and retaining them there without authority;
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disclosing classified information – be prosecuted and prosecuted vigorously." "The FBI takes very seriously allegations involving government employees who • willfully retain or disclose classified information they are not authorized to possess. Working with prosecutors, we will continue to investigate and pursue charges "As alleged, this defendant used a secret, against these individuals whose actions non-government e-mail account to transmit cannot be justified or tolerated," said Arthur classified and unclassified information that he M. Cummings II, FBI Executive Assistant was not authorized to possess or disclose. As Director, National Security Branch. if those allegations are not serious enough, Willful retention of classified documents he also allegedly later shredded documents carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in and lied about his conduct to federal agents prison. Obstruction of justice carries a in order to obstruct their investigation," said maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer. charge of making a false statement carries a "Our national security demands that the sort maximum penalty of five years in prison. Each of conduct alleged here – violating the of the charged counts carries a maximum fine government’s trust by illegally retaining and of $250,000. http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/April/10-crm-416.html scanning and emailing electronic copies of classified and unclassified documents to the reporter from his home computer; and reviewing, commenting on, and editing drafts of the reporter’s articles.
CIA security investigator -- solitary, unglamorous work Jeff Stein, Washington Post Blog April 9, 2010 The sentencing of a fired CIA investigator Monday for fabricating security-clearance reports reveals how difficult the job is for young people who expect it to be exciting or glamorous, seasoned investigators say. Kerry Gerdes, 27, of Royal Oak, Mich., was sentenced to two months in jail and ordered to pay back six months salary for the period she fabricated some or all of 80 background investigation reports on people seeking a CIA security clearance. Gerdes joined the CIA out of college and was lonely in Washington without friends or family, said Richard Helfrick, the federal Defender Services lawyer who represented her. “It was a combination of things," he said in a telephone interview. "There was a lot of pressure to get these interviews done," with “not enough hours in a day.” "She was basically overwhelmed and took some shortcuts," he told the Associated Press before the court hearing this week. Gerdes was a fulltime CIA employee. But private Editor: Dalene Duvenage
contractors supply large numbers of investigators to do security clearances for federal agencies, including the CIA, according to Kerry Gerdes industry sources. Investigators usually work out of their homes, setting up appointments by telephone, driving hours to and from interviews with an applicant’s neighbors, friends, coworkers and previous employers, and then writing up reports -- alone. “Young people have very high expectations,” Henderson said in an interview, but then “they learn it’s not very exciting stuff.” It’s a job better suited to retirees, who don’t need to make a living from the work, he said. The pressure to meet quotas can be excruciating for others, and “there’s no opportunity to [vent] to other investigators” in an office.
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In 2004, initial Top Secret clearance investigations took almost 400 days, and today they take less than 80 days,” Sen. George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio) said during a Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs subcommittee hearing last September. “Similarly,” Voinovich said, “initial Secret
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clearance investigations took about 200 days in 2004, and today they take less than 50 days. This is significant progress that I recognize and appreciate.” At the CIA, ”security processing time runs on average about three months,” a spokesman said.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/spy-talk/2010/04/cia_security_investigators_con.html
Opening statements begin in Hawaii spy trial AP, Tuesday, April 13, 2010 (Ed: Excerpted)
HONOLULU -- Federal prosecutors on Tuesday Defense attorney David Klein told jurors that accused a former B-2 stealth bomber the information his client passed to others engineer of betraying the U.S. by selling wasn't classified, while the cruise-missile military secrets to China, but his exhaust nozzle design that the defense countered that the engineer sold to China used obvious, information he passed on was well-known information. Both sides "obvious" and "well-known." told jurors that from 1968 to 1986, Gowadia worked at Northrop Corp., Noshir Gowadia, 66, disclosed now Northrop Grumman Corp., and "vulnerabilities of our nation's most important strategic assets" and helped that he helped design the propulsion Noshir Gowadia design a stealth cruise missile for China system for the B-2 stealth bomber. that would evade infrared sensors and defeat Sorenson said Gowadia first relayed classified U.S. heat-seeking missiles, assistant U.S. information to China about the B-2 bomber Attorney Ken Sorenson told jurors during to establish his bona fides. Gowadia later opening statements. relayed more classified information by designing a low-observable exhaust nozzle for The India-born naturalized U.S. citizen did so a Chinese cruise missile, he said. and also marketed his services to Switzerland, Israel and Germany - in part because he The prosecutor outlined six trips Gowadia desperately needed more money to pay the made to China between 2003 and 2005. The mortgage on his mansion-like home first trip was to establish contacts there and overlooking Maui's North Shore, be vetted by the Chinese Sorenson said. government, and then later to explain and test his cruise Gowadia has pleaded not guilty to missile designs, he said. 17 counts, including conspiracy, Gowadia approached China violating the arms export control act because he wanted to sell and money laundering. He has been military secrets - not the other held in federal detention since his B2 Stealth Bomber way around, Sorenson said. "He was October 2005 arrest because a judge a walk-in. He walked in to the Chinese. He decided he was a flight risk. wanted to sell himself, and the Chinese were Gowadia's trial date has been repeatedly more than happy to deal with him," Sorenson delayed over the past 4 1/2 years in part said. because lawyers on both sides needed time The trial is expected to last into July. to review large volumes of classified evidence. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/13/AR2010041304122.html Editor: Dalene Duvenage
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Canada CSIS struggles to adapt to new public scrutiny OTTAWA Canwest News ServiceApril 14, 2010 (Ed: Excerpted) within our borders, but to our interests Canada's spy agency says increased court abroad," wrote CSIS's new director, Richard scrutiny of its intelligence-gathering poses a Fadden. challenge and has caused some soulsearching on how to adapt to the new legal The Federal Court, the adjudicator of order while still protecting secret Canada's anti-terrorism initiatives, has information. required CSIS to disclose more information than ever before and the agency said that the In an annual report, the Canadian Security public exposure has caused officials to rethink Intelligence Service responded to the rough policies and procedures. legal ride it endured last year, when the agency's investigative "These changes have provided CSIS techniques and reliance on dubious the opportunity to reflect on our informants in anti-terrorism cases existing business practices and to sparked sharp rebukes in the improve how we gather and process Federal Court and led to the information," said the annual report, collapse of security certificates which did not elaborate on the way against two of five foreign-born CSIS has changed the way it does suspects. business. "This ever-evolving legal landscape and its However, the report stressed that protection impact on the policies and practices in of classified information, intelligence national security investigations have been gathering methods and sources are a critical challenging not only for CSIS but for many priority in any "current and future national other intelligence services worldwide," said security intelligence investigations." the 2008-09 report, tabled Wednesday in The CSIS annual report highlights that alParliament. Qaida is still a preoccupation of the service "It is clear that the legal environment has and that the threat to Canadians has not shifted, and that CSIS must and will adapt." subsided since 2001. The report also says, as it did last year, that CSIS lists foreign spying as another unabated the al-Qaida network of Islamic extremists threat to Canada by nations interested in continues to be the biggest security threat secretly securing information "in areas such facing Canada and that it is just as toxic as as agriculture, biotechnology, ever. communications, oil extraction from bituminous sands, mining, the aerospace "We continue to be mentioned by al-Qaida industry and control systems engineering." and its supporters as a legitimate target, and these threats have been directed not only http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/CSIS+struggles+adapt+public+scrutiny/2907421/story.htm l
CSIS increasingly follows money down terror trail The Canadian Press, Apr. 15, 2010 OTTAWA — Canada's spy agency says it increasingly follows the money in the fight against terrorism. In its annual public report
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released Wednesday, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service says piecing together the financial trail has become an essential step in tackling extremism.
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CSIS notes certain terrorist networks manage their financial operations much like multinational corporations, complete with bank accounts in different countries. Some make global investments to launder illicit funds. The spy service says most terrorist networks commit traditional crimes including theft, forgery and kidnapping to fund their agendas. CSIS works with the federal anti-money laundering agency, the Canada Revenue Agency, the RCMP and international partners to try to trace funds. "Financial intelligence is growing in importance as an element of all these
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investigations as a number of countries attempt to piece together the fragments of terrorism's elusive trail," CSIS director Dick Fadden says in the report -- his first as chief. CSIS's foreign role has continued to grow, including support of the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan and work to help locate and free Canadians kidnapped abroad by terrorist groups, the report adds. The greatest international terrorist threat to Canada and its interests in 2008-09 continued to emanate from al Qaeda and its affiliates in places like North Africa, CSIS says.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100415/csis_money_100415/20100415?hub=Canada
Canadian researchers reveal online spy ring based in China Globe and Mail, Apr. 06, 2010 (Ed: Excerpted) Canadian researchers have uncovered a vast “Shadow Network” of online espionage based in China that used seemingly harmless means such as e-mail and Twitter to extract highly sensitive data from computers around the world. Stolen documents recovered in a year-long investigation show the hackers have breached the servers of dozens of countries and organizations, taking everything from top-secret files on missile systems in India to confidential visa applications, including those of Canadians travelling abroad. The findings, which are part of a report that will be made public today in Toronto, will expose one of the biggest online spy rings ever cracked. Written by researchers at the University of Toronto’s Munk Centre for International Studies, the Ottawa-based security firm SecDev Group and a U.S. cyber sleuthing organization known as the Shadowserver Foundation, the report is expected to be controversial. The researchers have found a global network of “botnets,” computers controlled remotely and made to report to servers in China. Along Editor: Dalene Duvenage
with those servers, the investigators located where the hackers stashed their stolen files, allowing a glimpse into what the spy ring is looking for. “Essentially we went behind the backs of the attackers and picked their pockets,” said Ron Deibert, director of the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, which investigated the spy ring. Ron Deibert, director of the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, Nart Villeneuve, chief security officer at SecDev Group, and Greg Walton, a fellow at the Munk School, were instrumental in uncovering a massive network of online espionage. The report, titled Shadows in the Cloud, comes one year after the same team discovered a spy ring with links to China that it dubbed GhostNet. Using information gleaned from that investigation, investigators followed a trail of websites that led to a much larger operation, also with links to China. The report is careful not to conclude the Chinese government is behind the operation, since it is difficult to tell who is orchestrating the attacks. Last year, the Chinese
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government denied any involvement in GhostNet after the researchers uncovered nearly 1,300 infected computers in 103 countries linked to servers in China. But computers belonging to exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, who is denounced by China, have been the most compromised. Almost every e-mail sent to or from the Dalai Lama’s offices in 2009 has shown up in the files, the report says. Nearby India has also taken the brunt of the cyber attacks, with numerous secret government documents recovered by the Canadian researchers. They include 78 documents related to the financing of military projects in India, details of live fire exercises and missile projects, and two documents marked “secret” belonging to the national security council. Sensitive data from 16 countries, such as visa applications by Canadian citizens, were also recovered. It is believed the hackers accessed those files through computers at India’s embassies in Kabul, Dubai, Nigeria and Moscow, which were corrupted.
Rafal Rohozinski, a principal of the SecDev Group and a principal investigator and coauthor of the report, said such a collection of sensitive information represents a new era in online spying. A decade ago, hackers generally looked for quick paydays – for example, by blocking access to a gambling site and demanding a ransom. But the Shadow Network operation exposes much bigger game: information that, if it isn’t being collected by governments, could be sold to the state. The revelations are a warning to governments, Mr. Deibert said, since countries are only as strong as their weakest link in a global data network. So while files may be safe in paper form in a locked cabinet, as soon as nations begin exchanging data electronically, cracks can be exploited, as they appear to have been with India. “Unfortunately, Canada has no cyber security strategy, although one’s been promised for many years,” Mr. Deibert said. “We have no foreign policy for cyberspace either, which is mind boggling, considering how important this domain is for us.” http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/canadian-researchers-reveal-online-spy-ringbased-in-china/article1524228/
Europe Germany: new BND building Ernst Uhrlau, head of the German intelligence service, the BND, attends the topping-out ceremony of the new German Intelligence service building on March 25, 2010 in Berlin, Germany. The new headquarter will be cost approximately 1.5 billion Euros and should be finished by the end of 2014. http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/J8M5hhF_ZM/Topping+Out+Ceremony+Held+New+German+Intelligence/1mjeoNoTZeE
French spy chief probed Sarkozy marriage rumours Paris, Apr 8 (AFP) French spies tried to track down the source of rumours about the stability of President Nicolas Sarkozy's
Editor: Dalene Duvenage
marriage, the head of the domestic intelligence agency has said. Asked about the rumours - which became headlines in the European press outside
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France after surfacing on blogs - DCRI chief "We worked on it until the judicial inquiry Bernard Squarcini confirmed that specialists began," he added, referring to a complaint had been asked to identify their source. "My lodged by the Sunday newspaper Journal du department was tasked by its commanding Dimanche, a complaint which triggered an authority, national police chief Frederic inquiry against a blogger who posted on its Pechenard, in early March," Squarcini told site. AFP, shortly after first lady Carla Bruni said the rumours were "insignificant". http://www.ptinews.com/news/600271_French-spy-chief-probed-Sarkozy-marriage-rumours
Netherlands: Arrests after AIVD provides intel on Iran trade AIVD website, 6 april 2010 (Ed: Google translation from original Dutch with ed editing) called 'dual use' goods markets. These are Based on information from the Counter dual-use goods, which could be used for the Proliferation Unit (a joint venture of the MIVD development and production of weapons of and the AIVD), the OM today raided a mass destruction. The prosecution says company that has violated export rules. The indications are that the company's has FIOD has conducted searches on eleven provided these goods to Iran without the points and four suspects arrested. proper permission. The research of the FIOD focuses on a company that does business with Iran and sohttps://www.aivd.nl/actueel/@126125/arrestaties-na
UK: Alleged MI6 traitor also accused of betraying spies Government, 16th April 2010 The former MI6 officer accused of trying to He is also accused of accepting a briefcase sell spying secrets is also now charged with containing ÂŁ900,000 in exchange for USB trying to trade lists of British intelligence sticks and a laptop hard drive containing MI5 personnel, a court heard. and MI6 intelligence gathering techniques up to Top Secret level, the highest classification. The new charge against 25-year-old Daniel He had allegedly sought ÂŁ2m. Houghton was added at a hearing at Horseferry Road Magistrates' Court on At an earlier hearing it was revealed that Thursday. British security services acted on a tip-off from their Dutch counterparts. It is unclear Piers Arnold, for the prosecution, said which nation's intelligence service Houghton Houghton had "unlawfully disclosed staff lists allegedly believed he was selling to. as a result of which people working for the intelligence services were put at risk by his Houghton has not yet entered a plea. He was actions which damaged operational remanded in custody until a further pre-trial capability", The Times reports. hearing is scheduled for April 29. An Old Bailey trial is scheduled for May 27. The half-Dutch computer science graduate was arrested at a central London hotel on March 1, following a sting operation by MI5, which is responsible for counter-espionage. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/16/houghton_lists/ Editor: Dalene Duvenage
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Three Turks accused of spying for Greece Wednesday, April 14, 2010 ANKARA — Agence France-Presse services, according to the charge sheet drawn Three Turks have admitted selling military up in the western city of İzmir. information to Greece and could be sentenced to up to 20 years in jail, the The prosecutor has demanded that the Anatolia news agency reported Tuesday, suspects be sentenced to between 15 and 20 citing prosecution documents. years in jail for espionage. The indictment said the three It was not immediately clear when the Turkish nationals were charged suspects would face a judge to be tried with spying on military bases, and sentenced. troop movements and naval The three were arrested in December exercises in western Turkey in İzmir and the seaside resort of and conveying the information Bodrum after being sought by police to agents of the Greek secret service, Anatolia and the security services for nearly a year. reported. Traditional rivals, Turkey and Greece, have The men have pleaded guilty to the significantly improved relations over the past accusations in their testimony to prosecutors, decade, especially in the field of trade, but saying that they received payments between remain at loggerheads over several issues 700 to 2,000 euros ($950 to $2,720) for their including sovereignty in the Aegean Sea separating the two countries. http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=three-turks-accused-of-spying-for-greece-report2010-04-14
Middle East Israeli Arab jailed for spying on army chief at gym JERUSALEM, April 6, 2010 (AFP) - A young Israeli Arab on Tuesday was sentenced to almost six years in jail for spying on Israel's armed forces chief for Lebanon's Hezbollah militia at the gym where they both worked out. Rawi Fuad Sultani, 23, passed on information on Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, to foreign agents, according to a plea bargain agreement between the state and Sultani. "There is no doubt the indictment represents a serious case of contact with a Hezbollah agent and transferring information to the enemy," said a court in the city of Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv. The court agreed to a relatively lenient jail term of 68 months for an espionage
Editor: Dalene Duvenage
conviction, noting Sultani had not initiated the contact with the Hezbollah agents. The agreement, however, dropped charges of conspiracy to commit a crime. The initial indictment had accused Sultani of plotting to assassinate Ashkenazi to avenge the killing of a Hezbollah military commander, Imad Mugnieh. Mugnieh was killed in a February 2008 car bombing in Damascus, a strike widely blamed on Israel. Sultani is said to have admitted to meeting a Hezbollah activist in Morocco one year ago and before that in December 2008, when he flew to Poland and met another Hezbollah member to pass on information he had collected on Ashkenazi. However, Sultani's father, who was also his defence lawyer, said the case was blown out of proportion
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because it involved an Arab. "If the case was punishment," said Fuad Sultani. as serious as it has been made out to be, we could have expected a lot harsher http://www.haveeru.com.mv/english/details/29842/Israeli_Arab_jailed_for_spying_on_army_chie f_at_gym__
Hamas executes two for 'spying' Al Jazeera 16 April 2010 (Ed-excerpted) The Hamas government executed two men in Palestinians recruited Gaza, saying they had provided information Shin Bet, Israel's secret police, maintains a to Israeli military and assisted them with network of informers in the occupied West attacks on Hamas fighters. Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Ahmed Atallah, the head of Gaza's military Collaborators are often recruited through court, issued a statement on the blackmail, payment or the Hamas interior ministry website, promise of entry and work saying that the two were executed permits to Israel. The executions on Thursday for collaborating with were the first in five years Israel. officially carried out in Gaza and "They had been found guilty of the first since Hamas took collaborating for several years control of Gaza in 2007. with the Zionist occupiers and of Hamas soldiers (Scrape TV.com) Palestinian law allows the death having as a result caused the death penalty for those convicted of of several fighters," it said. collaborating with Israel and other offences. The two men were killed by firing squad The law says the president must approve all before dawn, Samir Zakut, of the Palestinian execution orders before they can be carried human rights group Al-Mizan, said. out, but Hamas no longer recognises the legitimacy of Mahmoud Abbas, the Al-Mizan condemned the executions and Palestinian president, whose four-year term identified the executed men as Mohammed ended in 2009. Ismail and Nasser Abu Freh. Mohammed Ismail, 36, was convicted of planting devices Since taking office in 2005, Abbas has signed in the cars of fighters, presumably to help such an order once, approving the execution track them, Hamas officials said. They said of four convicted murderers in June 2005. Nasser Abu Freh, 33, a former Palestinian Hamas won elections in January 2006 but was police captain before Hamas took control, shunned by the world powers, worsening a allegedly started receiving money to work power struggle between the Palestinian with Israel in 1998. factions. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/04/2010416635959133.html
Editor: Dalene Duvenage
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New Zealand and Australia NZ: Greens want more info on spybase NZPA Friday April 9, 2010 network of which Waihopai is a part", Mr The Green Party wants more information Locke said. about the Waihopai spybase to be made public. New Zealand intelligence "It is an integrated agency, the Government system whereby the Communications Security Bureau electronic intelligence (GCSB), yesterday said the base, agencies in the US, in Marlborough's Waihopai Britain, Canada, Australia Valley, was not "a United States and New Zealand can spybase in our midst, extract what they need contributing to torture, war, and from the huge volume of the use of weapons of mass information drawn down destruction and other into the satellite dishes unspeakable evil". situated in each of the five partner nations. Director Sir Bruce Ferguson, and his predecessor Warren Tucker, "There is no way that the said in a statement the base was GCSB could interrogate totally operated and controlled the purpose of all the by New Zealand, through the GCSB as an arm word combinations and phone numbers put of the New Zealand Government. into the system by the US National Security Agency to filter the It was a fundamental question Sickle-wielding peace protesters millions of phone calls of New Zealand's sovereign deflated one of Waihopai Valley's and texts intercepted at control over its decision-making landmark spy domes Waihopai each day." on matters of foreign policy, they said. Debate over the base reignited last month when a jury found teacher Green Party foreign affairs spokesman Keith Adrian Leason, 45, Dominican friar Peter Locke welcomed their comments but called Murnane, 69, and farmer Sam Land, 26, not for further information to be released. guilty of charges of burglary and wilful "It will be disappointing if, having raised New damage after they broke into the spybase in Zealanders' interest in how the system works, 2008 and deflated one of the radar dome our spy chiefs refuse to tell us more." covers. GCSB's assurance Waihopai did not help the Solicitor-General David Collins yesterday United States to get support for the invasion ruled out appealing their acquittal but he may of Iraq "conflicts with what we know about try to sue them for $1.1 million for the the five nation communications interception damage done to government property. http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/greens-want-more-info-spybase-121217
Editor: Dalene Duvenage
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Australia: Iranian embassy in Canberra 'spying on activist students' The Australian April 06, 2010, (Ed- excerpted) government scholarships who disrupted proTHE Iranian embassy in Canberra has been democracy meetings, tore down posters and accused of spying on Iranian democracy threatened anti-government campaigners. activists in Australia, collecting intelligence on their activities and reporting back to The students' allegations of harassment come Tehran, where critics of the regime can face amid growing concern within Australian severe punishment. security services over the activities of Iranian government-backed militants in Australia. Pro-democracy campaigners in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra say the embassy An ASIO assessment included in the federal monitors articles and protests by political government's recent counter-terrorism white activists and films and photographs those paper drew attention to the presence in who attend anti-regime rallies and reports Australia of the Lebanese Hezbollah External back on their activities. Security Organisation (ESO), an Iraniansponsored group described on the federal One activist, a 24-year-old student at government's national security website as Melbourne's Monash University, recently "among the best-organised terrorist networks learned she had been barred from returning in the world". to Iran after the government was informed of her attendance at pro-democracy rallies in ASIO pinpointed ESO as a group "with a long Australia and articles she had written that history of engaging in terrorist acts", whose were critical of the Ahmadinejad regime. supporters might see Australia as "a suitable or convenient location for an attack on their A spokesman for pro-democracy group Iran enemies". Solidarity Melbourne, Afshin Nikouseresht, said student activists were harassed and Intelligence agencies have been aware of abused on campus by pro-regime students ESO's presence in Australia since the 1990s, whom they suspected of working for the when a Sydney man hosted a visit to Australia Iranian government. Mr Nikouseresht said by several ESO officials. ASIO believed ESO one dissident had received anonymous death was recruiting local supporters to assist with threats and the students held "well-founded logistical tasks such as the purchase of "dualfears" for their future as a result. use technology" for Iran's weapons programs. Other activists said that since last year's antiAn Iranian-born cleric based in Sydney, regime uprising prompted pro-democracy Mansour Leghaei, is due to be deported from rallies in Australia, Tehran had dispatched Australia later this month after being branded spies to keep tabs on activity in Australia. a security risk by ASIO and accused of "acts of They said the spies were students on Iranian foreign interference". http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/iranian-embassy-in-canberra-spying-on-activiststudents/story-e6frg6nf-1225850112423
Australia orders spy agencies to probe Dubai hit (AFP) – Apr 10, 2010 SYDNEY — Australia's spy agencies are investigating the apparently fake passports linked to a Cold War-style hit in Dubai after a police probe failed to yield enough answers, the foreign minister said Sunday. Editor: Dalene Duvenage
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said he needed "further advice" about the case, in which Israel's Mossad spy agency stands accused, after receiving the initial report on Friday.
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"It's clear from a preliminary assessment of Israeli diplomat last month. Australia has that report that I need to get further advice summoned the Israeli ambassador and and see further work and have further warned the countries' friendly ties were at discussion with other agencies," Smith told risk. the Nine Network TV station. Smith said both the Australian Secret "I want to make sure that we get this Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and the right. I need further work done by our Australian Secret Intelligence Service intelligence agencies and I'm going to (ASIS) -- which probe threats to the get this right rather than rush it in any country and gather information abroad, way," he added. "It's a very important respectively -- were now investigating. issue." "Further work is required. Further Canberra has said all four Australian consideration is required. When that is passport-holders linked to the January done, I'll let the government's decision Foreign Minister killing of Hamas operative Mahmud alabout these matters be known Stephen Smith Mabhuh in a luxury Dubai hotel were publicly," he said. victims of identity fraud. Passports were also used from four European countries including Britain, which expelled an http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jLit8XZBunooGmnG4l3GgEShlazg
Australia: Money laundering crack down Sky News, Saturday April 17, 2010 person's name and details from the register The federal government's cracking down on of financial providers. money laundering and terrorism financing with new laws that Money transfer service providers must would de-register be registered to operate legally. organisations involved in Home Affairs Minister Brendan dodgy money transfer O'Connor says the new powers for the services. Australian Transaction Reports and The new rules will allow Analysis Centre aim to prevent serious Australia's anti-money crimes and will not affect the majority laundering and counterof providers. terrorism financing regulator to remove a http://www.skynews.com.au/politics/article.aspx?id=452102
Asia Malaysia: Police to probe Anwar’s Israeli spy claims By Mazlinda Mahmood, 2010/04/09 SHAH ALAM: Police will investigate allegations by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim that Israeli intelligence had a mole in Bukit Aman (ed: the Malaysian Police HQ). InspectorGeneral of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said yesterday a police report would be lodged so Editor: Dalene Duvenage
as to allow investigations to begin. He said police wanted to know where the opposition leader had got his information. “I have ordered my men to investigate. I have already said that there is no such thing, but if you (Anwar) want to exploit things like this,
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we will investigate.“When someone says reported in the press. There is no such thing Israel has penetrated Bukit Aman, I find this and it is untrue,” he told the New Straits very serious. We will lodge a report and Times. investigate where they got this information Lim said the company did not deal in (from),” he said after the closing of the 20th communications systems but in software Departmental Review of the Joint Malaysiaincluding programming and installation. Thailand Working Committee on Criminal He added that some of their installations Activities. included Microsoft software which was On Tuesday, Musa challenged Anwar to licensed directly from the company. provide evidence on his allegations that an In Parliament on Tuesday, Anwar claimed that Israeli intelligence agent had infiltrated the an Israeli agent was working in the police force, which the Parti Keadilan Rakyat communications server room in Bukit Aman de facto leader had stated in Parliament. police headquarters. Anwar claimed that they Meanwhile in Kuala Lumpur, Asiasoft (M) Sdn were working for Asiasoft Malaysia, a subBhd has denied Anwar’s allegation that an contractor engaged by Master Plan Israeli intelligence agent was working for the Consulting Sdn Bhd. He said the company was company. Its general manager, Lim See Hui, hired to upgrade communication systems for said all employees in the company were the police. Malaysians. “I am shocked over the allegation http://www.nst.com.my/articles/20100409010916/Article/index_html
South Korea: government
Intelligence
April 07, 2010 (ed- excerpted) Grand National Representative Kim Haksong, who heads the National Assembly’s Defense Committee, faced fierce denunciations yesterday following his revelations of key military intelligence before the media. Kim met with reporters Monday afternoon and discussed the March 26 sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan after he received personal briefings from the Defense Ministry and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Kim gave reporters detailed information he had obtained from the military, linking the Cheonan’s sinking to a possible torpedo or mine attack. His revelations prompted concerns that the release of confidential military information could lay bare American and South Korean methods of gathering intelligence on the North. “Recently, some leaders of society were thoughtless enough to expose crucial military secrets on intelligence-gathering methods, Editor: Dalene Duvenage
release
draws
fire
from
the
such as Navy ships’ communications logs and the operation of thermal observation devices, as well as other information such as the Navy’s weapons system and the inside plan of a warship,” said Won Kim Hak-song Tae-jae, ministry spokesman. “We are extremely concerned about it, and we will sternly and fully counter such leaks. “Military secrets are necessary to successfully conduct operations and protect our soldiers’ lives in times of emergency,” he said. “They are not only the secrets of the military, but also the secrets of all this nation’s people.” Won said a joint investigation team of military and civilian experts will do its best to transparently explain the situation to the
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public, while keeping sensitive information unusual movement of the North’s semiconfidential. submersibles was detected. Won Sei-hoon, the head of the National “We cannot say for sure if the submarines Intelligence Service, told the National crossed the inter-Korean border,” Kim said. Assembly’s Intelligence Committee, “When “Two of them were on the move, and one’s high-resolution [satellite] images provided by location was once confirmed based on the United States are revealed, our intercepted communication, but the other’s relationship with the U.S. and bilateral trust whereabouts were unknown.” The National can be damaged. We urge lawmakers to Assembly’s Intelligence Committee said refrain from revealing military confidences.” yesterday there was no abnormal activity in Democratic Party Representative Ooh Chethe North when the Cheonan sank. Kim also chang condemned Kim for “fueling the released details about the condition of the confusion among the public” rather than Cheonan. “The military said the welded parts stopping speculation. “Kim received personal were removed from the bottom of the briefings from the Defense Ministry and then Cheonan and the top part’s metal plates were briefed reporters, acting as if he were the torn,” he told reporters. “The military said the spokesman of the ministry,” Ooh said. On damages were more likely from a torpedo or Monday, Kim told reporters the South lost maritime mine, not metal fatigue.” track of two North Korean submarines Kim told the JoongAng Ilbo yesterday that he between March 24 and 27, though the was aware of the sensitivity of the military does not believe their movements information that he had provided. However, were related to the explosion that sank the he said the North’s submarine activities had Cheonan. been discussed by Defense Minister Kim TaeKim went into details, saying that other 300young before the National Assembly last ton shark-class North Korean submarines week, and he had no choice but to elaborate were spotted six times on March 23, three to stop suspicions from growing. times the next day and once on March 26 near the North’s Bipa Cape. He added that no http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2918872
Prosecutors arrest SKorean for spying for NKorea By HYUNG-JIN KIM (AP) 12 April 2010 SEOUL, South Korea — A South Korean man has been arrested for allegedly spying for Pyongyang and working with its military to kidnap activists who helped North Koreans defect, officials said Monday. The 55-year-old man, who was arrested last week and who denies the charges, is accused of taking up the spy job after meeting a female North Korean agent in 1999 in China's eastern Shandong province, where he was believed to be engaged in drug trafficking, the official said on condition of anonymity because an investigation was ongoing. Editor: Dalene Duvenage
The man, surnamed Kim, allegedly traveled to Pyongyang in 2000 for 15 days of spy training and received $10,000 and 4.4 pounds (2 kilograms) of narcotics from the North, the official said. The suspect was sent back to China and started abducting South Korean activists who were helping North Koreans defect from their impoverished, authoritarian homeland. The kidnapped Koreans were sent to the North in cooperation with the female agent, the official said. The man also kidnapped North Korean defectors hiding in China and forced them
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back to the North. He also tried to gather information on South Korean intelligence officers operating in Chinese towns near North Korea, the official said. Prosecution spokesman Oh Se-in confirmed the man's arrest, saying he allegedly violated the National Security Law, which carries the death penalty as a maximum sentence. The suspect denied the charges, Oh said. Oh declined to disclose how many activists and defectors the man has allegedly kidnapped. Activists claim tens of thousands of North Koreans live in hiding in China after fleeing the North to avoid a harsh political system, poverty and chronic food shortages. If repatriated, they could face severe
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punishment such as forced labor and years in prison, experts and activists say. An undisclosed number of South Korean activists and missionaries also secretly operate in China to smuggle North Koreans from their homeland and shelter and feed defectors before they take refuge in South Korea, the U.S. and elsewhere in the world. The man was arrested Thursday while making a temporary visit to South Korea, the official said. The two Koreas remain in a state of war, divided by a heavily fortified border, because their three-year conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953. More than 18,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea since the war's end, with most of them coming via China.
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Taiwanese intelligence capabilities questioned By Ko Shu-ling, Monday, Apr 05, 2010 (Ed- excerpted) The manner in which the government handled the sinking of a South Korean naval vessel last week provided ample evidence of the deficiencies in intelligence gathering by the national security apparatus, analysts say. On being informed of the incident on the
when he travels abroad. Apparently, the system did not work on this occasion, Liu said, referring to claims by reporters travelling with Ma who said the president was only made aware that a South Korean navy vessel had sunk when Presidential Office spokesman Lo Chihchiang was asked to comment on the
night on March 26, President Ma President Ma incident by the Central News Agency Ying-jeou at the time on a state visit (CNA) on the night of March 26. Ying-jeou to Palau, called emergency meetings In addition to the sinking of the South with security officials and ordered the Korean vessel, Liu said that Ma also appeared activation of Taiwan’s national security clueless as to whether Taiwan had received mechanism. The following day, Ma also held a an invitation to attend this year’s WHA when conference call with senior officials in Taipei questioned by Taiwanese reporters on the to obtain additional information. matter during his visit to Nauru. Liu Shih-chung a research fellow at the Referring to a claim by media that Ma was Taiwan Brain Trust think tank, said the only informed about the situation following national security team apparently did a poor an inquiry from CNA, Chang said the job of keeping the president informed on the government must learn from the episode latest developments in the Korean Peninsula. because it cannot rely on the media to when Liu, an adviser to former president Chen Shuidealing with developing crises. bian, said a satellite phone system is used to After being strongly criticized for its slow keep the president informed at all times reaction to the devastation caused by Editor: Dalene Duvenage
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Typhoon Morakot in August, the Ma administration appeared to have performed better this time, Chang said, referring to Ma’s remarks that he called three national security meetings in the 15 hours after being informed of the Korean incident. During Typhoon Morakot, Ma waited until six days after the typhoon hit the nation and killed hundreds before calling a National
Security Council meeting and activating the national security mechanism. Despite the alleged delay in acquiring information on the sinking of the South Korean vessel, Liu said Ma deserved credit for activating the national security mechanism and ordering military officials to meet at the military’s Hengshan Headquarters — the national emergency military command center — to monitor developments. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2010/04/05/2003469813
Taiwan: Spies deserve the gratitude and support of the nation April 15, 2010, The China Post news staff (Ed-excerpted) sacrificed their own freedom for the sake of Earlier this week, a bill providing financial preserving our national security. compensation to intelligence agents who have been arrested or gone missing finally It is no wonder that Tsai Teh-sheng, directormade it through the first general of the National Security reading in the Legislative Bureau, told lawmakers that the Yuan. bureau "fully supports" this legislation. Dubbed the "National Intelligence Work Act While the bill states that Amendment," the bill would Tsai Teh-sheng compensation would only be require the government to provided to those connected with compensate families of operations that started on or intelligence agents who have been arrested after February 5, 2005, the date that the or gone missing while on intelligence original National Intelligence Work Act came missions. The bill would also provide into effect, it would also compensate those compensation for "personnel providing persons who remained in prison or under intelligence assistance" and their families arrest as of that date as a result of past when such persons are arrested or go missing operations. in connection with current or past The bill marks a change from the intelligence operations. government's somewhat lax attitude toward The compensation provided in the bill would espionage agents who failed to make it back have to come from the budgets of the safely. intelligence agencies or military units the In past decades, those who got caught on the affected personnel would have reported to. mainland were largely left on their own, and It would cover payment of monthly salary, few managed to return even after their holiday bonuses, a bonus for mental distress, release. compensation for any financial losses and Even in the democratic era, the government medical expenses, as well as other family has not done much to help spies who have expenses incurred with making visits to gotten caught. imprisoned loved ones. Indeed, top leaders including two former This bill is a long overdue expression of the presidents have even made public remarks nation's gratitude to those who have Editor: Dalene Duvenage
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that resulted in the arrests of important spies ring working for Taiwan after he publicly who provided crucial information. identified the exact locations of missile batteries and other detailed information that After former President Lee Teng-hui publicly had been obtained by the spying network. stated that missiles test-fired in the Taiwan Strait were not loaded with warheads, Beijing When politicians in Taiwan have felt the need ordered the arrest of a high-ranking mainland to reveal sensitive information for the sake of Chinese general who had provided this crucial boosting their standing in elections, no one in information to Taiwan. the government ever bothered to consider the hardships that would be faced by those Lee's successor, President Chen Shui-bian, who provided the crucial information. caused the same fate to members of a spying http://www.chinapost.com.tw/editorial/taiwan-issues/2010/04/15/252555/Spies-deserve.htm
Taiwanese businessman indicted for spying for China CAN, Taipei, April 15 A Taiwanese businessman with operations in China was indicted by the Shihlin Prosecutor s Office Thursday for spying for China, according to the indictment released that day. Ho Chih-chiang, a China-based Taiwanese businessman, had been recruited by China's national security authorities since 2007 to collect Taiwanese national security secrets in return for financial subsidies and other privileges, the indictment said. Acting under the instructions of Chinese officials, Ho returned to Taiwan and tried to recruit a Taiwan National Security Bureau
(NSB) officer, surnamed Chao, to serve as a Chinese spy by collecting information related to the government's policies on Falun Gong, Tibetan independence, Japan and diplomacy, between December 2008 and February this year. Ho also offered Chao US$20,000, liquor and additional pay several times that of Chao's retirement pension in exchange for information on NSB overseas deployments and its satellite communication routings, but this was rejected by Chao. Ho was indicted on charges of bribery and of violating laws on national security and on protection of national secrets.
http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aALL&ID=201004150035
Japan boosting intel on China TOKYO, Apr 18, 2010 - JAPAN is boosting its intelligence resources devoted to China's growing military, which it considers the top national security concern, the business daily Nikkei reported on Sunday. The defence ministry-affiliated National Institute for Defence Studies (NIDS) has established a task force of six researchers to examine China's national security strategy, the daily said. It will study the strategic thinking guiding the People's Liberation Army, the purpose of its recent military buildup and its relationship
Editor: Dalene Duvenage
with the Chinese Communist Party, the daily said. The team will be expanded into a fuller unit in two or three years, Nikkei added. China's military budget has risen steadily in recent years but much remains unknown about the size of its military forces and the equipment they use. The Tokyo government has warily watched China's growing military might and has called on Beijing to be more transparent about its intentions. This month, 10 Chinese naval vessels, including two submarines, were seen sailing
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through international waters between Japan's southernmost islands, heading southeast into the Pacific Ocean. Defence Minister Toshimi
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Kitazawa said at the time that Tokyo had never before monitored such a large group of Chinese warships in the region. -- AFP
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Asia/Story/STIStory_516098.html
India: Short of staff and Investigating Agency suffers Anil Anand / DNA, Monday, April 12, 2010 New Delhi: The National Investigating Agency (NIA), mandated to probe international and interstate crimes, does not have proper infrastructure, both in terms of material and manpower, even after nearly two years of its existence since December 2008. There is a provision in its charter under which it is supposed to provide assistance to and seek assistance from other intelligence and investigating agencies, both central and state, but it is still solely depended on other agencies for information in the absence of its own mechanism. The Centre has till date assigned it eight cases, the most important being the one related to 26/11 accused David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, but the agency still does not have its full quota of officials and employees. As a result, none of the cases has been cracked. A major source of recruitment for NIA is through deputation from other government departments and agencies, but nobody is ready to part with their trained men. Its first director general (DG) RV Raju had requisitioned the services of nearly a dozen CBI officers with a proven track record, but without success.Apart from DG, the agency created on the lines of FBI has an additional
intelligence
input,
National
DG, two IGs, nine DIGs and 15 SPs. It is still in the process of recruiting administrative staff. NIA has been facing difficulties on this front since its inception, mostly due to refusal by respective parent organisations to release officers. The process of deputation till the time the agency is directly assigned police officers should be smooth if NIA has to function without a problem, a senior police officer said. He rued Raju had to face lot of humiliation after most of his proposals for deputation postings were rejected. Ultimately, he retired without getting a single officer of his choice. The NIA Act provides for exchange of intelligence with other agencies, but there is a feeling that it should have a functional mechanism for intelligence gathering. Explaining the phenomena, an intelligence agency official said CBI handled corruption and related cases, for which post-facto analysis was easy, whereas NIA was entrusted with terrorism-related cases alone, for which post-facto analysis was difficult without largescale intelligence. “NIA lacks field intelligence, but is relying on technical intelligence. The issue of intelligence gathering without sparking a turf war should be addressed by the Centre,� the official said.
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_short-of-staff-and-intelligence-input-national-investigating-agencysuffers_1370304
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People US: Senior Leadership Changes at CIA April 14, 2010 (ed – excerpted) Steve Kappes (Deputy Director of the CIA) is leaving on pension and will be replaced by Michael Morell, a 30-year veteran of the Agency, who has spent much of his career in the Directorate of Intelligence, most recently as its chief. He has also been a Presidential briefer, and was, from July 2006 until May 2008, CIA’s Associate Deputy Director. His focus in that assignment was the administration of the Agency as a whole, assisting and advising the Director on key policy and personnel matters. Michael has been part of the senior team for almost four years now. He knows the CIA from top to bottom. He understands intelligence as few others do—from collection and analysis to interaction with our customers. Michael has not only seen how the pieces fit together, he’s actually brought them together. He comes to his newest task with a powerful intellect, proven leadership skills, and a deep familiarity with the ways of Washington and the world at large. Michael is someone who builds and improves, someone who takes great pride in the men and women who make this Agency the finest it can be. Fran Moore, Deputy Director for Intelligence, will move up to become Director for Intelligence. Fran has been in the Directorate of Intelligence front office since August 2008. She joined the Agency in 1983, and has held leadership positions in several Directorates, shaping our efforts in counterterrorism and counterintelligence, among other disciplines. She doesn’t just tell you what she knows—she tells you how she knows it, how confident she is about it, and what we still need to learn. Fran is the consummate analyst and leader of analysts, insisting on absolute rigor while looking out for the people who do the work. Stephanie O’Sullivan, Associate Deputy Director. After leading the Directorate of Science and Technology for more than four years, she has settled into her role as supervisor of the day-to-day operations of our vital and complex Agency. She is an exceptionally creative manager and problem solver. Stephanie blends clear, common-sense thinking with a profound respect for those around her. I rely on her counsel and trust in her judgment. https://www.cia.gov/news-information/press-releases-statements/press-release-2010/seniorleadership-changes.html
Rwanda: New Defence Minister, Military Chiefs Sworn in 14 April 2010 President Paul Kagame, yesterday, acknowledged and appreciated the role of the newly appointed Military leaders, Gen. James Kabarebe (Minister of Defense), Lt. Gen.Charles Kayonga, (Chief of Defence Staff), Lt.Gen. Ceasar Kayizari (Chief of Staff, Land Forces) and Lt.Gen. Charles Muhire (Commander Reserve Force), in the Liberation and subsequent defence of the territorial intergrity of the country. http://allafrica.com/stories/201004140005.html
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Publishing the Intelligencer is a labour of love, an awareness campaign, and an educational vehicle. It will not be used for commercial purposes and email addresses are confidential. Previous editions can be found at http://4knowledge-za.blogspot.com/ Notice: The SA Intelligencer does not confirm the correctness of the information carried in the media, neither does it analyse the agendas or political affiliations of such media. The SA Intelligencer’s purpose is informing our readers of the developments in the world of intelligence for research and environmental scanning purposes. We only use OSINT from free open sources and not those from fee-based sources. The SA Intelligencer contains copyrighted material - the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We do not take responsibility for the correctness of the information contained herein. The content has been harvested from various news aggregators, web alerts, lists etc. This work is in the Public Domain. To view a copy of the public domain certification, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA. Contact Dalene Duvenage at dalene@4knowledge.co.za should you wish to subscribe or unsubscribe.
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