Counterintelligence News for the week of:

December 10-16, 2006

Couple in Cuba spy case to accept plea deal, sources say

Longtime FIU academic Carlos Alvarez, 61, held in federal custody for almost a year, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to be an unregistered agent for the communist government of Cuban leader Fidel Castro…(Miami Herald, 16 Dec 06)

Testimony Helps Detail CIA's Post-9/11 Reach

…This initial secret contact and others that followed, disclosed in newly released documents, show the speed and breadth with which the CIA applied in post-9/11 Europe a tactic it had long reserved for the Third World -- "extraordinary rendition," the extrajudicial abduction of Islamic radicals overseas for interrogation in friendly countries….(Washington Post, 16 Dec 06)

EXCERPTS: Secret Agents Spilling Secrets

Litvinenko 'killed over dossier'

Former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko was murdered because of information he held on a powerful Kremlin figure, an ex-business associate has said….(BBC, 16 Dec 06)

One in 10 Russians Say Their Special Services Killed Litvinenko

One in 10 Russians think their own special forces killed Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian spy who died in London Nov. 23 of apparent poisoning by radioactive polonium 210, an independent public opinion poll showed. The Moscow-based Levada Center asked 1,600 Russians between Dec. 8-12 who had killed Litvinenko. Some 20 percent said it was his former business partners; 15 percent said Boris Berezovsky…(Bloomberg, 16 Dec 06)

Litvinenko killed over dossier on Russian: Shvets

Murdered Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko was killed because of an eight-page dossier he had compiled on a powerful Russian figure for a British company, a business associate told the BBC on Saturday….(Reuters, 16 Dec 06)

Economic espionage pleas seen as crucial

…Prosecutors have been criticized for not bringing more cases under the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 that allege the intent to benefit a foreign government. The law was originally written to combat the threat of trade secrets by foreign agents, with the FBI identifying at least 23 countries suspected of aggressively seeking to steal intellectual property from U.S. businesses…..(AP, 16 Dec 06)

Fed presecutors get first convictions on economic espionage

Fei Ye, 40, a U.S. citizen from China, and Ming Zhong, 39, a permanent resident of the U.S. from China entered their pleas Thursday in San Jose federal court to two counts each as part of a deal with prosecutors. Both would have faced 10 counts each if they went to trial in January. Ye and Zhong were accused of stealing confidential microchip blueprints and other trade secrets from four technology companies - NEC Electronics Corp., Sun Microsystems Inc., Transmeta Corp. and Trident Microsystems Inc. - and planning to start a microprocessor company with the financial backing of various Chinese government agencies…..(AP, 15 Dec 06)

Silicon Valley Employee Charged With Selling Military Secrets

…According to the indictment, (Xiaodong Sheldon) Meng, a Chinese national with Canadian Citizenship, gave valuable trade secrets belonging to Quantum 3D to members of the Malaysian and Thai air forces and potentially most damaging, to China…The products Meng allegedly dealt with could be found on banned U.S. export munitions lists. Prosecutors say Meng made numerous visits to China, Thailand and Malaysia and provided briefings and demonstrations in China to individuals connected with the Chinese army and navy and various industry groups in the country…(ABC, 15 Dec 06)

Targeted security attacks on the rise

Corporate and industrial espionage attacks are on the rise using targeted trojans intended to steal intellectual property and confidential information, according to the 2006 Annual MessageLabs Intelligence Report. MessageLabs now intercepts two attacks each day, compared to one per week at the same point in 2005…..(Computing, 15 Dec 06)

Foreign secret services active in Moscow, regions – FSB chief

The chief of Russia’s federal security service FSB, Nikolai Patrushev, has told the Moscow-published daily Izvestia his service has repeatedly encountered what he described as “attempts at active operations by the secret services of leading countries in both Moscow and Russia’s regions.”…(Itar-Tass, 15 Dec 06)

Security chief says foreign states actively spy on Russia with help of new NATO members

…"Special services of leading world powers are active in Moscow and in other regions of our country," Nikolai Patrushev, the head of the Federal Security Service, know as the FSB, said in an interview with the Izvestia daily….(AP, 15 Dec 06)

Russia to test 40 aircraft in Litvinenko probe

Russian authorities are investigating 40 planes that have recently flown on the Moscow-Hamburg route, as part of an investigation into the murder of fugitive Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko, a top official has said, contradicting an earlier report. "We are currently identifying aircraft of Russian and foreign airlines that flew the Moscow-Hamburg route," said Gennady Onischenko, the head of Russia`s consumer protection agency Rospotrebnadzor, news agency RIA Novosti reported….(Zee News, 15 Dec 06)

Spies' Interview With Radio Station

…What follows is a transcript of the complete interview – conducted before investigators in Germany found traces of polonium in several places Mr. Kovtun visited in or near Hamburg before flying to London on Nov. 1 – as translated by Michael Schwirtz and Nikolai Khalip of the Moscow Bureau of The New York Times….(New York Times, 15 Dec 06)

Another witness quizzed in ex-spy case

Russian and British investigators questioned another Russian witness on Friday as part of a murder probe into the poisoning of ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko, Interfax news agency reported. Vyacheslav Sokolenko, who used to work in the Federal Guard Service (FSO) which provides security for senior state officials, was questioned for more than four hours, an unidentified source close to the investigation told Interfax. Sokolenko was the last person on a list of witnesses British detectives wanted to question in Moscow…(Reuters, 15 Dec 06)

Source: Guilty Pleas in Cuban Agent Case

…U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore set a change-of-plea hearing Tuesday for Carlos and Elsa Alvarez, both of whom had previously pleaded not guilty. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plea agreements are not yet public, said Carlos Alvarez would plead guilty to a reduced charge of conspiracy to become an unregistered foreign agent, which carries a maximum prison sentence of five years….(AP, 15 Dec 06)

Florence A. White FBI Specialist

Florence A. White, 79, a former Washington resident who was an intelligence research specialist for the FBI, died Dec. 11….(Washington Post, 16 Dec 06)

Today in History - Dec. 16

In 1986, Ronald W. Pelton, a former National Security Agency employee convicted of selling defense secrets to the Soviet Union, was sentenced by a judge in Baltimore to life in prison.

French, British honor reticent female WWII spy

In 1942, the Gestapo started circulating wanted posters throughout Vichy France, offering a reward for the capture of "the woman with a limp. She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies and we must find and destroy her." The woman was Virginia Halll…(AP, 15 Dec 06)

FSB Chief Says New NATO Members Will Spy Against Russia

….(MosNews, 15 Dec 06)

Britain's case for war in Iraq under fire

Prime Minister Tony Blair's case for war in Iraq was dealt a fresh blow this week with the release of once-secret evidence from a former British diplomat who dismissed the threat of weapons of mass destruction….(Reuters, 15 Dec 06)

ANOTHER SUICIDE IN BULGARIA'S INTELLIGENCE RAISES SUSPICIONS

A technician working for Bulgaria's intelligence committed suicide on December 14 2006. His death raised suspicions of something wrong happening in the service….(Sofia Echo, 15 Dec 06)

Bulgarian Intelligence Employee Suicides for Health Reasons

The 49-year-old employee of the National Intelligence Service Ivan Rakov, who was found shot on Thursday morning, committed suicide for health reasons….(Novinite, 15 Dec 06)

Trial on case of Pyotr Mocalov, Azerbaijani Army reserve officer accused of espionage for Russia started

Trial on the case of Azerbaijani Army reserve officer Pyotr Mocalov accused of espionage for Russian special service started in Military Court for Grievous Crimes…(Azeri Press, 15 Dec 06)

Greek scandal sees Vodafone fined

Mobile phone giant Vodafone has been fined 76m euros ($100m;£51m) by a Greek privacy watchdog…(BBC, 15 Dec 06)

Domestic spy chief to retire

The head of the country's domestic spy agency said she will retire next year after more than three decades in the service, leaving at a time when MI5 faces heightened pressure to counter new terrorist threats….(Reuters, 15 Dec 06)

Military intelligence confirms attempts to take control of it

The military intelligence service (VZ) today confirmed the information of Nova TV that a group around Zdenek Dolezel, former head of the PM's office, attempted to take control of it, when VZ spokesman Ladislav Sticha said that the information is quite correct….(Geske Noviny, 15 Dec 06)

Engineer Indicted for Alleged Espionage

A Chinese engineer was charged Thursday with stealing trade secrets from a Silicon Valley company that made military training software and attempting to sell them to Asian governments. Xiaodong Sheldon Meng, 42, a Chinese national with Canadian citizenship, was indicted on 36 felony counts, including the rare charge of economic espionage to benefit a foreign government and various violations of military technology export laws….(AP, 15 Dec 06)

Economic espionage said to hit S.J. firm

….The Meng case is the third foreign economic-espionage indictment in the United States since the Economic Espionage Act was passed in 1996. Meng is free on a $500,000 bond….(Mercury News, 15 Dec 06)

Feds accuse man of trying to sell software to Asian military buyers

…The 36-count criminal against Meng alleges that he stole night-vision training software and other simulation tools from Quantum3D, a San Jose defense contractor for whom he worked between 2000 and 2003. The indictment alleges violations of several federal statutes, including the Economic Espionage Act and the Arms Export Control Act -- charges that could lead to hefty fines and lengthy jail terms….(SF Gate, 15 Dec 06)

Dutch to test 20 people for polonium radiation

Dutch health authorities said on Friday they have called in about 20 people for radiation testing after they stayed in a London hotel where poisoned former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko also spent time….(Reuters, 15 Dec 06)

Sparring Over Timing of Litvinenko Attack

A friend of poisoned former Russian intelligence officer Alexander Litvinenko on Thursday disputed two key witnesses' contentions that he was poisoned earlier than is widely believed. Litvinenko's business associates Dmitry Kovtun and Andrei Lugovoi, who both met with him in London on Nov. 1 a few hours before he fell ill, have claimed the contamination actually took place not on that day, as Litvinenko believed, but in mid-October. …(AP/Moscow Times, 15 Dec 06)

Suspects in poison probe are old friends

At a closed hospital run by Russia's Medical-Biological Agency, two men, friends since they were 12-year-olds, lie removed from the world and at the centre of an international poisoning drama. Dmitry Kovtun and Andrei Lugovoi, who visited former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko the day he fell ill, have declared their innocence, as the investigation narrows to this city and to at least one of the men, Mr Kovtun….(Age, 15 Dec 06)

Key Witness Denies Part in Spy Poisoning

…Andrei Lugovoi, who met Litvinenko in London hours before the ex-KGB agent fell ill, would not discuss details of the investigation or offer a theory of the poisoning, citing a pledge to investigators. But he said he was not to blame. "I am not regarded as a suspect, I am regarded as a witness," Lugovoi told the Associated Press in a telephone interview. "Police are not accusing me of anything. As for all that is being said _ it's nothing but hysteria in the media." Lugovoi said he was undergoing tests at a Moscow clinic….(AP, 15 Dec 06)

US congressmen in rare Cuba trip

Ten US congressmen are travelling to Cuba in what is thought to be the largest such delegation to visit since Fidel Castro took power in 1959. Members of the bipartisan group favour the easing of US sanctions on Cuba. It has not been confirmed whether they are to meet the acting Cuban leader, Raul Castro, who has recently expressed an interest in improving ties. …(BBC, 15 Dec 06)

Castro Near Death, U.S. Intelligence Chief Says

Cuban President Fidel Castro is very ill and close to death, Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte said yesterday….(Washington Post, 15 Dec 06)

House Democrats Planning New Intelligence Oversight

… The select committee, which would include the lawmakers who set intelligence policy as well as those who oversee the intelligence budget, is intended to address a central commission finding that Congressional oversight of intelligence matters was dysfunctional and needed to be more centralized….(New York Times, 15 Dec 06)

Fitzgerald Mum on Cheney in Leak Case

Speculation that Vice President Dick Cheney would testify in the CIA leak trial intensified when Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said he didn't expect Bush administration officials to resist calls to testify…Fitzgerald did not say Thursday whether Cheney and others in the White House were on his witness list. Government officials and journalists are expected to be key witnesses in the trial, which is scheduled to start next month….(AP, 15 Dec 06)

Gates unlikely to rein in Pentagon on intelligence

…Gates, the former CIA director who will be sworn in as defense secretary on Monday, could help heal a rift between the Pentagon and civilian intelligence agencies caused by the confrontational tactics of his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld….(Reuters, 14 Dec 06)

North Korean spy gets 10 years for videotaping Yongsan

A North Korean spy who videotaped the U.S. Army’s Yongsan Garrison — among other sensitive sites — was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Dec. 8, according to Seoul Central District Court officials. North Korean Chung Kyeung Hak was found guilty of violating South Korea’s national security law…(Stars & Stripes, 14 Dec 06)

U.S. Drops Plans For More Charges In Taiwan Spy Case

Federal prosecutors in Virginia have dropped plans to bring new charges against a former top State Department official at the center of an investigation into alleged Taiwanese espionage. A veteran Asia expert, Donald Keyser, pleaded guilty a year ago to mishandling classified documents and lying about his intimate relationship with a Taiwanese intelligence agent, Isabelle Cheng….(New York Sun, 14 Dec 06)

Two Men Plead Guilty To Stealing Trade Secrets From Silicon Valley Companies To Benefit China

United States Attorney Kevin V. Ryan announced that Fei Ye and Ming Zhong pleaded guilty today to two counts each of economic espionage (Case #: CR 02-20145 JW). Ming and Zhong were arrested at the San Francisco International Airport on November 23, 2001, with stolen trade secret information in their luggage while attempting to board an aircraft bound for China. The defendants today admitted to possessing stolen trade secrets from Sun Microsystems, Inc. and Transmeta Corporation with the intent to benefit the Peoples Republic of China. These guilty pleas mark the first convictions in the country for economic espionage under 18 U.S.C. § 1831….(LawFuel, 14 Dec 06)

U.S. Subpoena Is Seen as Bid to Stop Leaks

Federal prosecutors are trying to force the American Civil Liberties Union to turn over copies of a classified document it received from a source, using what legal experts called a new extension of the Bush administration’s efforts to protect national-security secrets….(New York Times, 14 Dec 06)

U.S. Gets Subpoena to Force ACLU to Return Leaked Memo

Federal prosecutors are demanding that the American Civil Liberties Union turn over all copies of a secret document it has obtained, in what is apparently the first time a criminal grand jury subpoena has been used in an attempt to seize leaked material, the ACLU and legal experts said yesterday….(Washington Post, 14 Dec 06)

Bidders unready for jobs in Iraq

Nearly two-thirds of the 276 Foreign Service members who volunteered to serve in Iraq next year were found unqualified for the jobs, aggravating a shortage that has left the State Department scrambling to fully staff its embassy and other operations in the country….(Washington Times, 14 Dec 06)

DLP must speak

…On the day of the indictment, the DLP (Democratic Labor Party) issued no official statement even as the Grand National Party accused it of being connected to espionage activities. Instead, the party spokesperson, in response to a reporter's question, said that the truth will be revealed in court….(Korea Herald, 14 Dec 06)

Swift spared prosecution

The Belgian company Swift, responsible for much of the world's international financial transactions, will not face prosecution over its role in transatlantic data transfer, it has emerged….(Expatica, 14 Dec 06)

Germany's Steinmeier to Testify on CIA Abduction Case

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier will testify at an inquiry into what Germany's past and present governments knew about the alleged abduction by U.S. authorities of Khaled el-Masri, a German of Lebanese origin….(Bloomberg, 14 Dec 06)

Romanian Prosecutors Demanded Extension of Stamen Stanchev’s Detention

Secret documents, declarations and phone tapping were presented in the report of Romanian Prosecutors who demanded an extension of the detention period for the suspects in the dubious privatization deals case…(Focus, 14 Dec 06)

Parties show united front to free Ching
Ching, 57, the chief China correspondent of Singapore's The Straits Times, had his appeal against conviction and a five-year jail sentence for spying for Taiwan thrown out by Beijing's appeal court November 24….(The Standard, 14 Dec 06)

Russia's Killing Ways

The KGB and its predecessors liquidated people abroad quite regularly in the 1920s and '30s and even after World War II. But after two embarrassing and highly publicized defections of assassins, in 1957 and 1959, these activities ceased. Nikita Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev and later Yuri Andropov all avoided political killings when they led the Soviet Union. (The writer, Oleg Gordievsky, was once a colonel in the Soviet KGB, defected to Britain in 1985).…(Washington Post, 14 Dec 06)

Russia does not murder spies any more: KGB veteran

The head of an organization of former Russian spies was quoted as saying on Thursday Stalin-era policies of Moscow assassinating enemies had ceased, and ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko was probably murdered by criminals….(Reuters, 14 Dec 06)

Russia to look for radiation on Aeroflot's Hamburg-Moscow route
Russian officials are to inspect planes that flew between Moscow and Hamburg for signs of radiation in connection with the death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, officials at Russian carrier Aeroflot said Thursday….(DPA, 14 Dec 06)

I will not be silenced, says Russia critic

Akhmed Zakayev listened intently as his friend Alexander Litvinenko read out the names in an alleged Russian hit-list of political dissidents…As the pair headed towards north London, Mr Litvinenko, a former member of the Russian secret services, FSB, told Mr Zakayev he too was on the list….(BBC, 14 Dec 06)

No evidence that Kovtun was in Berlin last night - German police

Police in the German city of Hamburg said Thursday there is no evidence that Dmitry Kovtun, a key witness in the murder case of Russian security service defector Alexander Litvinenko, was in Berlin last night….(RIA Novosti, 14 Dec 06)

Investigation: Were Israelis poisoned like Litvinenko?
Health Ministry tries to locate Israelis who stayed in hotel where Russian spy was poisoned. Traces of poison polonium-210 found in Millennium Mayfair hotel employees. Experts: No threat to lives of those in contact with small amounts of poison, and who didn't swallow it…(YNet, 14 Dec 06)

Pal Denies Russian Ex-Spy Was Poisoned Earlier Than Believed

A friend of poisoned former Russian intelligence officer Alexander Litvinenko on Thursday disputed two key witnesses' contentions that he was poisoned earlier than is widely believed…But Litvinenko's friend Alex Goldfarb told the Associated Press in a telephone interview he was certain Litvinenko was in a perfect shape the morning before his meeting with Kovtun and Lugovoi, because a car he had driven in the day before later tested clean for radiation.….(AP, 14 Dec 06)

US intelligence documents on Yugoslavia's collapse

The administration of the former US president George Bush senior didn't believe in quick break up of Yugoslavia and until 1991 it preferred that the federation persists…The collection of 34 declassified national intelligence reports on Yugoslavia, issued by the National Intelligence Council, cover the period from Tito's break with Stalin in 1948 to 1990, the eve of Yugoslavia's collapse into secession and civil war….(MakFax, 14 Dec 06)

US CIA engineered coup that brought General Pinochet to power in Chile

Former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet’s death in Santiago on Sunday at the age of 91 was celebrated with champagne by many people in Chile…(The News, 13 Dec 06)

Key figures in poisoning

For nearly three weeks, authorities have chased clues in Great Britain, Russia and Germany. Here's a look at some of the main players who are involved in the case….(USA Today, 13 Dec 06)

ACLU Challenges Government Attempt to Seize "Secret" Document

…According to the ACLU's papers, the document concerns matters of public interest that "relate to issues of longstanding concern to the ACLU and on which the ACLU is actively engaged in ongoing public advocacy."…(PR, 13 Dec 06)

Litvinenko witnesses run for their lives

Key witnesses in the Alexander Litvinenko investigation are missing, with their families claiming that they fear for their lives. The sudden disappearance of a number of leading figures linked to the affair will make it even harder for British detectives, whose inquiry has now spread across five countries. Interpol joined the hunt for the murderer yesterday, saying that it hoped to exchange information coming from Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Russia….(Times Online, 13 Dec 06)

Litvinenko Contact Says He Was Contaminated by Ex-Spy

…"I have only one explanation for the presence of polonium," Dmitry Kovtun said, referring to the radioactive substance found in Litvinenko's dead body and subsequently detected in properties visited by Kovtun in Germany. "It is that I brought (traces of) it back from London, where I met Alexander Litvinenko on Oct. 16, 17 and 18,"…(Deutsche Welle, 13 Dec 06)

Two Old Friends at Center of Poison Mystery

…From age 12, Kovtun and Lugovoy lived in the same apartment block in Moscow, their fathers both employed in the Soviet Defense Ministry. They went on to the same elite academy, the Supreme Soviet Military Command School, which turned out military and KGB officers….(Washington Post, 13 Dec 06)

Witness: poisoned spy contaminated earlier than believed

…Andrei Lugovoi, a security agent-turned-businessman who met with Mr. Litvinenko at a London hotel on Nov. 1, the day Mr. Litvinenko suspected he was poisoned, said in an interview with the Moskovsky Komsomolets tabloid that he and Mr. Litvinenko were poisoned on Oct. 16. “Who told you that the contamination took place on Nov. 1? It took place much earlier, on Oct. 16,” Mr. Lugovoi was quoted as saying by the paper. Mr. Lugovoi is himself undergoing radiation checks in a Moscow clinic…(AP, 13 Dec 06)

Kovtun's ex-wife has no serious radioactive poisoning - doctors

Doctors have diagnosed no serious radiation poisoning of the ex-wife of a witness in the case of a murdered former Russian security service officer, her children or boyfriend, the chief doctor of a hospital in Hamburg said Tuesday….(RIA Novosti, 13 Dec 06)

Pinochet Death Renews Calls for CIA Files

…The assassination of Orlando Letelier and his American assistant two miles from the White House prompted demands for explanations and helped expose what President Nixon, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and a series of CIA officials tried for years to conceal: U.S support for a military dictatorship that was killing thousands of its own citizens….(AP, 13 Dec 06)

66% Think U.S. Spies on Its Citizens
Two-thirds of Americans believe that the FBI and other federal agencies are intruding on privacy rights as part of terrorism investigations, but they remain divided over whether such tactics are justified, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released yesterday….(Washington Post, 13 Dec 06)

CIA analyst traveled world for 35 years

Even her close friends didn't know a lot about what Lorna MacKay did as an intelligence analyst working abroad for the CIA… A multilinguist, MacKay worked as a translator for the Army Security Agency, a forerunner of the National Security Agency, in the mid-1940s, and within a few years went to work for the CIA….(Herald Tribune, 13 Dec 06)

James V. Martin Jr. Foreign Service Officer

James Victor Martin Jr., 89, a Japanese specialist in the State Department who retired in 1973 as country director for Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands, died Nov. 12….(Washington Post, 13 Dec 06)

Romanian Court Weighs Detention in Credit Suisse Case

…Prosecutors said in a statement Nov. 22 they were investigating Benyatov and seven other men for undermining Romania's national security and economic espionage related to the sale of government assets. Credit Suisse, Switzerland's second- biggest bank, advised on the sale of Romanian oil and gas companies in 2004….(Bloomberg, 13 Dec 06)

Jordan, Iraq to Coordinate Intelligence

Jordan and Iraq signed an agreement Wednesday to coordinate intelligence on al-Qaida and other terrorist groups, a show of cooperation between two countries whose relations have been marked at times by suspicion….(AP, 13 Dec 06)

Defense Agency Rejects Panel's Criticism

To dispute one criticism from the Iraq Study Group's report, the Defense Intelligence Agency is pulling back the curtain on concealed information and disclosing the number of analysts devoted to Iraq. The count: 300-plus, with 49 analysts focused exclusively on the insurgency….(AP, 13 Dec 06)

Russian Spy Suspect Awaits Deportation From Canada

An alleged Russian spy who was ordered deported from Canada more than a week ago is still in the country. Federal Court Justice Pierre Blais ordered the deportation of the man known as Paul William Hampel last Monday after he admitted to being a Russian national. A spokesman for the Canada Border Services Agency says the process is under way. But Derek Mellon would not give a time frame for the man’s deportation, saying “each case is different.”…(MosNews, 13 Dec 06)

Korean-American Charged with Espionage

North Korea is "my home" and South Korea is the "enemy's rearguard," American businessman Michael Chang allegedly proclaimed in a report he sent to North Korea. Michael Chang, 44, also known as Chang Min-ho, has been charged along with four South Koreans of espionage for North Korea…Stars and Stripes did verify that Chang's wife (Kang) had worked for an American lieutenant colonel from 1993 to 1996, but did not name the officer or define his official duties….(Ohmy News, 13 Dec 06)

Ex-agent held over illegal spy ring

A former Italian spy chief was arrested overnight on suspicion of involvement in an illegal espionage ring that prosecutors believe snooped on Italy's elite, including Prime Minister Romano Prodi. Marco Mancini, once the head of counter-espionage at Italy's SISMI military intelligence agency, already faces possible indictment on separate charges of helping the US Central Intelligence Agency kidnap a Muslim cleric in Milan….(Australian, 13 Dec 06)

Italian Intelligence Officer Arrested

An Italian intelligence officer involved in the case of the alleged CIA kidnapping of a Muslim cleric in Milan was arrested Tuesday in connection with a separate investigation into illegal wiretapping and illicit data gathering, lawyers said. Marco Mancini, a former deputy head of Italy's SISMI military intelligence agency, was arrested as part of a probe involving the former security chief at Telecom Italia SpA, Italy's largest telephone company, the lawyers said….(AP, 13 Dec 06)

Poisoned chalice

…A lesson on the history and development of espionage is an opportunity to acquaint pupils with an important development in post-second world war history and with the rationale behind agencies such as MI5, MI6, the CIA and the KGB....(Guardian, 13 Dec 06)

In Russia, A Secretive Force Widens

…"If in the Soviet period and the first post-Soviet period, the KGB and FSB [people] were mainly involved in security issues, now half are still involved in security but the other half are involved in business, political parties, NGOs, regional governments, even culture," said Olga Kryshtanovskaya, director of the Moscow-based Center for the Study of Elites. "They started to use all political institutions."…(Washington Post, 12 Dec 06)

Interpol has joined Litvinenko poisoning inquiry

International police force Interpol is helping coordinate the investigation into the poisoning of Russian former spy Alexander Litvinenko that now involves forces in Germany, Russia and Britain. The head of Interpol's Russian office said on Tuesday the 186 member-country force had been asked to improve the information flow between the three countries, which have launched their own probes into Litvinenko's death on November 23….(Reuters, 12 Dec 06)

Key witness in ex-spy poisoning probe says no more questioning

…The BBC Russian Service said Tuesday Russian and Scotland Yard investigators were questioning Andrei Lugovoi for a second time in a Moscow clinic where he is being screened for polonium-210, a radioactive substance believed to have caused the death of Russian defector Andrei Litvinenko…(RIA Novosti, 12 Dec 06)

Trail of poison from key Litvinenko witness lands four in hospital

…Mr. Kovtun's former wife, her two small children and her new partner had been admitted to hospital in Hamburg on a precautionary basis, police said. German detectives said they were "more certain than ever" that Mr. Kovtun had been in contact with polonium-210 before he flew to Britain. The Russian flew from Moscow to Hamburg on October 28, traveling on to London on the morning of November 1. "Kovtun was already contaminated [with polonium] when he arrived in Germany,"…(Guardian, 12 Dec 06)

Today in History - Dec. 12

Five years ago: Gerardo Hernandez, the leader of a Cuban spy ring, received a life sentence in federal court in Miami for his role in the infiltration of U.S. military bases and the deaths of four Cuban-Americans.

One-legged spy who ran rings round the Gestapo

A one-legged American woman who spied for British Intelligence in France during the Second World War will today receive the public recognition that she denied herself when she was alive. Virginia Hall will be honored at a ceremony hosted by the British and French ambassadors to Washington 24 years after she died, aged 78, near her home in Baltimore, Maryland….(Times Online, 12 Dec 06)

Virginia Hall

Eastern Europe Struggles to Purge Security Services

… The case of Alexander V. Litvinenko, the former K.G.B. agent who was poisoned in London in November, would not seem out of place here, where a death threat in Romania, a suicide in Bulgaria and unbroken silence on several unsolved murders provide clues to the continued presence of the secret services today….(New York Times, 12 Dec 06)

Independent - CIA staged several assassination attempts on Tito

In the 60s and 70s of the 20th century, CIA had staged several assassination attempts on Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslavian President at the time, claims the former CIA associate Nikola Kavaja in an interview with the Independent newspaper….(Macedonia Radio/Television, 12 Dec 06)

MessageLabs uncovers new Microsoft Word Vulnerability

MessageLabs proactive heuristic anti-virus engine Skeptic detected and stopped a new targeted email attack which exploited a new, previously unknown, Microsoft Word vulnerability…According to MessageLabs, this particular attack does not fit any of the known patterns, and is likely to be from a new group of criminals entering the field of electronic industrial espionage….(IT Wire, 12 Dec 06)

China Tightening Control of Online Games

China is tightening controls on its booming online game industry, requiring distributors to closely monitor game contents after some were found that included forbidden religious or political material…(AP, 12 Dec 06)

Majority Thinks Government is Ignoring North’s Espionage

…On a commission from the Chosun Ilbo, Korea Gallup conducted a telephone opinion poll Monday in which 60.3 percent of respondents agreed with the statement “Even though there have been many spies in the country the government has intentionally not caught them,” while only 26.4 percent thought that, “The government has caught every spy it found.”…(Chosun Ilbo, 12 Dec 06)

U.S. military remains on cyber alert

The U.S. military remains on heightened cyber-alert as the holiday season approaches, following at least one intrusion by suspected Chinese military hackers….(UPI, 12 Dec 06)

U.S. met with Korean-American arrested on N.K. espionage charges: official

U.S. authorities declined to discuss information on an alleged North Korean spy ring, saying only that they have met with the reputed leader… Jang Min-ho, a U.S. citizen, was formally indicted on Friday on espionage charges with four others who allegedly were members of "Ilsimhoe," a group that reportedly provided confidential information to the North in violation of the South's National Security Law. Jang is believed to be the leader….(Yonhap, 12 Dec 06)

NSA still needs more oversight

Almost a year after President Bush confirmed that the National Security Agency had been eavesdropping on some Americans without a court order, expressions of outrage in Congress have yet to be translated into law….(LA Times, 12 Dec 06)

Terrorism case against constable for thrashing intelligence officer

A case has been registered against a police constable under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) for beating up an official of an intelligence agency on Monday….(Daily Times, 12 Dec 06)

Working to Protect Human Subjects

For five days last December, Zimbabwean officials jailed thesis researcher Amar C. Bakshi ’06 on charges of espionage. During his brush with authority, one thing he did not have to worry about was the safety of his interviewees….(Crimson, 12 Dec 06)

NSA Denies Monitoring Calls of Princess Diana

In a rare public comment on its intelligence operations, the National Security Agency said Monday that it had 39 documents containing references to the late Princess Diana but had never targeted her telephone communications for monitoring….(Washington Post, 12 Dec 06)

On polonium-210, which killed ex-spy Litvinenko

Former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko is thought to be the first victim of deliberate poisoning by the element polonium. He is not the first person to die of polonium-210 poisoning, however. A low-dose exposure was blamed for causing the death of Irene Joliot-Curie, the daughter of Marie Curie, who first isolated polonium. Irene died in 1956 of leukemia caused by accidental exposure when a sealed capsule of the metal exploded on her laboratory bench….(Twin Cities, 12 Dec 06)

Four Hospitalized In Germany as Part Of Radiation Inquiry

Police said four people in Germany were hospitalized Monday after showing signs that they may be contaminated by polonium-210, the poison that killed former Russian intelligence officer Alexander Litvinenko. All four are connected to Dmitry Kovtun, a Russian businessman who met Litvinenko in London the day he became ill….(Washington Post, 12 Dec 06)

Prosecutors Finger Government Moles in Spy Scandal

Prosecutors are targeting additional five or six senior officials in the government and minor opposition Democratic Labor Party as part of their investigation into a North Korean spy ring, it was revealed Sunday. Prosecutors say they have evidence that three moles wrote reports to North Korea at the order of alleged spy ring leader Chang Min-ho, a 44-year-old ethnic Korean businessman from the U.S….(Chosun Ilbo, 11 Dec 06)

Investigation in spy case widens

Security authorities are investigating two more individuals alleged to be involved in a North Korean-sponsored spy ring, sources said yesterday. The investigation into the Ilsimhoe (One Heart Society) group led by Chang Min-ho, a Korean-American businessman, is likely to widen to include other suspects who could have directly received orders from North Korean officials…(Korea Herald, 11 Dec 06)

Why a patriotic teen joined the Navy and then turned to espionage

…Weinmann took the Tomahawk manuals to the Russian Embassy and met with a man who told Weinmann he was from that country's state department. Weinmann handed over the three-ring binder of documents and asked, in exchange, for citizenship, a train ticket and entry into college. The man told him to await a postcard that would give him further instructions. Months passed, and Weinmann realized he had goofed to give up the documents without receiving anything in return….(Virginian Pilot, 11 Dec 06)

Jilted love, not political intrigue, drove a Salem man to espionage

A broken heart, bruised ego and jaded view of military life caused a young sailor from Salem to desert the Navy and pass classified documents to a foreign government…Regardless, a military judge found Fire Control Technician 3rd Class Ariel Weinmann guilty of espionage, desertion and several other counts. Weinmann, 22, a graduate of West Salem High School, will have at least four years in prison to think about his actions….(Gannett News, 11 Dec 06)

Brit Police Question Witness in Spy Case

… The witness, Andrei Lugovoi, a former security agent turned businessman, met with The witness, Andrei Lugovoi, a former security agent turned businessman, met with Alexander Litvinenko at a London hotel on Nov. 1, the day Litvinenko was believed poisoned with the radioactive isotope polonium-210….(AP, 11 Dec 06)

Four Germans Test Positive for Litvinenko-Linked Radiation

...The ex-wife and two children of Dmitry Kovtun, who is being investigated for suspected handling of polonium 210, likely had contact with the substance while Kovtun was in Hamburg in late October, police said at a press conference broadcast on N24. A fourth person, Kovtun's ex-wife's partner, also tested positive….(Bloomberg, 11 Dec 06)

China promises freedom of information rules

China's secretive government is drafting rules to promote official transparency, including releasing currently confidential commercial information, officials helping to write the rules said in reports on Monday. Proposed freedom of information regulations "will fully ensure citizens' right to know under the precondition of protecting state secrets," the official Xinhua news agency reported…(Reuters, 11 Dec 06)

State department Googles for intelligence on Iran

…A junior foreign service officer, employed at the state department for only a few months and who was given the task of investigating Iranians with possible links to the country's nuclear program typed "Iran and nuclear" into his browser, the Washington Post reported today. The officer's initial search turned up more than 100 names, including Iranian diplomats who had defended the country's nuclear enrichment program or attended meetings at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.…(Guardian, 11 Dec 06)

Judge Settles Fight Over Classified Info

A federal judge all but resolved the protracted legal fight over classified information in the CIA leak case Monday, helping ensure the dispute would not derail former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's perjury and obstruction trial….(AP, 11 Dec 06)

Spies pillage our economy

…Just how lax are our laws? Last Monday, after the man Canada accused of being an elite member of the Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki, the successor of the dreaded Soviet KGB, admitted he was not the Canadian-born citizen he repeatedly claimed, Justice Pierre Blais of the Federal Court in Montreal, not only allowed the spy to simply be deported with no conviction but protected his real identity….(Canoe, 11 Dec 06)

Germany uses journalists as spies

A German intelligence service has paid more than 20 German foreign correspondents for spy dispatches…(UPI, 11 Dec 06)

Lawyer sentenced to 7-year RI for spying for Pak High Commission

… Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Rauj Pal Singh Teji held Naresh Kumar Dagar, an advocate practicing since 1994 in Jhajjar district of Haryana, guilty of espionage charges under Sections 3 and 9 of Indian Official Secrets (IOS) act. After getting a tip-off, Dagar was arrested by the special cell of Delhi police at Pragati Maidan in south-west Delhi on May 31, 2002….(Zee News, 11 Dec 06)

Italy court hears arguments on CIA case in January

A Milan court will hear arguments on January 9 on whether to try CIA and Italian agents on charges of kidnapping a terrorism suspect in Milan and flying him to Egypt, where he says he was tortured, a court source said on Monday….(Reuters, 11 Dec 06

CIA Officials May Be Indicted

A judge will hear arguments next month on whether to indict 26 Americans and five Italian secret service officials in the 2003 alleged kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric in Milan _ a case that continues to be an irritant to U.S.-Italian relations….(AP, 11 Dec 06)

Seeking Iran Intelligence, U.S. Tries Google

When the State Department recently asked the CIA for names of Iranians who could be sanctioned for their involvement in a clandestine nuclear weapons program, the agency refused, citing a large workload and a desire to protect its sources and tradecraft. Frustrated, the State Department assigned a junior Foreign Service officer to find the names another way -- by using Google….(Washington Post, 11 Dec 06)

Congress and tech: Little to show

…One measure sent to President Bush on Friday night would make it a federal crime to use fraudulent tactics to buy, sell or otherwise obtain private phone record information--although it explicitly exempts police or spy agencies like the National Security Agency….(CNet, 11 Dec 06)

Key Witness in Litvinenko Murder Case Questioned in Moscow

Andrei Lugovoi, a key witness in the investigation into the murder of Russian ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko’s death, said he was questioned on Monday by Russian and British detectives, Itar-Tass news agency reported. Scotland Yard detectives and Russian prosecutors visited a Moscow hospital that specializes in treating radiation cases on Monday, and Russian news agencies said they and their Russian counterparts questioned a key figure in the case, Andrei Lugovoi…(MosNews, 11 Dec 06)

Kovtun's ex-wife in hospital with suspected polonium-210 poisoning

The ex-wife of a witness in the case of a former Russian security officer, her two children and boyfriend have been hospitalized in Germany with suspected polonium-210 poisoning, the head of the investigation team in Hamburg said Monday….(RIA Novosti, 11 Dec 06)

Germany Criticizes Russian Cooperation in Litvinenko Case

Germany has called for Russia to increase its cooperation in the probe into the murder of Alexander Litvinenko after police found traces in Hamburg of the radioactive substance used to kill the former Russian spy….(Deutsche Welle, 11 Dec 06)

Germans monitor Russian intelligence gathering in Hamburg

German authorities keep a watchful eye on Russian intelligence gathering in the port city of Hamburg and are aware that spies may camouflage themselves as businessmen, the city's top anti-subversion official said in an interview Monday….(Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 11 Dec 06)

Intrigue Over Spy’s Death Spreads to Germany

The German authorities announced Sunday that they had begun a criminal investigation of a Russian businessman after finding traces of polonium 210 around Hamburg that date back to Oct. 28 — four days before he met in London with the former Russian spy who died after ingesting the radioactive substance…The man the Germans have put at the center of scrutiny is Dmitri V. Kovtun, a 41-year-old Russian who was a student in the 1980s at the Supreme Soviet Higher Military Command School.…(New York Times, 11 Dec 06)

Germans Investigate Russian in Poisoning
German prosecutors said Sunday that they are investigating a Russian businessman for the illegal handling of a radioactive substance in the days after he flew to Germany from Russia and before he left to meet a former Russian internal security agent in London. The development is the strongest indication so far that the plot to poison Alexander Litvinenko in London originated in Moscow….(Washington Post, 11 Dec 06)

Spy Poisoning Case Raises Questions About Russian Democracy

Two weeks after the poisoning death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, more radiation poisoning cases have been discovered and Moscow is abuzz with rumors of political intrigue. NewsHour Correspondent Simon Marks reports on the criminal investigation and its implications for President Putin's future…..