Community members spied for Iraq

…Shemami and Al-Awadi are charged with conspiring to act as agents of a foreign government without notification of the U.S. attorney general and acting as an agent for a foreign government. Shemami also is charged with violating the U.S. International Economic Powers Act and making false statements to the FBI. The charges were based on Iraqi intelligence documents captured by U.S. forces in Iraq and authenticated by former members of the Iraqi Intelligence Service….(Arab American, 21 Apr 07)

Indictment against Najib Shemami (pdf)

FBI's criminal complaint against Ghazi al-Awadi (pdf)

Egypt Convicts Egyptian-Canadian Man of Spying For Israel

Egypt's State Security Emergency Court has convicted an Egyptian-Canadian of spying for Israel and has sentenced him to 15 years in prison. In his ruling, the judge said Mohammed el Attar was "seduced by Satan into selling out his country"….(VOA, 21 Apr 07)

Egyptian-Canadian sentenced to 15 years for spying for Israel

The State Security Emergency Court on Saturday convicted an Egyptian-Canadian man of spying for Israel and sentenced him to 15 years in prison. Three Israelis charged alongside Mohammed el-Attar and tried in absentia also received 15 years in prison.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said that Israel categorically denies any involvement in the case. The court said in its ruling: "He let himself be seduced by Satan, disregarding his country's values and selling himself and his country to the devil."….(AP/Reuters, 21 Apr 07)

Palo Verde software is breached

Federal authorities are accusing a former engineer at Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station of illegally taking software codes to Iran and downloading details of control rooms, reactors and designs of the nation's largest nuclear plant. Officers arrested Mohammad "Mo" Alavi, 49, in Los Angeles this month and charged him with one count of violating a trade embargo, which prohibits Americans from exporting goods and services to Iran. Authorities say there is no evidence to suggest the use of the software was linked to terrorists or the Iranian government….(Arizona Republic, 21 Apr 07)

Edgar C. Duin CIA Research Analyst

Edgar C. Duin, 89, a former research analyst with the CIA, died of pulmonary fibrosis March 21…He specialized in the Soviet Union within the CIA's Foreign Broadcast Information Service and spoke Russian, French, Spanish and Dutch….(Washington Post, 21 Apr 07)

F.B.I. Names New Leader for Its Office in Newark

The F.B.I. has named Weysan Dun, a 25-year bureau veteran with experience in the Midwest and Washington, to lead the agency’s Newark office….(New York Times, 21 Apr 07)

Michael Ray lawyer to get Ping affidavit on spy case

A US district judge has allowed the lawyer of former police officer Michael Ray Aquino to travel to Manila and get the depositions of opposition senatorial candidate Panfilo Lacson and other officials in relation to the espionage case pending in New Jersey….(GMA, 20 Apr 07)

Saxton slams Pentagon delays on ISR

…Rep. Jim Saxton of New Jersey, the ranking Republican on the Air and Land Forces Subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, urged the U.S. Department of Defense to explain long delays in submitting to Congress its financial requirements for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or ISR, programs…..(UPI, 20 Apr 07)

Russian Police Raid U.S.-Funded NGO

Russian police raided a non-governmental organization that receives U.S. funding, seizing documents and equipment in a search its director said Thursday was likely linked to growing government pressure on Western-funded NGOs. Police spent nearly 11 hours Wednesday at the offices of the Educated Media Foundation _ the legal successor of Internews Russia, the Russian office of a California-based organization that promotes independent media worldwide….(AP, 20 Apr 07)

Renzi resigns from Intelligence Committee

Rep. Rick Renzi decided to resign temporarily from the House Intelligence Committee until an FBI investigation of his family business is resolved….(The Hill, 20 Apr 07)

Justice Dept. Given 2 Weeks to Weigh Use of Classified Data in Espionage Case

The Justice Department yesterday was given until May 2 to determine how it wants to proceed in the controversial prosecution of two former pro-Israel lobbyists charged with violating the 1917 Espionage Act after the federal judge in the case turned down prosecutors' attempt to close from public scrutiny a substantial portion of the trial in order to protect classified information. The government has charged Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, former lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), with conspiring to obtain national defense information from U.S. officials and pass it on to the media and Israeli officials. They are the first U.S. citizens not employed by the government to be charged under the 89-year-old law for allegedly receiving and transmitting such information orally, rather than through classified documents…..(Washington Post, 20 Apr 07)

Prosecutors weighs future of lobbyist case

…U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III denied a request from prosecutors that portions of the case be kept from the public to protect classified information….(UPI, 20 Apr 07)

Profile: MI5 head Jonathan Evans

Jonathan Evans has become the new head of the security service MI5 after being the deputy for two years. He has been in the security service since 1980, specializing in counter-terrorism - both domestic and international….(BBC, 20 Apr 07)

Sri Lanka crash lands spy plane

Sri Lanka's air force said Friday it had lost an unmanned spy plane flying over the country's embattled northeast close to Tamil Tiger territory…..(Agence France-Presse, 20 Apr 07)

Stolen laptops fuel industrial espionage fears for UK software firm

A UK-based hi-tech firm that's become the victim of "industrial espionage" is offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for stealing its computer hardware. Thieves who stole a number of laptops from VBi Triscan Systems also lifted hard disks from the fuel management firm's servers sometime between Tuesday, 27 March, and Saturday, 31 March….(Channel Register, 20 Apr 07)

Militant, 79, Is Released By U.S. to House Arrest
Anti-Castro militant Luis Posada Carriles, an ex-CIA operative suspected in a decades-old Cuban airliner bombing, was released from U.S. custody Thursday and flew to Miami as he awaits trial on immigration fraud charges…..(AP, 20 Apr 07)

Aquino's Lawyer to Travel to Manila

United States District Court Judge William H. Walls in Newark, New Jersey allowed the lawyer of Michael Ray Aquino to travel to the Philippines to secure the depositions from Sen. Panfilo Lacson and others during the oral argument on the presentencing of the former ranking Philippine National Police official. But Judge Walls denied Wednesday (April 11) Attorney Mark A. Berman’s motion for discovery, seeking “the production of all documents relating to Aquino’s relationship with Senator Lacson, all statements of Aquino’s co-defendant Leandro Aragoncillo” and wanted to find out if the government is going to “to show that [Aquino] acted at the behest of Senator Lacson at sentencing.” Walls also reset Aquino’s sentencing from April 16, 2007 to July 27, 2007 at 9:30 a.m….(Asian Journal, 19 Apr 07)

A Breach in Nuclear Security

New Mexico police got more than they bargained for last fall when they responded to a call about a domestic dispute in a trailer park near Los Alamos National Laboratory. Not only had they stumbled on paraphernalia for making the drug crystal meth; they also found thousands of pages of highly classified documents detailing the designs of U.S. nuclear weapons… according to government documents, the woman who made off with the weapons designs was herself engaged in chronic illegal drug use and other serious security breaches that have never been made public. Documents also show that the DOE is investigating separate drug use by at least 35 other lab workers who received security clearances around the same time...Jessica Quintana, the woman who lived in the trailer, went to work as an archivist at Los Alamos at age 18, right out of high school.….(Time Magazine, 19 Apr 07)

'Spy' arrests highlight ME nuke tensions

High-profile espionage cases in the Middle East heighten regional tensions over nuclear development as states rush to collect information on their rivals' nuclear capacities…On 8 February, Intelligence and Security Minister Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei claimed Iran had arrested 100 Israeli and US spies seeking nuclear and political information. This followed the reported capture of a spy active in the parliamentary research center. He had allegedly passed information on the country's nuclear program to a banned armed opposition group, the People's Mujahideen. Prominent Iranian nuclear scientist Ardeshir Hassanpour died of "gas poisoning" on 15 January, in what some analysts described as a Mossad assassination…..(ISN, 19 Apr 07)

PACE urges Russia to free scientists convicted for state treason

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution Thursday urging Russia to release two scientists convicted for state treason. Igor Sutyagin, an arms researcher at the foreign policy department of the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute for U.S. and Canadian Studies, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in April 2004 for passing classified information to U.K.-based Alternative Futures Consulting, which Russia's security service said was a front for U.S. intelligence….(RIA Novosti, 19 Apr 07)

New Iraqi Military Intelligence Academy Facility Opens

 Iraqi Forces took an important step towards self-sufficiency with the opening of a new training facility for the Iraqi Military Intelligence Academy (MIA) on April 17. Since it was established by Multi-National Forces in 2005, the Military Intelligence Academy has graduated more than 1,300 students, many of whom are members of the Ministry of Defense, Iraqi Air Force, Iraqi Navy and Iraqi Special Operation Forces….(DOD, 19 Apr 07)

US general says Iran backs Iraqi Shi'ites and Sunnis

 Iranian intelligence forces are supporting Sunni insurgents in Iraq, in addition to Shi'ites, to destabilize the country and tie U.S. forces down, a U.S. general said on Thursday…"Detainees in American custody have indicated that Iranian intelligence operatives have given support to Sunni insurgents and then we've discovered some munitions in Baghdad neighborhoods which are largely Sunni that were manufactured in Iran,"….(Reuters, 19 Apr 07)

Two Foreigners Connected To Egypt-Israel Spying Scheme

…A Japanese and Irishman have been charged with spying for Israel, only days after Egyptian authorities arrested an engineer of the nation's Atomic Energy Agency for his activities allegedly connected to Israel...The two foreign suspects have not been detained, but have been identified as Brian Peter and Shiro Izu. Izu is said to be in his forties and a resident of Hong Kong….(All Headlines News, 19 Apr 07)

Swiss journalists acquitted in case of leaked secret CIA prisons fax

Three journalists were acquitted Tuesday of breaking Swiss military secrecy laws by publishing classified intelligence material about alleged secret CIA prisons in Europe. A military tribunal ruled that SonntagsBlick reporters Sandro Brotz, Beat Jost and the weekly’s former editor-in-chief, Christoph Grenacher, had not revealed military secrets when they published a purported Egyptian government fax intercepted by the Swiss foreign intelligence agency…..(AP, 19 Apr 07)

Senator Demands NKorea Return USS Pueblo

A senator sees it as a fair trade: a Korean battle flag captured in the 19th century for the USS Pueblo, taken in 1968. Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., reintroduced a resolution Wednesday demanding that North Korea return the Pueblo, and he sent a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice suggesting she look into his proposed exchange…..(AP, 19 Apr 07)

Government Can Try To Block Cleric’s ‘CIA Rendition’ Trial

Italy's constitutional court has ruled that the Italian government can seek to block the trial of several Italian and American secret agents accused of kidnapping an Egyptian Muslim cleric, on the grounds that investigating magistrates may have violated state secrecy regulations…(AKI, 19 Apr 07)

Mich. men accused of spying for Iraq

…A grand jury accused Najib Shemami, 58, of Sterling Heights, of four espionage-related charges between March 2002 and early 2003, according to the U.S. attorney's office and FBI. A criminal complaint claims Ghazi Al-Awadi, 78, of Dearborn told Iraqi intelligence officials in 1997 that he killed his son-in-law because the man belonged to an anti-Saddam Hussein political party...The U.S. attorney's office and FBI said Shemami acted as a spy under Saddam Hussein and shared information, in part, about Iraqi expatriates in the U.S., the release said. Federal prosecutors say he met with intelligence agents several times in Iraq before the 2003 invasion. The captured documents said Al-Awadi met with Iraqi officials in 1997 and offered his cooperation. They claimed he gave information about a retired Iraqi physician who was planning to flee to the U.S. and his nephew, a major general in Iraq. The complaint said Al-Awadi pledged he was "ready to do whatever is needed from him to serve Iraq and the wise leadership."….(AP, 19 Apr 07)

Gov't Straining to Secure Computer Systems

Federal computer networks are being targeted on an unprecedented scale and recent high-profile compromises at two key federal agencies are likely just the most visible symptoms of a government-wide security epidemic, government security experts told a congressional oversight committee today….(Washington Post, 19 Apr 07)

Feds: 4-year probe led to espionage-related charges

…U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Murphy said the "somewhat unusual" investigation was delayed _ and charges were deferred _ because the documents were seized overseas by the military, then processed through other government agencies. "We have to make sure everything is appropriate for submission to court," Murphy said….(AP, 19 Apr 07)

Locals expected Iraq spy charges

…"Not only did we expect the indictment, we know the men -- and we know who other spies were," Nabil Roumayah, who said he toiled for democracy in Iraq -- from both Baghdad and Southfield -- for nearly three decades..."This is a payback for us," said Roumayah, who said he was forced to flee Iraq because of his political activism. "Those guys were spying on us and passing information on us and our families back to the regime in Iraq. They have given information on us and our families to the Mukhabbarat," Saddam's notorious Iraqi Intelligence Service…..(Detroit News, 19 Apr 07)

US men charged as 'Saddam's spies'

…Najib Shemami and Ghazi Al-Awadi were indicted for giving the former government information about its enemies in the US, and were freed on $10,000 bonds each after appearing in US District Court in Detroit on Tuesday. The documents also said Al-Awadi told the Iraqi Intelligence Service in 1997 that he killed his son-in-law, who belonged to an anti-Hussein political party…..(Herald-Sun, 19 Apr 07)

Court upholds 10-year prison term for N. Korean spy

A Seoul appellate court on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced a North Korean spy to 10 years in prison for violating the anti-communist National Security Law. Jeong Kyeong-hak was convicted of sneaking into a nuclear power facility and military bases in South Korea and taking photos of them in the late 1990s….(Yonhap, 19 Apr 07)

Kremlin accuses the U.S. of meddling in Russia's internal affairs

Russia's first deputy PM has accused the U.S. of meddling in Moscow's internal affairs, and has defended Russian democracy against attempts by Washington to promote President Bush's freedom agenda..."When the State Department publicly says, 'We will disburse money to NGOs,' this is clear interference in our internal affairs,"….(RIA Novosti, 19 Apr 07)

Iran tells U.S. it has no details on ex-FBI agent

Tehran has told the United States it has no idea of the whereabouts of a former FBI agent who went missing in Iran last month, the State Department said on Thursday….(Reuters, 19 Apr 07)

Analysis: DNI leverages personnel powers

Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell recently restructured his office to help him leverage his limited authorities over the 16 U.S. spy agencies he is supposed to manage -- chief among them being the power to set personnel policies…..(UPI, 19 Apr 07)

Firm to Mine Databases for National Security Threats

A Reston company funded by an arm of the CIA will be working with the FBI and several intelligence agencies to mine databases for hidden clues about people who might turn out to be threats to national security…..(Washington Post, 19 Apr 07)

State Department Got Mail _ and Hackers

…In the first public account revealing details about the intrusion and the government's hurried behind-the-scenes response, a senior State Department official described an elaborate ploy by sophisticated international hackers. They used a secret break-in technique that exploited a design flaw in Microsoft software. Consumers using the same software remained vulnerable until months afterward…..(AP, 18 Apr 07)

Marine Corps’ Director of Intelligence Urges Better Information at All Levels

The United States needs to improve its efforts to gather and use intelligence -- and not only to enable more effective top-level decision-making on military matters. Enhancing that capability all the way down the chain of command to individual Marines and others on the ground is just as important, said Brigadier General Richard M. Lake, director of intelligence for the U.S. Marine Corps….(USF, 18 Apr 07)

Al-Jazeera Memo Trial Starts in London

A British government official and a former political researcher went on trial Wednesday for allegedly leaking a classified memo in which President Bush reportedly referred to bombing the Arab television station Al-Jazeera. David Keogh, 50, a cipher expert, and Leo O'Connor, 44, a lawmaker's aide, are accused of violating secrecy laws by disclosing a document relating to 2004 talks between Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair. Both defendants deny violating the Official Secrets Act…..(AP, 18 Apr 07)

US prosecutors seek 10-year term for Filipino spy

Federal prosecutors in New Jersey are seeking a 10-year prison term for a former Philippine National Police officer who pleaded guilty to possessing secret US documents as part of an opposition plot to undermine the Philippine government. In seeking the maximum term for Michael Ray Aquino, prosecutors said that the "serious disruption'' he caused to the American government outweighed any benefit he should receive for accepting responsibility in the conspiracy - a plot that involved the theft of classified national defense documents from the White House and the FBI…..(AP, 18 Apr 07)

2 Mich. men charged as Iraqi spies - For years, they fed info to Hussein regime, U.S. says

...Ghazi Al-Awadi, 78, of Dearborn allegedly told the Iraqi Intelligence Service in 1997 that he killed his son-in-law because the man belonged to an anti-Hussein political party, court documents said. Najib Shemami, 59, of Sterling Heights allegedly provided Iraqi intelligence with information about Iraqi expatriates who might be called upon to guide U.S. troops during the invasion of Iraq and potential political candidates for the new government. The charges were based on Iraqi intelligence documents captured by U.S. forces in Iraq in 2003…..(Detroit Free Press, 18 Apr 07)

Italian Court Revisits CIA Indictments

A top Italian court said Wednesday it would review the indictment of 26 Americans, mostly CIA agents _ a move which could delay any start of trial for the 2003 kidnapping of a Muslim cleric. Italian prosecutors have accused the Americans of kidnapping, but Italy's government has challenged the charges…..(AP, 18 Apr 07)

Iran attempts to recruit Israelis to spy

The Shin Bet (Israel’s Security Agency) revealed on Tuesday that Israelis have been recruited to spy for Iran and reveal information when visiting their families. During the past two years the Shin Bet has questioned 10 Israelis, some of them Jews, who’ve agreed to spy for the Islamic Republic…..(Israel Today, 18 Arp 07)

Israel busts espionage plot targeting visitors to Iran

…Israeli security officials told reporters that Shin Bet agents detained an Israeli returning from a visit to relatives among Iran's 25,000-member Jewish community. He told interrogators he was given money by Iranian intelligence operatives and asked to help them spy on Israel….(AP, 18 Apr 07)

Israel denies Egyptian spied for Mossad

In the second spy case of its kind since the beginning of the year, Egyptian authorities announced on Tuesday that a nuclear engineer at the country’s Atomic Energy Agency has been charged with handing information over to Israel’s spy agency, the Mossad. Israel denied the allegations, saying similar reports about alleged Israeli spies have proven unfounded…..(Israel Today, 18 Apr 07)

Pakistani citizen sentenced to 7-year RI for spying

…Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Rajneesh Kumar Gupta held Asif guilty of espionage charges under the Indian Official Secrets (OS) Act and also slapped on him a fine of Rs 5,000. The court also found Asif guilty under the Foreigner's Act for staying in India without a proper visa or permit….(DNA India, 18 Apr 07)

Sex and the C.I.A.

…I was particularly interested in stories Hettena unearthed about Kyle “Dusty” Foggo, whom former CIA director Porter Goss had named as executive director, the agency's number-three official. Foggo resigned last year not long after FBI agents raided his home and office. The Feds suspected that Foggo, who was later indicted, had funneled CIA contracts to his long-time friend Brent Wilkes…..(Harper’s, 18 Apr 07)

Commentary: Open source intelligence

…It is arguably the world's best intelligence. Its daily brief is read avidly by anyone who matters in governance the world over. Heads of state and government, foreign and defense ministers, intel agency chiefs and corporate CEOs, from Beijing to Brussels and from Washington to Wellington, subscribe to what has become the gold standard for objective global strategic analysis. Oxford Analytica is the brand….(UPI, 18 Apr 07)

Cuban Militant Posada Posts $250K Bail

…Luis Posada Carriles wants to return to Miami, where his wife lives, to await his May 11 trial on immigration fraud charges. The former CIA operative, who admitted to entering the country illegally from Mexico two years ago, has been ordered deported; immigration officials could detain him after he is released from jail in Otero County, N.M…..(AP, 18 Apr 07)

Egypt arrests nuclear engineer as a spy for Israel

…The government statement said that in 1999, Ali "frequented" the Israeli Embassy in Cairo, seeking a scholarship in nuclear engineering from Tel Aviv University. He later made several visits to Hong Kong, where he met with the Israeli intelligence agents, agreed to cooperate and received a laptop with a coded program for spying, the statement added. In the Middle East, where countries are uneasy about Iran's nuclear program and are seeking sources of power, interest in nuclear energy is strong…..(New York Times, 18 Apr 07)

Irish man charged over alleged Israeli spy ring in Egypt

…The man, who has not been named, is suspected of involvement in the sale of information relating to Egypt's nuclear program…..(Belfast Telegraph, 18 Apr 07)

Judge denies attempt to shield evidence in espionage trial

…Judge T.S. Ellis in Alexandria, Va., ruled Monday that the government's proposal to deny public access to such a large portion of the evidence presented is unconstitutional. The defendants in the upcoming trial are Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, both formerly lobbyists with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. They are charged with conspiring to communicate national defense information…..(RCFP, 18 Apr 07)

Mich. Men Accused of Spying for Iraq

Two Michigan men spied for the Iraqi government before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of the country, federal authorities said Tuesday. A grand jury indictment accuses Najib Shemami, 58, of Sterling Heights, of four espionage-related charges between March 2002 and early 2003, according to a statement by the U.S. attorney's office and the FBI. A criminal complaint filed against Ghazi Al-Awadi, 78, of Dearborn, claims he told the Iraqi intelligence in 1997 that he killed his son-in-law because the man belonged to an anti-Saddam Hussein political party….(AP, 18 Apr 07)

Outsourcing the CIA

…President Bush and Senate Republicans say they object to the Democrats' draft authorization because of provisions like making the overall intelligence budget public and creating a statutory inspector general for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence…..(Time Magazine, 19 Apr 07)

Middle East has become espionage hub teeming with secret agents

Two counter-intelligence success stories were reported in the Middle East Monday…The first achievement was the Shin Bet's success in curbing a nascent attempt by the Iranian Ministry of Information (VEVAK) to use two of its agents, known by their codenames Zin'ali and Tikawi, in an effort to recruit Israeli Jews of Persian descent…The second thwarted espionage attempt - that is, if we believe the media in Cairo – involves the Egyptian Intelligence Service's Israel section uncovering a Mossad mole operating from within the Egyptian committee for atomic energy….(YNet, 18 Apr 07)

Search Broadens for Former FBI Agent

…Frustrated by the lack of a response from Iran to three previous requests made through Swiss intermediaries about the welfare and whereabouts of Robert Levinson, the department said it is now asking other nations with ties to Iran for help….(AP, 18 Apr 07)

UK, US give Russian espionage warnings
With Moscow's voice becoming increasingly boisterous on the international stage, both the US and British counterintelligence agencies are warning that increased Russian espionage activity is posing a serious challenge to national security. Senior counterintelligence officials in the UK are comparing the current level of Russian activity to that of Cold War levels…..(Jane’s, 18 Apr 07)

Europeans Critical of Rendition by U.S.

Members of the European Parliament who were behind a critical report on CIA anti-terrorism tactics have been challenging Bush administration and congressional officials with their findings. The delegation told a congressional panel Tuesday that a CIA practice of spiriting away terrorism suspects was illegal….(AP, 18 Apr 07)

The Spy Who Came In From the Heat

True Believer, by Scott Carmichael

On September 21, 2001, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced the arrest of Ana Belen Montes, a 43-year-old analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency on charges of being a Cuban spy. Several weeks later the accused signed an agreement in which she pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit espionage, to submit to a debriefing by the FBI, and to serve a 25-year prison sentence….(New York Sun, 18 Apr 07)

Judge demands US spy base details

A judge has ordered that operational details of a US military spy base be brought before a court…Judge Walker said he wanted to know what the spy base did, whether it was considered British or American territory and who ran it. He said: "Who is the commander? Who presses the button on any weapons? Who authorizes any weapons to be used?"….(BBC, 17 Apr 07)

Hinckley Seeking Longer Furloughs

John W. Hinckley Jr., who shot President Ronald Reagan and three other men in 1981, wants to take another step toward what could be his eventual release from St. Elizabeths, the public psychiatric hospital in the District where he has been held since being found not guilty by reason of insanity….(Washington Post, 17 Apr 07)

U.S. soldier on trial in Italy for Iraq killing

A U.S. soldier went on trial in absentia in Italy on Tuesday accused of killing an Italian intelligence agent in Iraq, but his lawyer said his client would reject the court's jurisdiction. After preliminary motions, the trial was adjourned until May 14 for procedural reasons….(Reuters, 17 Apr 07)

Spy Case Confirms Need for National Security Law

The Seoul Central District Court on Monday convicted Jang Min-ho, a 45-year-old naturalized American citizen, for playing a key role in handing over state secrets to North Korean agents and setting up meetings between those agents and four other South Koreans, who were also convicted of espionage…..(Chosun, 17 Apr 07)

A U.S.-Italy dispute behind murder trial

…The parties involved in the 2005 shooting agree that Lozano opened fire on a car carrying the agent, Nicola Calipari, as it approached a checkpoint on a darkened road to the Baghdad airport. Calipari was escorting an Italian journalist whom he had just liberated from Iraqi kidnappers. Beyond those basic facts, there is deep disagreement over what happened that night and, more important, whether anyone should be held accountable….(LA Times, 17 Apr 07)

'Sleeper spy' is found guilty

...Jurors deliberated briefly after closing arguments Friday and then for more than two hours Monday morning before returning the guilty verdict. (Sami Khoshaba) Latchin, 59, was convicted of being an unregistered foreign agent, conducting unauthorized business with Iraq, lying to an FBI agent and lying on immigration papers. Prosecutors had called the case remarkable, accusing Latchin of being a "sleeper spy" sent by Iraq to settle in the U.S. and await orders….(Chicago Tribune, 17 Apr 07)

American CIA Recruited from Yale

…Thesis which was dragged out into the public is that the secret fraternity Skull and Bones is credited for the establishment of the American Central Intelligence Agency. This is actually a wrong assessment. It is a fact that the secret fraternity Skull and Bones is from Yale, while most key agents did not come from it, but they did come from Yale….(Javno, 17 Apr 07)

Illinois Man Convicted of Serving as Long-Time Iraqi Intelligence Agent in the United States

…The defendant, Sami Khoshaba Latchin, 59, of 9399 Bay Colony Dr., Des Plaines, Ill., was found guilty this morning by a federal jury on all counts of a five-count superseding indictment returned in July 2006. The indictment accuses Latchin of acting as an unregistered foreign agent in the U.S., conspiring to act as an unregistered foreign agent in the U.S., violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, lying to the FBI in an interview, and obtaining U.S. citizenship under false pretenses….(PressZoom, 17 Apr 07)

Court: Gov't Can't Hold Cuban Militant

An appeals court on Tuesday denied the U.S. government's latest bid to keep anti-Castro Cuban militant Luis Posada Carriles jailed until his May trial on immigration fraud charges….(AP, 17 Apr 07)

Israeli Accused of Spying for Iran

Israel's Shin Bet security agency has arrested an Israeli of Iranian descent suspected of agreeing to work for Iranian intelligence…The case is just one of several recent attempts by Tehran to recruit Israelis who visited Iran to spy on its behalf…(AP, 17 Apr 07)

Egypt Arrests Accused Spy

…News of Gaber's arrest followed the detention in January of Mohammed el-Attar, another Egyptian who also holds Canadian citizenship, on charges of spying for Israel. Three Israelis, who were charged alongside el-Attar, remain at large. In 2002, an Egyptian court found Sherif al-Filali, an Egyptian engineer, guilty of spying on behalf of Israel, and sentenced him to 15 years in prison with hard labor. Two years later, Egypt freed an Israeli Arab businessman convicted of spying in exchange for Israel's release of six Egyptian students. Azzam Azzam served eight years in an Egyptian prison before his release….(AP, 17 Apr 07)

Egypt Arrests Atomic Agency Engineer as a Spy for Israel

Egyptian authorities have arrested an engineer at the Egyptian Atomic Energy Agency on charges of spying for Israel. Mohammed Sayed Sabar Ali, 35, has been accused of passing sensitive information to two foreigners, one of whom is Japanese and the other, Irish. Egyptian security services allege that the foreigners are agents for the Israeli intelligence agency, the Mossad, and that they paid Ali for the data he provided. Both of the non-Egyptians accused of acting on Israel's behalf have been charged in absentia. (Israel NN, 17 Apr 07)

Egypt arrests “nuclear spies” working for Israel

Prosecutor-General Abdul-Maguid Mahmoud told a news conference that the Egyptian engineer, identified as Muhammad Gaber, was arrested on February 18, but said news of his detention were withheld pending the completion of the investigation.  Two foreigners, one Japanese and one Irish, were also charged in the case, Mr Badawi said….(Al Jazeera, 17 Apr 07)

Alleged Iraqi 'Sleeper Agent' Convicted

An alleged Iraqi "sleeper agent" sent by Saddam Hussein to spy on dissidents in the United States was convicted Monday of lying about his ties to the former Baghdad regime.  Sami Latchin, 59, was taken into custody minutes after the federal jury verdict, which could send him to prison for up to 40 years. Prosecutors warned that Latchin would be a flight risk if allowed to stay free until sentencing….(AP, 17 Apr 07)

No comment on spy charges

Norway's Foreign Ministry (UD) is not satisfied with Russia's grounds for turning away a senior Defense Department adviser. Senior adviser Ingjerd Kroken was refused entry to Moscow on February 7. She had worked for six years on the AMEC program (Arctic Military Environmental Cooperation), a multinational cooperation for the dismantling of old nuclear submarines…..(Aftenposten, 17 Apr 07)

Dyer: Strategic reflexes and self-fulfilling prophecies in Asia

The test would hardly have made the news outside of India if the local air-traffic controllers had posted a warning in advance, but when an Indonesian airliner had to turn around in Indian airspace last Thursday and return to Jakarta to avoid flying into the missile's path, it was bound to draw attention. So now the whole world knows that India has test-fired a nuclear-capable missile…(Salt Lake Tribune, 17 Apr 07)

Israel says Iran recruited Jewish émigrés as spies

Iran has been issuing tourist visas to Israelis of Iranian descent and recruiting some of the visitors to spy on their new homeland, Israel's Shin Bet counter-intelligence agency said on Tuesday. Israel is home to tens of thousands of Iranian immigrants, many of whom maintain discreet ties with relatives in their native land despite almost three decades of cold war-style hostility between the Islamic republic and the Jewish state…..(Reuters, 17 Apr 07)

CIA Chief Complains About Agency's Critics in Europe
CIA Director Michael V. Hayden has taken the unusual step of complaining privately to European diplomats about officials in their countries criticizing U.S. intelligence programs that involve renditions, detentions and interrogations of terrorism suspects…Hayden said the renditions were undertaken with the consent and often the assistance of the countries where the detainees were located..…(Washington Post, 17 Apr 07)

France Warned CIA of Hijack Plot in 2001

Nine months before al-Qaida slammed airliners into the World Trade Center, French intelligence suspected the terror network was plotting a hijacking _ possibly involving a U.S. airline _ and warned the CIA… But the French warning hinted at a plot in Europe, not the United States, and there was no suggestion of suicide attacks or multiple planes. One former official said al-Qaida may have leaked misinformation to divert intelligence agencies from the bigger, deadlier plot to come on Sept. 11, 2001….(AP, 16 Apr 07)

Iran frees two Swedes jailed for espionage

Iran released on Monday two Swedish men held for more than a year for espionage. The two men were detained in 2006 while taking photos of "sensitive military sites" in the Qeshm island near the southern Gulf port of Bandar Abbas, according to Iranian authorities. They were convicted and jailed for espionage….(Reuters, 16 Apr 07)

U.S. again asks Iran about missing American

…Florida resident and ex-FBI agent Robert Levinson went missing while on a visit to the Gulf island of Kish in Iran early in March. U.S. officials have said they believe he is in Iran but have no credible information about his exact whereabouts. It is not clear why Levinson visited Iran….(Reuters, 16 Apr 07)

Korean-American jailed for N. Korean spying

A South Korean court convicted a Korean-American of spying for North Korea and sentenced him to nine years in prison on Monday. Jang Min-ho, a 44-year-old naturalized American who is also known as Michael Jang, played a key role "in delivering national secrets ... to North Korean agents and setting up meetings between North Korean agents" and four other South Koreans, who were also convicted Monday of espionage by the Seoul Central District Court….(AP, 16 Apr 07)

Atty Argues for Cuban Militant Release

Government efforts to keep the aging anti-Castro Cuban militant Luis Posada Carriles in jail are "frivolous and merely for the purposes of delay," his defense attorney said Monday… The 79-year-old former CIA operative is wanted in Venezuela on charges that he was in Caracas when he plotted a 1976 bombing that killed 73 people aboard a Cuban jetliner. He has been jailed in the United States since May 2005….(AP, 16 Apr 07)

Hiss Was Guilty

For nearly sixty years, Alger Hiss's defenders have mounted one campaign after another to discredit the mountain of evidence that proves he spied for the Soviet Union…..One could go on and on enumerating all the evidence in the Hiss case, which proves his guilt beyond any reasonable doubt. But the point ought to be clear that the (a well-placed American agent, code-named ALES) ALES messages, while important and interesting, are but a few more stones on a large rock pile of evidence. Remove them and little changes in re Alger Hiss. By contrast, the astonishing and grossly irresponsible charge against Wilder Foote is a perfect example of the McCarthyite techniques that Hiss’s defenders have long and hotly denounced…..(HNN, written by John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr - the authors, most recently, of Early Cold War Spies: The Espionage Trials That Shaped American Politics, 16 Apr 07)

Hiss and History

This is the text of the keynote address delivered by Victor Navasky at the "Alger Hiss and History" conference held New York University in early April......(HNN, 16 Apr 07)

Lawyer Threatens to Call US VP Cheney, Gore to Testify in 'Pinoy Spy' Case

The lawyer for Michael Ray Aquino threatened to "rake [Leandro Aragoncillo] and the government over the coals" by calling Vice President Dick Cheney and former Vice President Al Gore and other government officials to testify regarding Aragoncillo "and his activities during the relevant time period."….(16 Apr 07)

US-Korean man jailed for spying

…Jan Min-ho, also known as Michael Jang, was found guilty of passing sensitive information about politicians and security to Pyongyang. He was one of five people convicted of espionage by the court in Seoul. Prosecutors have called it the biggest spying case since the two Koreas began a process of reconciliation in 2000. Two of the five are members of the left-leaning minor opposition Democratic Labor Party (DLP). Pyongyang had denounced the case as a "calculated plot" to smear North Korea….(BBC, 16 Apr 07)

US-Korean man jailed for spying

…Jan Min-ho, also known as Michael Jang, was found guilty of passing sensitive information about politicians and security to Pyongyang. He was one of five people convicted of espionage by the court in Seoul. Prosecutors have called it the biggest spying case since the two Koreas began a process of reconciliation in 2000. Two of the five are members of the left-leaning minor opposition Democratic Labor Party (DLP). Pyongyang had denounced the case as a "calculated plot" to smear North Korea….(BBC, 16 Apr 07)

Former KGB agent facing deportation

A 70-year-old Vancouver man who spent two decades with the Soviet security service faces deportation from Canada. Givi Abramishvili, who rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the feared KGB, failed to persuade the appeal division of the federal Immigration and Refugee Board he should be allowed to stay. Adjudicator Erwin Nest issued a deportation order upon finding "ample credible and trustworthy evidence" to reasonably conclude Mr. Abramishvili was a KGB member from 1969 to 1989, when the Soviet empire began crumbling....(Canadian Press, 16 Apr 07)

Who’s Watching the F.B.I.?

…Because of the amorphous nature of the terrorist threat, the F.B.I. may be right that it needs the power to investigate people who it isn’t sure in advance are terrorist suspects. Predicting who might be a terrorist in the future is much harder than prosecuting known spies who committed crimes in the past. But dragnets have their price…..(New York Times, 15 Apr 07)

The Pilotless Plane That Only Looks Like Child’s Play

…the Predator and General Atomics reflect the military’s transformation from conflicts built around manned armor to strategies organized around surveillance. U.A.V.’s embody the potential for quick, relatively effortless wars fought by drones controlled from great distances, and thus have become lightning rods for battles over the military’s direction….(New York Times, 15 Apr 07)

Hayden Works to Absorb New Hires at CIA
CIA Director Michael V. Hayden, after nearly a year as head of the nation's premier intelligence agency, says his biggest challenge is absorbing all the newly hired analysts and the case officers who have been hired since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001…..(Washington Post, 15 Apr 07)

SHOCKING! Secrets of the dead and famous seem rather ho-hum compared to government's interest in them

…In his book Celebrity Secrets: Government Files on the Rich and Famous, Nick Redfern takes advantage of the Freedom of Information Act to find out what the FBI and CIA have been up to. "For the most part, a person has to be in the unfortunate position of being dead before the government will reveal its once-secret files to the public," Redfern writes. We're belated learning that it's not so shocking what the celebrities were up to, so much as what the government was up to. …(Chicago Sun-Times, 15 Apr 07)

Spying and its moral limits

True Believer: Inside the Investigation and Capture of Ava Montes, Cuba's Master Spy, by Scott W. Carmichael

…To be sure, Mr. Carmichael's book is a good read for anyone interested in the intricacies of counterintelligence. But time and again I found myself thinking, "This is like reading a mystery novel where none of the clues are ever revealed." Nonetheless, Mr. Carmichael's vantage point does offer him the opportunity to give some disturbing views on the harm Ms. Montes did to the United States…..(Washington Times, 15 Apr 07)