AT& T Plaintiffs Cite McConnell Remarks

Plaintiffs suing AT&T in connection with the government's warrantless surveillance program this week filed a motion asking a federal appeals court in San Francisco to consider as evidence the recent admission by the government's top intelligence official that telecommunications companies aided the program…"Taken in context, it is clear that [McConnell] is referencing the defendant telecommunications companies in this litigation" as well as dozens of other cases pending in federal court, wrote attorneys for Electronic Frontier Foundation, which filed the class-action lawsuit last year on behalf of AT&T customers in California who claim that they were wiretapped…..(Washington Post, 1 Sep 07)

Group Troubled by Rise in Gov't Secrecy

Government secrecy by almost any measure is expanding and little is being done to stop it, according to a coalition of 67 organizations favoring greater openness… From 2003-2005, the FBI made 143,074 requests for telephone companies, Internet service providers, banks, credit bureaus and others to turn over data, the coalition noted. The requests came in the form of national security letters, which are administrative subpoenas that do not require a judge's approval. In 2000, the FBI issued an estimated 8,500 such requests. Last year, the number of decisions to classify documents was 231,995. Though the figure was down from 258,633 in 2005, it was still significantly higher than before 2001…..(AP, 1 Sep 07)

U.S. Cites ‘Secrets’ Privilege as It Tries to Stop Suit on Banking Records

The Bush administration is signaling that it plans to turn again to a legal tool, the “state secrets” privilege, to try to stop a suit against a Belgian banking cooperative that secretly supplied millions of private financial records to the United States government, court documents show…The suit against the consortium, known as Swift, threatens to disrupt the operations of a vital national security program and to disclose “highly classified information” if it continues, the Justice Department has said in court filings….(New York Times, 31 Aug 07)

German constitutional protection authorities foresee "secret service procurement offensive"

China is, according to the North Rhine-Westphalia constitutional protection authorities, not the only country carrying out espionage in Germany. Hartwig Möller, head of the constitutional protection authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia, has told the Der Zeit newspaper, "We are seeing a regular procurement offensive." He also stated that the Iranian secret service was actively attempting to gain access to high tech blueprints in North Rhine-Westphalia. "The targets are primarily weapons technologies and know-how for their nuclear program," opined Möller…..(Heise, 31 Aug 07)

At Rapleaf, your personals are public

In the cozy Facebook social network, it's easy to have a sense of privacy among friends and business acquaintances. But sites like Rapleaf will quickly jar you awake: Everything you say or do on a social network could be fair game to sell to marketers. Rapleaf, based in San Francisco, is building a business on that premise……(CNet, 31 Aug 07)

Europe at the center of mullahs’ spy ring

In an interview with the Luxemburger Wort, a national daily in Luxemburg, the chair of Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Mohammad Mohaddessin called on EU to put pressure on the mullahs’ regime instead of imposing restrictions on the Iranian opposition…The Luxemburger Wort in its article titled: “Europe at the Center of the mullahs’ spy ring,” wrote about the warnings of the People’s Mojahedin of Iran on the conspiracies of the regime against the Iranian Resistance in Europe where the high ranking German politicians also affirm Mohadesin’s claims on the spread of disinformation by the Iranian regime. At the beginning of the world cup games in Germany, Gunther Beckstein, the Interior Minister of Bavaria province stated that it is a classical intelligence method of the Iranian regime to blame the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) for terrorist activities. ….(NCR-Iran, 31 Aug 07)

China Replaces 5 Senior Officials

The Chinese government announced Thursday that five senior officials were being replaced, including the finance and state security ministers, as part of a broad realignment leading up to a crucial Communist Party congress in October…. At the State Security Ministry, which runs China's secret police and many of its intelligence operations at home and abroad, Geng Huichang will replace Xu Yongyue as chief. Along with the Public Security Ministry, the little publicized State Security apparatus has long been a pillar on which the party relies to maintain order and prevent any challenges to its monopoly on power…..(Washington Post, 31 Aug 07)

New Chinese spy chief an expert on commercial intelligence, monitoring group says

China's new spy chief is an expert on commercial intelligence whose appointment signals a shift of emphasis to obtaining and protecting trade secrets, a monitoring group said Friday. Geng Huichang was promoted from vice minister to minister of state security on Thursday as part of a major Cabinet reshuffle ahead of a twice-a-decade Communist Party congress in October. The ministry has long been regarded as China's version of the former Soviet Union's infamous KGB. However, to allow it to focus more on commercial intelligence, some of its duties will now be shifted to the military or the Public Security Ministry, which is in charge of police….(AP, 31 Aug 07)

German minister defends 'Trojan horse' spy tactic as needed to fight terror

Germany's interior minister on Friday defended a proposal to use "Trojan horse" software to search potential suspects' hard drives without their knowledge as a tough but necessary measure against terrorism. Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble wants to include the measure in a broader security law being considered by conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government, but the idea has met with strong criticism from opposition parties and civil liberties groups. The software, carried in e-mails, would allow authorities to investigate the suspects' Internet use and data stored on their hard drives over the Internet without their knowledge….(AP, 31 Aug 07)

Group of lawyers eyes secret searches

With requests for Anton Piller Orders for secret search and seizures at the offices and residences of suspected technology pirates increasingly showing up before judges of the commercial division of Quebec Superior Court, a small group of Montreal lawyers is working on a way to make such court filings and their execution easier and safe from any claim of abuse…..(Gazette, 31 Aug 07)

Rosenberg Spy Mystery Lingers in New Play, The Brother, in Chicago

Hancock Productions opens the world-premiere spy thriller, The Brother, Aug. 30, following previews, at Theatre Building Chicago. "Following the espionage trial that led to the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, this compelling drama focuses on Ethel's brother, David Greenglass," according to production notes. "He was the spy ring's man inside Los Alamos, where America was developing the atomic bomb."…..(Playbill, 31 Aug 07)

Melvin H. Rosen; Survived Bataan Death March

Melvin Herbert Rosen, who died Aug. 1 at 89 of heart disease at his home in Falls Church, trudged 65 miles in four days without food or water in tropical heat during World War II on a road that came to be littered with the bodies of hundreds of American and thousands of Filipino prisoners of war…He held several assignments, including at the Pentagon as chief plans and policy officer in the Procurement Division of the Army General Staff. He served in Germany and taught at Fort Leavenworth for four years on the faculty of the Command and General Staff College…spent three years with the Defense Intelligence Agency at Arlington Hall Station…..(Washington Post, 31 Aug 07)

Rice, other US officials challenge AIPAC subpoenas in closed-door court hearing
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other senior administration officials should be exempt from testifying about whether they shared classified national defense information with two American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) [advocacy website] lobbyists, lawyers argued at a closed-door court session Thursday. Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, indicted [PDF text; JURIST report] in 2005 under the 1917 Espionage Act [18 USC 793 text] for allegedly conspiring to receive and disclose classified US defense information over a five-year period dating back to 1999, say that AIPAC helped write US foreign policy in the Middle East with the tacit endorsement of US officials; they have subpoenaed Rice and other US intelligence officials to testify to this….(Jurist, 30 Aug 07)

Lawyers Challenge Rice, Hadley Subpoenas

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other senior intelligence officials should not be forced to testify about whether they discussed classified information with pro-Israel lobbyists, federal prosecutors argued in a closed-door court hearing Thursday. Two former American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobbyists facing espionage charges have subpoenaed Rice, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams and several others to testify at their trial next year. If their testimony is allowed by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III, the trial could offer a behind-the-scenes look at the way U.S. foreign policy is crafted…defense attorneys suggested that top U.S. officials regularly used the lobbyists as a go-between as they crafted Middle East policy. If so, attorneys say, how are Rosen and Weissman supposed to know the same behavior that's expected of them on one day is criminal the next?…..(AP, 30 Aug 07)

Defense Dept. pays $1B to outside analysts

The Defense Department is paying private contractors more than $1 billion in more than 30 separate contracts to collect and analyze intelligence for the four military services and its own Defense Intelligence Agency, according to contract documents and a Pentagon spokesman. The disclosure marks the first time a U.S. intelligence service has made public its outside payments. Intelligence payments to contractors have climbed dramatically since the terror attacks in September 2001, but none had been made public…Most of the contracts, which extend up to five years, pay for analysis of intelligence data and for related services, such as translation and interpretation of photo and electronic intelligence, Black says. A small fraction, which Black declined to specify, pay for private spies. The annual budget for the nation's 16-member intelligence community is classified. In 2005, Mary Margaret Graham, a deputy director of national intelligence, pegged the figure at $44 billion….(USA Today, 30 Aug 07)

Bush's Lost Iraqi Election

Ayad Allawi, the former interim prime minister of Iraq, hinted in a television interview last weekend at one of the war's least understood turning points: America's decision not to challenge Iranian intervention in Iraq's January 2005 elections…. The CIA warned in the summer and fall of 2004 that the Iranians were pumping money into Iraq to steer the Jan. 30, 2005, elections toward the coalition of Shiite religious parties known as the United Iraqi Alliance. By one CIA estimate, Iranian covert funding was running at $11 million a week for media and political operations on behalf of candidates who would be friendly to Iran, under the banner of Shiite Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. The CIA reported that in the run-up to the election, as many as 5,000 Iranians a week were crossing the border with counterfeit ration cards to register to vote in Iraq's southern provinces…..(Washington Post, 30 Aug 07)

Course to show terrorism fact of life

If there is an overarching message in the class about terrorism being taught for the first time this fall at the Community College of Baltimore County's Hunt Valley campus, it is this: Global terrorism is a fact of life and will no doubt be a fact of life for decades, so it's essential to understand its roots and causes. That's why instructor Barry Leven -- a former analyst and deputy department head for the Office of Naval Intelligence and a retired CIA intelligence officer and division chief -- uses a familiar quotation from Winston Churchill to preface his course outline for "Terrorism and Counterterrorism Part I: "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."….(My Web Pal, 30 Aug 07)

Spaniard removed from FIA appeal panel

A Spanish lawyer has been pulled from the panel of the FIA's International Court of Appeal ahead of the upcoming espionage hearing. The panel was to feature Xavier Conesa, but due to his Spanish nationality - the same as reigning world champion and McLaren driver Fernando Alonso - he has been stepped down to minimize suggestions of favoritism…..(Eurosport, 30 Aug 07)

FBI Surveillance: It's Come a Long Way

…In hundreds of heavily censored pages, the FBI described in unprecedented detail a sophisticated surveillance system known as the Digital Collection System Network. It includes programs to record information about telephone calls _ such as the number called and the duration of the call _ made by surveillance targets and another program called Digital Storm to record conversations. Many of the documents were marked "for official use only."….(AP, 30 Aug 07)

Spy Chief Quote Cited in Verizon Lawsuit

A lawsuit alleging that Verizon Communications Inc. illegally turned over customer records as part of the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance program should go forward because of a recent admission by the U.S. spy chief, lawyers argued Thursday. In a newspaper interview published last week, National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell acknowledged that private-sector companies helped the government investigate suspected terrorists in a probe authorized by President Bush after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks…..(AP, 30 Aug 07)

Documents Show FBI Spied on King's Widow

Federal agents spied on the widow of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. for several years after his assassination in 1968, according to newly released documents that reveal the FBI worried about her following in the footsteps of the slain civil rights icon. In memos that reveal Coretta Scott King being closely followed by the government, the FBI noted concern that she might attempt "to tie the anti-Vietnam movement to the civil rights movement."….(AP, 30 Aug 07)

Polish government critic detained, opposition outraged

Prosecutors detained on Thursday Poland's recently fired interior minister, who has accused Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski of using secret services to spy on rival politicians. The prosecutor service said Janusz Kaczmarek was hampering an investigation into a corruption case. The opposition said Kaczynski was trying to muzzle critics ahead of an expected snap election…..(Reuters,  30 Aug 07)

Politkovskaya Case Loses Suspects

The Monday announcement of Russia’s Prosecutor General Yury Chaika about solving the crime related to murder of Novaya Gazeta reporter Anna Politkovskaya was apparently premature. The investigators have released one of the suspects, while another has an ironclad alibi – he was in prison that time. The third one was detained under a different case…..(Kommersant, 30 Aug 07)

Putin likely to pick well-known successor: spokesman

Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to pick a well-known figure to succeed him rather than springing a surprise on electors, a Kremlin spokesman said…Analysts see Russia's two first deputy prime ministers, both close Putin associates, as his most likely successors.Sergei Ivanov is a former KGB spy and defense minister while ex-lawyer Dmitry Medvedev has held key Kremlin posts….(Reuters, 30 Aug 07)

Lugovoi attack on UK government

The man accused of killing Alexander Litvinenko has said UK government calls for his extradition are to save face. Andrei Lugovoi repeatedly denied he had poisoned the Russian dissident. He said Mr Litvinenko had worked for MI6, and the government's calls aimed at saving face after they had failed to protect one of their own agents…..(BBC, 30 Aug 07)

Little reaction in Britain over Lugovoy’s accusations

There has been muted reaction from the UK media after Andrey Lugovoy said at a briefing that the UK government and special services are lying in order to implicate him in the murder of Aleksandr Litvinenko. The British Crown Prosecution Service says it has not given Russia all the evidence against Lugovoy. Lugovoy says he will never return to Britain to face trial. No front-page stories have followed. What is being said in Britain is that Andrey Lugovoy condemns the British government and rejects the UK’s accusations….(Russia Today, 30 Aug 07)

“Litvinenko assured me that the information was unique”

The investigation department at the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia initiated on June 15th a criminal case for espionage on the basis of Andrei Lugovoi’s statement that Alexander Litvinenko was an agent of British intelligence MI6 and traded confidential information about Russian politicians and businessmen. Last week, Evgeny Limarev, a Russian emigrant living in France, handed over to Kommersant Vlast’s editorial office the documents which he claims Litvinenko was trying to sell with his help. Limarev told Vlast’s reporter Alek Akhundov that Andrei Lugovoi was mixed in that project as well…..(Kommersant, 30 Aug 07)

Berezovsky declines to comment on Lugovoy's accusations

Boris Berezovsky has declined to comment on the accusation made by Russian businessman Andrei Lugovoy who insisted that Berezovsky was involved in assassinations of Anna Politkovskaya, Alexander Litvinenko, Vladislav Listyev, Sergey Yushenkov and Vladimir Golovlev, reports RSN. Answering a question of a British reporter at a news conference in Moscow yesterday, Lugovoy, who is charged by the UK prosecution with murder of Litvinenko, said that assassinations of Politkovskaya, Litvinenko, Listyev, Yushenkov and Golovlev had direct connections with Berezovsky….(Regnum, 30 Aug 07)

Litvinenko suspect disputes investigation

Andrei Lugovoi, Britain's top suspect in the death of Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko, has challenged investigators to provide evidence of his guilt. Lugovoi not only said that he would not go to Britain to meet with the Crown Prosecution Service as part of the investigation, but challenged the department to send all of its key findings in the case to Russia, RIA Novosti reported Wednesday. "I am not going anywhere because this (murder) case involves big politics," Lugovoi said. "I propose that if British authorities have any proof, they should send it here, to Russia."….(UPI, 29 Aug 07)

U.K. admits Russia given just a summary of "Lugovoi case"

Representatives of the Crown Prosecution Service in Britain admitted Wednesday that they had sent Russia just a summary of the main evidence against Andrei Lugovoi, suspected of Alexander Litvinenko's murder, but called it standard practice. Alexander Bastrykin, who heads the investigative committee at the General Prosecutor's Office said Tuesday, "We have not received any evidence from London of Lugovoi's guilt, and those documents we have are full of blank spaces and contradictions." A representative from the U.K. Crown Prosecution Service said they never provide the actual documentary evidence as it was standard practice to send a summary, adding that they had followed all guidelines in the European convention on extradition……(RIA Novosti, 29 Aug 07)

U.S. Judge Allows Noriega To Be Extradited to France

Wearing a crisp military uniform, former Panamanian dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega appeared before a federal magistrate Tuesday, asking that he be allowed to return next month to the country he ruled and menaced in the 1980s. Noriega, 73, his hair dyed black and his posture militarily upright in court hearings, is nearing the end of his U.S. prison sentence for drug trafficking…..(Washington Post, 29 Aug 07)

U.K. police increasingly suspect Mossad spy murdered

Evidence brought by a new witness has increased British police's suspicions that an Egyptian spy for the Mossad did not fall to his death in June but was in fact murdered…London police are set to interview the witness, who claims to have seen two men on the balcony of Dr. Ashraf Marwan's apartment in the moments after he fell to his death…London's Metropolitan police admitted, however, that Marwan's shoes - an essential piece of evidence - have disappeared and are feared to be destroyed. The shoes would have helped prove whether the Mossad agent had fallen off his balcony and had stepped on something before doing so, or was thrown off it by someone else…..(Haaretz, 29 Aug 07)

Former President Ahtisaari testifies in Alpo Rusi case

Court proceedings coming to a close on Wednesday - Rusi claiming substantial damages. Former President Martti Ahtisaari is calling on the Security Police (SUPO) to admit to the mistakes that it made in connection with the espionage investigation into political scientist Alpo Rusi….(Helsingin Sanomat, 29 Aug 07)

Death plunge of Egyptian billionaire who 'spied for Israel'

An Egyptian billionaire who feared for his life after he was accused of being an Israeli double agent has been found dead outside his London flat. Ashraf Marwan, son-in-law of Egypt's late President Nasser, was named three years ago by Israeli officials as a source for the country's intelligence service Mossad…Israeli media claimed that on the eve of the war in October 1973, Mr Marwan told Mossad that Egypt and Syria were about to attack Israel…..(Daily Mail, 28 Jun 07)

Judge backs Noriega extradition to France

Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega can be extradited to France after completing his US prison sentence on a 1992 drug trafficking conviction, a US federal judge ruled Tuesday. The decision by Magistrate Judge William Turnoff was essentially a formality because a higher-ranking federal judge last week rejected claims by Noriega’s lawyers that he should be returned to Panama because he was held in the United States as a prisoner of war. ….(Times Online, 28 Aug 07)

Plan would use idled auto workers in intelligence roles

Radiance Technologies and the United Auto Workers have approached government decision-makers with the idea of training former auto workers in Montgomery and Clark counties for intelligence analysis.  The idea would put displaced manufacturing workers in jobs that would pay up to $50,000 annually….(Dayton Daily, 29 Aug 07)

Kosovo's grim future

Forget about status negotiations for a moment. The near-term outlook for Kosovo is unalterably grim: An economy stuck in misery; a bursting population of young people with "criminality as the sole career choice;" an insupportably high birthrate; a society imbued with corruption and a state dominated by organized crime figures…Kosovan organized crime "consists of multimillion-Euro organizations with guerrilla experience and espionage expertise." They quote a German intelligence service report of "closest ties between leading political decision makers and the dominant criminal class"….(Washington Times, 29 Aug 07)

Warrior against terrorism

…(Peter) Goss was a not a career intelligence man but a politician, an eight-term Republican member of the House of Representatives. But as Bush said in announcing the appointment, Goss "knows the agency inside and out". He certainly had unique qualifications. He had experience of the CIA from the bottom up. After graduating from the elite Yale University, he served in the US army and then joined the CIA. For almost a decade he worked as a spy in Latin America and Europe…..(Sydney Morning Herald, 29 Aug 07)

Virtual police patrol China web

Chinese authorities are to send two virtual police officers to patrol the internet, in a bid to combat "illicit activities", state media has reported. The animated figures, a man and a woman, will appear on users' screens every 30 minutes "to remind them of internet security", China Daily said. They will appear on news portals from Saturday and then on all Beijing sites and forums by the end of the year……(BBC, 29 Aug 07)

Open Source Intelligence Training Ltd latest partner to join Infosphere

…Open Source Intelligence Training Ltd is run by a 15 year OSINT intelligence operations veteran with a background of 30 years in law enforcement. The owner of the company, Steve Edwards, has won numerous awards for his work in developing OSINT as a recognized intelligence discipline within law enforcement in the UK….(Infosphere, 29 Aug 07)

Israeli intelligence experts says UK providing Hamas sanctuary

Just a short time after outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair assumed the role of Middle East envoy, The  Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center in Herzelia, Israel, considered  the “public face of  Israeli intelligence”, has issued a scathing report in which it accused Britain of being  a “major source of publishing and distribution of Hamas incitement.” ….(DAFKA, 29 Aug 07)

4 Charged in Politkovskaya Murder

Prosecutors have charged four of the 10 suspects arrested in the murder of Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya, a lawyer for one of the suspects said Tuesday… The Tvoi Den tabloid on Tuesday identified 11 suspects whom it said had been arrested in the case, despite Monday's announcement by Prosecutor General Yury Chaika that 10 people had been arrested. The discrepancy could not be immediately reconciled. Chaika said the 10 belonged to a Moscow-based crime group and included the group's leader, a Chechen crime boss, and five law enforcement officers…..(Moscow Times, 29 Aug 07)

Czech intelligence gone awry

Even with his unsavory connections, Ahmad al-Ani, falsely accused of aiding the ringleader of the 11 September attacks on the US, should have his day in court… reports surfaced in Czech media last week that Ahmad Khalil Ibrahim Samir al-Ani, a former Iraqi diplomat and intelligence agent, had decided to sue the Czech Republic over fictitious claims that met with Muhammad Atta, the ringleader of the attacks on New York and Washington in Prague…..(ISN, 29 Aug 07)

Chechen ‘hitmen’ and FSB agents are held over journalist’s murder

Members of the Russian security services were involved in a conspiracy with organized crime to assassinate Anna Politkovskaya, the investigative journalist, the country’s chief prosecutor announced yesterday. Yuri Chaika said that ten people had been arrested for the murder, five of whom were officers of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor to the KGB, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD)…Mr Chaika insisted that the FSB and MVD played no role in the assassination of one of Mr Putin’s most vehement critics. He described the arrested men as “black sheep” in the organizations…Mr Chaika blamed her death on an exiled Russian determined to destabilize the regime. He declined to identify the suspect but said that the victim had “known him and met him”, and that an extradition request would be prepared. In what appeared to be an oblique reference to Boris Berezovsky, the billionaire businessman who has called for the overthrow of Mr Putin’s regime….(Times Online, 28 Aug 07)

Russia Arrests 10 in Slaying of Outspoken Journalist

Russia's chief prosecutor announced Monday that 10 people involved in the killing of journalist Anna Politkovskaya had been arrested, alleging that those behind the murder of the well-known Kremlin critic included members of Russia's police and security services. Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika also said investigators had determined that the assassination could have been ordered only by someone outside Russia. That statement angered editors at Politkovskaya's newspaper, who have been involved in the investigation and who insisted Monday that the probe indicated no such thing…..(Washington Post, 28 Aug 07)

US-Iranian scholar should be allowed to go home, says Ahmadinejad

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that Iranian-US scholar Haleh Esfandiari should be allowed to go home. 'As far as I am concerned, she should have been allowed to contact her family and now (after release on bail) be allowed to go home,' Ahmadinejad said in a press conference in Tehran. The president however reminded that the Esfandiari case was in the hands of the judiciary and not the government…..(DPA, 28 Aug 07)

Putin Sets Up Police Attaché Positions in Russian Embassies

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decree establishes positions for police officers in Russia’s diplomatic missions abroad, said RIA Novosti news agency…..(Kommersant, 28 Aug 07)

Iran forces lecturers to disclose all foreign trips

University lecturers in Iran are to be forced to tell security authorities of all foreign trips in advance in a move aimed at preventing them from being recruited as western spies. The restriction will extend to private tourist journeys and pilgrimages, as well as academic trips funded by foreign institutions. It follows official accusations that the west is trying to exploit Iranian academics for espionage purposes. The new rule - set out in a government circular disclosed by the officially-linked Baztab website….(Guardian, 28 Aug 07)

Algeria's counterespionage chief dies of long illness amid continuing extremist violence

Algeria's domestic intelligence chief has died following a long illness, medical officials said Tuesday, as the North African nation continues to face scattered attacks from Islamic militants. Smain Lamari, 67, died overnight Monday, medical officials said, on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. They did not elaborate on his illness. Lamari was a major figure in Algeria's leadership who had directed the country's domestic counterespionage services since the late 1980s…..(AP, 28 Aug 07)

Algeria's intelligence second-in-command dies

Major-General Smain Lamari, who headed Algeria's Department of Counter-Espionage and Internal Security in the aftermath of 1992 elections, died on Tuesday after a long illness, a security source said…..(Reuters, 28 Aug 07)

Japan, North Korea to meet in Mongolia

Japan and North Korea will hold talks on establishing diplomatic relations next week in Ulan Bator, Japanese Foreign Ministry officials said on Tuesday. The two-day talks from September 5 will be held as part of a six-country deal to scrap Pyongyang's nuclear arms programmes in exchange for aid and diplomatic recognition. The Asian neighbors held similar talks in March in Hanoi, but they stalled mainly over the simmering feud over Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents decades ago…..(Reuters, 28 Aug 07)

'Fusion' center watches for terrorism

In a building in a suburban Denver office park, state trooper Michael Honn keeps track of incoming crime reports from police departments and the latest information on terrorism risk levels nationwide. He's supervising the Colorado Information Analysis Center, or CIAC, the state's hub for monitoring potential terrorist threats -- and collecting tips from everyone from building managers to taxi drivers…..(AP, 28 Aug 07)

US suspends vast ADVISE data-sifting system

From late 2004 until mid-2006, a little-known data-mining computer system developed by the US Department of Homeland Security to hunt terrorists, weapons of mass destruction, and biological weapons sifted through Americans' personal data with little regard for federal privacy laws. Now the $42 million cutting-edge system, designed to process trillions of pieces of data, has been halted and could be canceled pending data-privacy reviews, according to a newly released report to Congress by the DHS's own internal watchdog…ADVISE (Analy­sis, Dissemina­tion, Visu­ali­zation, Insight and Semantic Enhance­ment) was special. An electronic omnivore conceived in 2003, it was designed to ingest information from scores of databases, blogs, e-mail traffic, intelligence reports, and other sources, government documents and researchers say. Sifting that enormous mass at lightning speed, ADVISE was to display data patterns visually as "semantic graphs" – a sort of illuminated information constellation – in which an analyst's eye could spot links between people, places, events, travel, calls, and organizations worldwide……(Christian Science Monitor, 28 Aug 07)

Sudan accuses expelled US aid agency chief of espionage

Sudanese authorities accused the head of CARE International’s operations in Sudan of “espionage activities” during his tenure. An unidentified Sudanese official speaking to Al-Sahafa daily said that Paul Barker was under surveillance by security services “for quite some time” Barker was expelled Monday after a year of directing one of the biggest private aid efforts in the Darfur region…The Sudanese official speaking to Al-Sahafa said that Barker was “fabricating reports on the security situation in Darfur”. “His expulsion decision is final and irreversible” he added. Last year Sudan expelled Jan Pronk, the UN Secretary General special representative to Sudan for what they described as “exceeding his mandate” …..(Sudan Tribune, 28 Aug 07)

Venezuela's Highest Distinction for the Cuban Five

Venezuelan youth organizations have requested the Orden Libertador, the highest distinction bestowed by the Venezuelan government, be awarded to the five Cuban antiterrorist fighters unjustly held in US prisons for nearly 9 years…The Five were charged with espionage and punished with extremely harsh sentences in a biased trial despite the antiterrorist nature of their activities…..(Escrambay, 28 Aug 07)

Former Finnish president says police likely mistaken in spy case

Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari said Tuesday that his country's security police likely made mistakes in suspecting his former aide of spying for East Germany in the 1970s, and should acknowledge them. Alpo Rusi, who was Ahtisaari's foreign policy adviser from 1994 to 1999, has maintained his innocence and is suing the government for €500,000 (US$680,000) in damages after a much-publicized investigation in 2002 alleged that he spied for the Stasi, East Germany's secret police. He was never charged…"I believe this a real test to see ... whether Finland is a country ruled by law or not," Ahtisaari said outside the Helsinki District Court after giving evidence. "If it turns out that mistakes have been made, and it looks very likely in this very case, then I think it would be right and proper that they (security police) acknowledge it."… Rusi, 58, a professor of international relations at the University of Lapland, was employed by the Foreign Ministry from 1973 to 1994. He worked as deputy consul at the Finnish mission in Hamburg, Germany, from 1975 to 1977 and was a councilor in the Finnish Embassy in Bonn from 1992 to 1993. He also was an adviser on Balkan affairs during Finland's European Union presidency in 1999…..(AP, 28 Aug 07)

Ahtisaari Testifies at Rusi Trial

…On Tuesday Security Police (Supo) Deputy Chief Petri Knape testified that the suspicion of espionage against Rusi was based on several intelligence sources. Knape said that the Security Police had reason to believe in the early stages of the investigation that the code name used for Rusi by the East German intelligence service Stasi was also linked with the Soviet KGB. At one point the court was cleared because Security Police refused to answer questions in the presence of the media…..(YLE, 28 Auf 07)

True Believer

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

Frontpage Interview's guest today is Scott W. Carmichael, the senior security and counterintelligence investigator for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). He served as the lead case agent for the DIA on the Ana Montes espionage investigation. He has been investigating attempts by foreign intelligence services to penetrate DIA operations worldwide for nearly twenty years…..(FrontPage, 27 Aug 07)

German researcher and politicians steer clear of Rusi trial

Helmut Mueller-Enbergs, a researcher at BStU, the German federal authority that keeps the records of the bygone German Democratic Republic's state security organ, the Stasi, failed to show up at the Helsinki district court on Monday. Mr Mueller-Enbergs was supposed to testify in the Alpo Rusi trial…..(NewsRoom Finland, 27 Aug 07)

Ping stunt costs jailers’ jobs

Senator Panfilo Lacson sneaked into the detention cell of soldiers detained at Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal Friday morning and caused the relief of at least 10 jail guards who were blamed for his unauthorized entry… Lacson has been linked to several attempts to bring down the Arroyo administration, including the espionage case against former police officer Michael Ray Aquino who was indicted for getting classified information from Washington. Aquino said Lacson, who is his former boss in the National Police, asked him to look for an insider privy to intelligence information in the Federal Bureau of Investigation which led him to contact Leandro Aragoncillo…..(Manila Standard, 27 Aug 07)

Merkel's China Visit Marred by Hacking Allegations

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to China has been overshadowed by a report in SPIEGEL claiming that the Chinese government has been hacking into computers in Merkel's chancellery and three other Berlin ministries…The so-called "Trojan" espionage programs were concealed in Microsoft Word documents and PowerPoint files which infected IT installations when opened, SPIEGEL reported. Information was taken from German computers in this way on a daily basis by hackers based in the north-western province of Lanzhou, Canton province and Beijing. German officials believe the hackers were being directed by the People's Liberation Army and that the programs were redirected via computers in South Korea to disguise their origin. German security officials managed to stop the theft of 160 gigabytes of data which were in the process of being siphoned off German government computers. "But no one knows how much has leaked out,"….(Der Spiegel, 27 Aug 07)

Local Terror Case Challenging Bush's National Spy Program

…Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain are in prison, but their case is far from over. A week-and-a-half after appeals were filed, there is now word their case has become a centerpiece in the effort to challenge one of the Bush administration's spy programs. As you recall, Aref and Hossain took center stage here for months, after a late-night raid on a Central Avenue mosque. They were found guilty of conspiring to aid terrorism. And in March, were sentenced to 15 years in prison. Aref's attorney says his client was the target of illegal surveillance by the National Security Agency….(WTEN, 27 Aug 07)

Beijing pledges crackdown on hackers

Beijing has pledged “forceful measures” to combat international computer hacking following reports in Germany that Chinese hackers with army links had infiltrated the computer systems of important government ministries in Berlin…..(Financial Times, 27 Aug 07)

Merkel Calls on China to Respect International Rules

The start of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's three-day visit to China on Monday was overshadowed by news reports that Beijing hacked into German government computers. Merkel's hosts said they would investigate. Merkel said that China needed "to respect the rules of the game," after talks in Beijing touched upon controversial issues such as piracy and unsafe Chinese exports…..(Deutsche Welle, 27 Aug 07)

Domestic use of Spy Satellites Questioned

The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee scolded Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff last week for failing to notify him of plans to expand the use of intelligence satellites for homeland security applications. "Unfortunately, I have had to rely on media reports to gain information about this endeavor because neither I nor my staff was briefed on the decision to create this new office prior to the public disclosure of this effort," wrote Rep. Bennie Thompson…"Additionally, because I have not been informed of the existence of this program for over a two year period, I am requesting that for the next six weeks, you provide me with bi-weekly briefings on the progress of the [National Applications Office] working groups."….(FAS, 27 Aug 07)

Personal data: Up close and impersonal

The United States and the European Union continue to spar about how much information to release when they compare trans-Atlantic flight manifests and terrorist watch lists. Domestic agencies focused on anti-terrorism programs are fighting similar battles. The issue centers on preserving the privacy of innocent people while sharing information deemed essential to fighting terrorism…..(FCW, 27 Aug 07)

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales Resigns

…The official said Gonzales submitted a letter on Friday saying he had decided to step down, but the announcement was withheld until he met with President Bush at the president's Crawford ranch. His resignation will be announced later today, the official said……(Washington Post, 27 Aug 07)

Why Paris wants Panama's former strong man

With a French request for the extradition of Panama's former dictator to be heard in the US on Tuesday, we take a look at the complicated history of the man himself, Manuel Noriega, and the reasons why Paris wants him turned over. Espionage, organised crime, ruthless power politics and courtroom drama - with the main protagonist being a double-dealing military man who knows the secrets of former US presidents. It might sound like the stuff of a best-selling thriller, but this isn't fiction: it's the true story of Manuel Noriega, the man who ruled Panama in the 1980s…..(Radio Netherlands, 27 Aug 07)

Today in History - Aug 27

2004:  The FBI has launched a full espionage investigation into Larry Franklin after obtaining evidence pointing to a high-ranking spy in the Pentagon. According to CBS News, the spy has been giving classified secrets to Israel which could compromise U.S. national security. Israel denies the charges.

China responds to German Internet espionage accusations

The Chinese government responded yesterday to accusations in a German magazine that state-sponsored hackers from China were responsible for electronic espionage against German governmental computer systems. Jiang Yu, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said yesterday that China opposes and prohibits any kind of criminal activities by hackers, and that the Chinese government is willing to cooperate with Germany in cracking down on hacker invasions and attacks, though omitted giving a direct denial of the claims by German magazine Der Spiegel….(Interfax, 27 Aug 07)

Virginia Marie Chandler Nurse, Personnel Officer

Virginia Marie Chandler, 66, a nurse and personnel officer at the State Department, died of a staph infection Aug. 23… In the 1980s, she worked as a registered nurse at George Washington, Arlington, Fairfax and Alexandria hospitals. In the 1990s, she became an administrative personnel officer at State. She visited many U.S. embassies in the course of her duties…..(Washington Post, 27 Aug 07)

Alexander F. Holser Physicist

Alexander Fraser Holser, 84, a physicist who worked for the Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of the Interior, died Aug. 24…Mr. Holser worked at the CIA as a physical scientist in the design and operation of technical intelligence collection systems from 1963 until 1975. He received a certificate of distinction for his work…..(Washington Post, 27 Aug 07)

Sensitive information requires extra-care to prevent industrial espionage

If the news is to be believed, it seems that an employee at Ferrari just could not resist it and helped himself to a few secrets. Not only that, but according to the news an employee at a competitor couldn’t resist the temptation when offered the chance to gain some inside info…..(Security Park, 27 Aug 07)

FSB drops treason charges against Novosibirsk scientists

…Oleg and Igor Minin, former research scientists at the Institute of Applied Physics based in Siberia, were accused in April of revealing sensitive information about current projects at an institute that conducts research for the Defense Ministry. "The investigation established that there was no sufficient evidence implicating Oleg and Igor Minin," the FSB said in a statement…..(RIA Novosti, 27 Aug 07)

Russia drops spy probe against scientists

Russia's state security service said on Friday it had dropped an investigation into two scientists suspected of disclosing state secrets in a book to commemorate the anniversary of their institute. The investigation had caused an outcry among rights advocates, who said investigators were classifying information that was already in the public domain as secret material, including extracts from an encyclopedia. In a statement, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said it was dropping its investigation into brothers Oleg and Igor Minin, from the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, because there was no evidence of wrongdoing……(Reuters, 27 Aug 07)

10 Arrested in Politkovskaya's Killing

Authorities said Monday they have arrested and will soon charge 10 people in the killing of journalist Anna Politkovskaya _ an outspoken critic of the Kremlin whose death sparked global concern about the safety of reporters in Russia….(AP, 27 Aug 07)

N Korean Leader's Eldest Son Returns Home

The eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has returned home after spending years abroad in a move that could be linked to the ruler's plans to choose an heir, a man close to Kim's son said Monday. Kim Jong Nam, 36, traveled from China to Pyongyang in late June, and his return "has decisive relations to the power transfer," the man told The Associated Press by telephone from the U.S. He spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the issue….(AP, 27 Aug 07)

Politicians want to be informed on Chinese Trojan attacks

German politicians request information on alleged Chinese attacks with Trojan programs on systems of the federal government…The trade union of the police requested better equipment for their fight against cybercrime. "We lack experts and state-of-the-art technology. The offenders are far ahead", Konrad Freiberg, chairman of the trade union…..(Heise Online, 27 Aug 07)

Outsourcing intelligence

…But there is a deeper problem. I know the dark history well, yet I also know that the American intelligence services were founded, then staffed across two generations, by patriots -- people who acted primarily out of loyalty to this country. If at times they acted wrongly, they mainly did so with a sense of higher purpose. Among the most gifted and well educated people in government, intelligence officials could always have done better in the private sector, but personal gain was never the point…..(Boston Globe, 27 Aug 07)

The C.I.A.’s Open Secrets

When a federal judge dismissed Valerie Plame’s lawsuit against the Central Intelligence Agency earlier this month, she ruled that the agency was entitled to stop Ms. Plame from publishing the dates of her agency service, even though these dates had been supplied to Congress in an unclassified letter from the C.I.A. and had been published in The Congressional Record……(New York Times, 27 Aug 07)

FBI Questions Chinese Student Leaders at Eastern U.S. Universities

On Aug. 22, Mr. Xu Shuiliang, chief editor of the Chinese Net Digest, and a senior democracy activist, told The Epoch Times that in the past couple of months, the FBI has interviewed several leaders of the Chinese Student and Scholar Association (CSSA) at universities throughout the eastern United States. The FBI also sent out many undercover operators to the universities. Currently almost every leader of CSSA in eastern U.S. universities is under surveillance. Mr. Wang from New York City (who refused to disclose his full name) told the reporter that in the last few days, because of the pressure from the FBI's investigation, several of Beijing's special agents who were stationed at the Chinese associations in New York have escaped to China…..(Epoch Times, 27 Aug 07)

Spying Program May Be Tested by Terror Case

After a bloody raid by American military forces on an enemy camp in Rawah, Iraq, on June 11, 2003, a Defense Department report took inventory… And, in what the report called “pocket litter,” a notebook with the name and phone number of the imam of a mosque halfway around the world, here in the state capital.Prompted by that notebook and records of 14 phone calls between the imam, Yassin M. Aref, and Damascus, Syria, the Federal Bureau of Investigation quickly began a sting operation aimed at Mr. Aref……(New York Times, 26 Aug 07)

The Spy Chief Speaks

After more than a year and a half of administration stonewalling on President Bush’s illegal domestic wiretapping, it was nice to see Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, finally unburden himself in a newspaper interview……(New York Times, 26 Aug 07)

A not-so-secret mission

Back in 1982, Congress passed a law designed to guard against the disclosure of the names of U.S. spies. The lawmakers acted because two obscure publications, "CounterSpy" and the "Covert Action Information Bulletin," were printing the names of undercover CIA officers. But the Intelligence Identities Protection Act has been difficult to enforce because covert agents are narrowly defined under the statute, government officials cannot be prosecuted unless they intentionally leak names, and people outside the government -- journalists or others who name spies -- run afoul of the law only if they do so as part of "a pattern of activities."….(LA Times, 26 Aug 07)