Algeria: espionage trial behind closed doors
The first session in the trial of two spies working for Israel was held yesterday in the criminal court of Tizi Ouzou (100Km East Algiers) behind closed doors. The two Algerians were supposed to stand before the court in a public hearing session but a judge and attorney general decided in the last minute to hold a closed session because the case was very sensitive…..(Echorouk Online, 7 Jul 07)

Honda dragged into 'espionage' affair

…The great F1 espionage affair embraced a third team yesterday, when Honda joined Ferrari and McLaren as unwitting parties in an extraordinary turn of events. The passing of classified technical information, allegedly by Ferrari's Nigel Stepney, to a high-ranking employee at McLaren, believed to be chief designer Mike Coghlan, visited huge discomfort on the British team…..(Telegraph, 7 Jul 07)

Getting the CIA We Need

…The White House has done better on intelligence during the past year, thanks in part to chief of staff Josh Bolten, whose father was a career CIA officer. The administration appointed a strong CIA management team in Gen. Michael Hayden and his deputy, a highly regarded career spy named Stephen Kappes…..(Washington Post, 7 Jul 07)

Lawsuit Against Wiretaps Rejected

A federal appeals court removed a serious legal challenge to the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program yesterday, overruling the only judge who held that a controversial surveillance effort by the National Security Agency was unconstitutional…..(Washington Post, 7 Jul 07)

Appeals court dismisses suit against NSA spy program

…In a 2-1 decision (PDF), the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati dismissed a federal district court ruling from last August that found the National Security Agency's Terrorist Surveillance Program violated the U.S. Constitution and ordered it to stop. The majority's ruling did not address the legality of the program….(CNet, 6 Jul 07)

Bush Seeks Changes in Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

The Bush administration is seeking to update a law governing U.S. foreign intelligence surveillance. But members of the Democratic majority in Congress are signaling they may be reluctant to approve the proposed changes because they have concerns about a controversial administration wiretapping program….(VOA, 6 Jul 07)

Unchecked and Unbalanced

Unchecked and Unbalanced: Presidential Power in a Time of Terror, by Frederick A. O. Schwarz Jr. and Aziz Z. Huq

…the book serves as a valuable compendium and chronicle of the Bush administration’s aggressive efforts to expand the power of the executive branch, providing a detailed account of the unilateral actions it has taken on matters ranging from torture policy to domestic surveillance, and it is necessary reading for anyone interested in how those efforts by the Bush White House have tipped the constitutional system of checks and balances……(New York Times, 6 Jul 07)

Military Intelligence History in Washington, DC

A new pamphlet (pdf) from the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) History Office describes locations in and around Washington, D.C. that have significant associations with the history of U.S. military intelligence….FAS, 6 Jul 07)

Death of a perfect spy

The first of three messages was left at 1:52 in the afternoon. "Hello. Hi. It's about the book. Call my mobile. Thanks." "About the book" was one of the codes Mossad agent Dr. Ashraf Marwan used to identify himself in conversations with Israeli historian Dr. Aharon Bregman. Two more messages were left during the subsequent hour and a half. Immediately upon his return to his home in a London suburb, a short time later, Bregman returned his call. They decided they would meet the following day, and arranged that Marwan would phone to set up the exact place and time. That was their last conversation. The following day, June 27, Marwan's body was found under the balcony of his apartment, in the Mayfair neighborhood of London. The circumstances of his death are not clear…..(Haaretz, 6 Jul 07)

Taliban hangs two Afghans accused of spying for US forces

The Taliban claimed on Thursday to have hung two Afghan men who were accused by the militants of spying for the US forces in the southern region of the country, while six militants and one army soldier were killed in separate incidents….(DPA, 6 Jul 07)

Court Rejects Ohio Domestic Spying Suit

…In a 2-1 decision, two Republican appointees on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against allowing the lawsuit. A Democratic appointee judge disagreed, saying it was clear to him that the post-911 warrantless surveillance program aimed at uncovering terrorist activity violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978…..(AP, 6 Jul 07)

Spy recruited top Israeli scientist for USSR

A convicted spy has revealed for the first time that he recruited another senior Israeli academic to spy for the Soviet intelligence services, a newspaper reported on Friday. Professor Marcus Klingberg made the revelation in his memoirs -- without revealing the name of the scientist he recruited to work for the Russians during the Cold War, the top-selling Yediot Aharonot said. His recruit was awarded the prestigious Israel Prize for excellence in his field and served the Russians until his death a few years ago, it said...Klingberg was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 1983 after being convicted of passing secrets to the former Soviet Union while deputy director of the top secret Israel Institute for Biological Research and a lieutenant colonel…..(Agence France-Presse, 6 Jul 07)

Berlusconi's military intelligence chief accused of spying on judges

…According to the council, while Mr Pollari was in charge of the agency, some two hundred judges and magistrates deemed politically unreliable were spied on by military intelligence. They included senior prosecutors and judges involved in trials relating to Mr Berlusconi in Milan….(Independent, 6 Jul 07)

15 MAGISTRATES IN BULGARIA CO-OPERATED WITH FORMER INTELLIGENCE SERVICES

 Bulgaria’s dossier opening committee said that 15 members of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) co-operated somehow with the former State Security intelligence service. According to the committee’s report, four of the magistrates were agents and the others worked for the services in some manner…..(Sofia Echo, 6 Jul 07)

Intelligence gathering will be strengthened, says IGP

A credible information-gathering system on the illegal activities of anti-social elements, based on people’s participation in the process, will form the cornerstone of policing, Inspector-General of Police (Western Range) Ashit Mohan Prasad has said. Every effort will be made to elicit information and keep a tab on the activities of such elements in the four districts coming under the Western Range…..(Udayavani, 6 Jul 07)

J. Loren Peck Air Force Colonel

J. Loren Peck, 84, an Air Force colonel and veteran of three wars who retired in 1974 and spent two decades in Washington area real estate sales, died June 6… His final active-duty assignment was chief of external affairs with the Defense Intelligence Agency, for which he was a liaison to the White House and Congress. His decorations included the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal….(Washington Post, 6 Jul 07)

Osvaldo Romo Mena; Security Agent Under Pinochet

Osvaldo Romo Mena, 70, a security agent who became a symbol of torture and repression under Gen. Augusto Pinochet's former military dictatorship in Chile, died in prison July 4…As a civilian in Pinochet's feared security service, DINA -- the Directorate of National Intelligence -- Mr. Romo was more prominent than even some high-ranking officers who gave orders for repression. He was a field operative openly involved in repressive actions….(Washington Post, 6 Jul 07)

Revealing 'the Source'

…The existence of a superspy who tipped Israel off about the war at the last moment was noted in the report of the Agranat Commission. It was Zeira himself, 20 years after the war, who gave the first public hint as to The Source's identity. In his book Myth Versus Reality, he referred to a book by British author Jeffrey Robinson, who described a meeting at which Anwar Sadat informed Saudi King Faisal of imminent war. Robinson wrote that the only other person present was Dr. Ashraf Marwan, president Gamal Abdel Nasser's son-in-law and a close aide to Sadat…..(Jerusalem Post, 5 Jul 07)

Writer backs US spy base protest

Writer Alan Bennett returned to his Yorkshire roots on Wednesday to support protests against the Menwith Hill US surveillance base near Harrogate. The protesters, who also included comedian Mark Steel, are opposed to US military bases on British soil. There has been a demonstration outside the base every 4 July - America's Independence Day - for 20 years…..(BBC, 5 Jul 07)

CSIS, RCMP tracing leak of terrorism allegations against Charkaoui

Canada's spy agency has asked the RCMP to find out how a document with allegations against Montreal terrorism suspect Adil Charkaoui was obtained by a local newspaper. Supporters of Mr. Charkaoui say the leak is a deliberate attempt to damage the reputation of the 33-year-old Moroccan……(Globe & Mail, 5 Jul 07)

Report: Russia Won't Extradite Suspect

Russian prosecutors have officially refused Britain's request to extradite a businessman accused in last year's fatal poisoning of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko…Interfax cited what it said was an informed source as saying that that Prosecutor General's refusal to turn over Andrei Lugovoi was based on a constitutional prohibition against turning over Russian citizens to foreign nations…In May, Britain accused Lugovoi, a former KGB agent-turned-businessman, of involvement in the killing Litvinenko, who died in a London hospital in November from a fatal dose of the radioactive substance, polonium 210….(AP, 5 Jul 07)

Russia blocks UK extradition plea

Russia has officially refused a UK extradition request for Andrei Lugovoi, the prime suspect in the murder of Russian ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko. The Russian Prosecutor General's Office said the constitution did not allow for the extradition of its citizens. However, it said it would consider the possibility that Mr Lugovoi could be put on trial in Russia….(BBC, 5 Jul 07)

Two Somali 'spy-killers' executed

Two Somali men accused of killing government intelligence officers have been executed at the police school in front of a large crowd in Mogadishu. Before being blind-folded and shot, both men expressed their anger at the verdict and shouted "God is great". Seven alleged comrades were sentenced to 15 years in prison….(BBC, 5 Jul 07)

The role of the Catholic Church in Yugoslavia's holocaust - Seán Mac Mathúna, 1941-1945

During the Second World War in Yugoslavia, Catholic priests and Muslim clerics were willing accomplices in the genocide of the nations Serbian, Jewish and Roma population. From 1941 until 1945, the Nazi-installed regime of Ante Pavelic in Croatia carried out some of the most horrific crimes of the Holocaust (known as the Porajmos by the Roma), killing over 800,000 Yugoslav citizens - 750,000 Serbs, 60,000 Jews and 26,000 Roma….(LibCom, 5 Jul 07)

More details on the F1 espionage scandal

The complicated allegations regarding Ferrari's Nigel Stepney, his connections with an officially unnamed senior McLaren engineer - and the details of the investigation into their supposed activities have led to much confusion in Formula 1 circles….(GrandPrix, 5 Jul 07)

U.K. Plot Suspects Were Known to Domestic Spy Agency

Some of the doctors arrested over a terrorist plot to explode car bombs in London and attack Glasgow International Airport last week were already known to MI5, the U.K.'s domestic spy agency. Police issued no public appeals for information and were able to round up the suspects within days, unlike in previous terrorism investigations, because their details were already on security service records, said a government official who spoke on condition of anonymity yesterday. All had worked in the National Health Service, suggesting some U.K. hospitals may have been penetrated by a terrorist network.….(Bloomberg, 4 Jul 07)

Oracle faces long, hard road to prove SAP charges

Oracle's search for a smoking gun to prove the truth of its allegations that rival SAP stole its software is likely to be long and arduous, making an out-of-court settlement attractive for both parties. A day after SAP unexpectedly admitted in a court filing that a subsidiary had improperly downloaded software from Oracle, computer security experts said Oracle would need to do much more to push its case far further….(Reuters, 4 Jul 07)

FIA to investigate espionage case
The FIA has confirmed that it has begun an investigation into the espionage case that Ferrari and McLaren have become involved in...Ferrari has already initiated legal proceedings against both Nigel Stepney, the Ferrari stalwart at the centre of the case, and the McLaren engineer…..(IRV-FL, 4 Jul 07)

U.S. Plans More Technology-Theft Cases Against Arms Exporters

The U.S. Justice Department, which successfully prosecuted ITT Corp. for letting China get data on night-vision goggles, is planning to bring more cases against weapons brokers and companies that violate export laws…(Bloomberg, 4 Jul 07)

FBI's ad to uncover Chinese espionage draws anger in Chinatown

An FBI ad aimed at Chinese-speaking citizens, asking for information about Beijing-sponsored espionage in the United States or any other criminal activity, is drawing flak in San Francisco's Chinatown and at the Chinese Consulate. The ad started running Saturday in three local Chinese-language papers -- the World Journal, Ming Pao Daily and Sing Tao Daily. Translated, it reads, "Chinese living here have often helped the FBI prevent subversive elements from penetrating and harming our country. In order to protect our freedoms and democracy, we continue to seek your assistance."….(San Francisco Chronicle, 4 Jul 07)

Taiwanese spy plane pilots honored for perilous Cold War missions

They gathered quietly on a rainy night at a rare ceremony in their honor, six survivors of a secret cadre of Taiwanese pilots who risked their lives against the communist enemy during the darkest days of the Cold War. Known as "The Black Bats," they say they were working for the American Central Intelligence Agency, a claim backed up by photos of them posing with the CIA station chief. Between 1953 and 1967, they flew more than 800 sorties over the Chinese mainland, dropping agents, testing radar responses and collecting air samples from suspected nuclear test sites…..(AP, 4 Jul 07)

Chronicle Illustration

Woman gets cash after CIA brainwashing ordeal

A Montreal woman who underwent years of debilitating brainwashing techniques in the 1950s and 1960s has ended her case against the federal government, accepting an undisclosed amount of money. Janine Huard, 79, accepted a cheque for an amount that "will make her very comfortable," her lawyer, Alan Stein…..(CanWest, 4 Jul 07

CIA trial in Italy adjourned to October 24

…The court decision came after a defense motion for a suspension pending a ruling by the Constitutional Court on whether Milanese prosecutors had violated state secrecy laws by using wiretaps on Italian agents in their probe. Seven Italians have also been indicted for the trial, whose start on June 8 coincided with the release of an explosive report on secret detentions in Europe by the US Central Intelligence Agency….(Monday Morning, 4 Jul 07)

Pak SC asks spy agencies to stay away from courts

Pakistan's Supreme Court on Monday stripped a government lawyer of his license for filing an objectionable document containing abusive references against judges and ordered the intelligence agencies to keep its personnel away from the apex court and residence of judges. In an unprecedented directive, the full bench of the Supreme Court hearing the petition of suspended chief justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry on Monday banned the movement of personnel of intelligence agencies in around the apex court and high courts as well as the residence of judges….(Hindustan Times, 3 Jul 07)

Bush Commutes Libby's Prison Sentence

…The president announced his decision in a written statement that laid out the factors he had weighed. Bush said he decided to "respect" the jury's verdict that Libby was guilty of four felonies for lying about his role in the leak of a covert CIA officer's identity. But the president said Libby's "exceptional public service" and prior lack of a criminal record led him to conclude that the 30-month sentence handed down by a judge last month was "excessive." The president noted that he had promised before not to intervene until Libby had exhausted his appeals. But he stepped in short of that point. "With the denial of bail being upheld and incarceration imminent," Bush said, "I believe it is now important to react to that decision."….(Washington Post, 3 Jul 07)

Bush Spares Libby 30-Month Jail Term

President Bush spared I. Lewis Libby Jr. from prison Monday, commuting his two-and-a-half-year sentence while leaving intact his conviction for perjury and obstruction of justice in the C.I.A. leak case. Mr. Bush’s action, announced hours after a panel of judges ruled that Mr. Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, could not put off serving his sentence while he appealed his conviction, came as a surprise to all but a few members of the president’s inner circle…..(New York Times, 3 Jul 07)

Evidence Entered in Trial

Diary of the Case

Times Lawsuit Dismissed

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by The New York Times against the Justice and Defense Departments, saying classified documents the newspaper was seeking under the Freedom of Information Act were properly withheld….(AP, 3 Jul 07)

Reality of the Intelligence Battle

… In prior decades, American security agencies had seen Soviet attempts to control trade unions and other groups via the American Communist Party and like organizations. The inquests of the buffoonish and demagogic Wisconsonian, Senator McCarthy, obscure in public memory the actual threat from abroad….(New York Sun, 3 Jul 07)

Algerians espionage for Israel suspects to appear in court
Two Algerians from the Wilaya (province) of Tizi Ouzou will appear in court on charges of spying on the Algerian State for Israel, Morocco and Spain. The first suspect has a high instruction level and speaks many languages. The other accused is an Algerian journalist who was trained in Israel on intelligence, collecting information and preparing economic and security reports…..(Echorouk Online, 3 Jul 07)

Uzi Mahnaimi: Dead ‘Mossad spy’ Was Writing Exposé

An Egyptian millionaire who mysteriously fell to his death from the balcony of his London flat after being named as a Mossad spy was writing a book that threatened to expose the murky world of Arab-Israeli espionage. Ashraf Marwan, the son-in-law of the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, was more than halfway through a book about the 1973 Yom Kippur war - in which he is alleged to have played a key intelligence role - when his body was discovered last week…..(Palestine Chronicle, 3 Jul 07)

Roy J. McDonald FBI Special Agent

Roy James McDonald, 87, an FBI special agent who worked in the Washington field office from 1961 until his retirement in 1978, died June 5… Mr. McDonald joined the FBI in 1940 as a messenger in the Washington office. He later worked in various field offices, including Boston and New York, and specialized in criminal investigations….(Washington Post, 3 Jul 07)

Blackberry 'spyware' can steal secrets

Research in Motion's (RIM) Blackberry which is popular with corporate users due to its secure management of mobile e-mail is vulnerable to 'legal' spyware that has been classified as a Trojan by several security vendors… But an updated version of the FlexiSPY application, considered a security threat by most IT security vendors, enables a remote attacker to tap into phone calls and e-mails sent to and from a Blackberry-enabled device…..(ZDNet,  3 Jul 07)

SAP admits wrongdoing in Oracle downloads case

Software maker SAP admitted a subsidiary had carried out "inappropriate downloads" of documents belonging to archrival Oracle but said on Tuesday SAP itself had not had access to that material. Responding to Oracle charges of intellectual property theft, SAP Chief Executive Henning Kagermann said its TomorrowNow unit should not have made some of the downloads but that firewalls had protected the material from SAP's view…..(Reuters, 3 Jul 07)

Ferrari sack Nigel Stepney

Ferrari has now fired engineering veteran Nigel Stepney, as speculation of sabotage and espionage continues to swell. The Italian daily La Gazzetta dello Sport broke the news on Tuesday, following an internal investigation by the famous team and the commencement of legal proceedings against the 48-year-old Briton…..(Eurosport, 3 Jul 07)

High Court Rules German Spy Planes Allowed in Afghanistan

Germany will be able to keep its Tornado jets stationed in Afghanistan. The country's highest court dismissed a complaint concerning the Bundestag's decision to deploy six reconnaissance aircraft to southern Afghanistan…..(Deutsche Welle, 3 Jul 07)

China denies involvement in spy scandal in Kyrgyzstan

China’s Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Jian Jichen “was surprised to hear that one of Kyrgyz parliament employees is allegedly a Chinese spy.”…The Chinese ambassador and the parliamentary speaker discussed the fact of detaining a female employee of the Kyrgyz parliament and a foreign citizen….(Regnum, 3 Jul 07)

Pakistani judges order sweep for bugging devices

Pakistan's Supreme Court judges have ordered a sweep of their homes and courtrooms for spying devices after the government presented what they described as "scandalous" evidence in its case against the suspended chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. The supreme court rejected a dossier containing surveillance photos of Mr Chaudhry's home and transcripts of apparently bugged conversations, marked "secret"….(Guardian, 3 Jul 07)

German Spy Satellite Launches into Space

A German radar reconnaissance satellite vaulted into space from a Russian launch site Monday, beginning a mission to collect high-resolution imagery of nearly every location on Earth for up to ten years. The craft is the second member of a five-satellite fleet of military spy satellites under development by Germany….(Space, 3 Jul 07)

Pakistan Loosens Some Restrictions on Disgraced Nuclear Scientist

Pakistan has eased some restrictions on the disgraced scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, the developer of the country’s nuclear bomb, who confessed to having run an illicit global nuclear-proliferation network… However, Pakistani officials denied reports in local news media that Mr. Khan was a free man…..(New York Times, 3 Jul 07)

Castro blasts CIA over spy papers

Cuban President Fidel Castro has said recent CIA admissions of illicit Cold War activities disguise the fact the US is using such "brutal" tactics today. Last week the CIA published documents called the "Family Jewels", revealing spy plots and assassination attempts. The documents included plans to use Mafia help to kill Fidel Castro…..(BBC 2 Jul 07)

Russia charges UK-based Berezovsky with coup plot

Russian prosecutors have brought criminal charges against emigre tycoon Boris Berezovsky on suspicion of plotting to seize power, his lawyer said today. The Russian billionaire, a fierce Kremlin critic who lives in London, has been formally accused by Russian authorities of plotting a coup….(Daily Mail, 2 Jul 07)

FSB Identifies Man in British Spy Flap

The Federal Security Service on Friday identified the citizen whom the Britain foreign intelligence agency MI6 purportedly tried to recruit as Vyacheslav Zharko, a former member of a special forces unit…The FSB has said Zharko turned over the names of British intelligence officers he had met with and other details. Britain's Home Office declined to comment on the Russian allegations…..(AP, 2 Jul 07)

Russia: Timeline Of Litvinenko Case

'Electronic Jihad' App Offers Cyberterrorism For The Masses

Although cyberterrorism has been around since the Internet reached the mainstream more than a decade ago, a relatively new Web-based application offers Islamic jihadis a way for even the relatively nontechnical to target and attack Web sites perceived to be anti-Islamic. The "Electronic Jihad Program" is part of the long-term vision jihadi Web site Al-jinan.org has to use the Internet as a weapon, something that affects any organization that relies on the Web. Electronic Jihad allows users to target specific IP addresses for attack in order to take any servers running at those IP addresses offline. The application even includes a Windows-like interface that lets users choose from a list of target Web sites provided via the Al-jinan site, select an attack speed (weak, medium, or strong), and the click on the "attack" button…..(Information Week, 2 Jul 07)

Egyptian convicted of spying for Israel dies in jail

An Egyptian engineer convicted in 2002 of spying for Israel has died in a Cairo jail of a possible heart attack while serving a 15-year sentence…Sherif al-Filali, 42, had initially been found innocent of espionage in 2001. His trial judge called him a true patriot because he turned himself in as soon as he realized he may have been involved in a crime. But President Hosni Mubarak threw out that acquittal and ordered a retrial in an emergency state security court, where Filali was ultimately convicted in 2002 of trying to collect information and data on Egyptian tourism and a large-scale agricultural project for Israel…..(Reuters, 2 Jul 07)

Vanunu sentenced to new jail term

An Israeli court has sent former nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu back to jail for six months for breaking the conditions of his parole. Vanunu was released in 2004 after an 18-year sentence for disclosing Israeli nuclear secrets, but he faced curbs including speaking to foreign media. However, he has given a series of interviews to the international media in the last three years…..(BBC, 2 Jul 07)

Egyptian president says Nasser's son-in-law was not a spy

Egypt's president has denied that the son-in-law of the country's late leader Gamal Abdel Nasser was a spy, the state-run news agency reported Monday, breaking the state's silence soon after the man's death. Ashraf Marwan, 62, was buried in Cairo Sunday amid lingering mystery over his strange demise and alleged role as a double agent who tricked Israel into complacency at the start of the 1973 Yom Kippur war. "He (Marwan) was a real Egyptian nationalist and was not a spy to any party at all," ….(AP, 2 Jun 07)

Spy chief says he acted in defense of Cuba

A convicted Cuban spy network leader admitted in a prison interview that he was an “agent” for Cuba's government, but that he infiltrated South Florida to defend his homeland against alleged attacks by Miami exile “terrorists.” Gerardo Hernandez, imprisoned for life in a federal penitentiary in California, said he was not guilty of conspiring with the Cuban air force to shoot down exile pilots over the Florida Straits in 1996 as part of his spy mission…..(Miami Herald, 2 Jul 07)

Missing US envoy is 'found dead'

A senior diplomat at the US embassy in Cyprus who disappeared four days ago has been found dead, state radio says. The body of defense attaché` Tom Mooney was found in a remote part of the Mediterranean island. There is no confirmation by police or the US. The 45-year-old, who was married with children, was last seen leaving the US embassy in his Chevrolet Saloon car…..(BBC, 2 Jul 07)

Police in Cyprus Are Searching for Missing American Diplomat

The police in Cyprus said Sunday that they were searching for a senior American diplomat stationed here who has been missing for three days…The missing diplomat is Lt. Col. Thomas K. Mooney, the defense attaché at the embassy here, who has not been seen since Thursday. His car is also missing…..(Agence France-Presse, 2 Jul 07)

US excludes terrorism in the death of diplomat in Cyprus

The United States said on Monday that terrorism was not behind the death of a US defense attache (Thomas Mooney) in Cyprus, whose body was found on Monday. "I would not point you in the direction of an act of terrorism," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said……(Agence France-Presse, 2 Jul 07)

Missing US diplomat in Cyprus found dead

A US embassy staff member who had been missing in Cyprus for four days was found dead by police near the village of Lefka Monday, media reported. The missing man, 45-year-old Thomas Mooney, was found in a less frequented area….(DPA, 2 Jul 07)

Survey Finds Action on Information Requests Can Take Years

The Freedom of Information Act requires a federal agency to provide an initial response to a request within 20 days and to provide the documents in a timely manner. But the oldest pending request uncovered in a new survey of 87 agencies and departments has been awaiting a response for 20 years, and 16 requesters have been waiting more than 15 years for results…..(New York Times, 2 Jul 07)

Pakistan denies easing house arrest of nuclear scientist

Pakistan on Monday refuted media reports that the government had eased restrictions on scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who has been under virtual house arrest since 2004 for running an international nuclear proliferation smuggling network. ‘There is no change in his status, he continues to live a quiet life with his family,’ Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasneem Aslam told reporters in Islamabad….(DPA, 2 Jul 07)

Pakistan Eases Curbs on A.Q. Khan

Authorities have eased the virtual house arrest imposed on A.Q. Khan, the disgraced scientist who sold Pakistan's nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya, officials said Monday. In what is believed to be his first public comment in about three years, Khan told The Associated Press that he was recovering from treatment for cancer, but declined to discuss other topics…..(AP, 2 Jul 07)

Iran Has a Message. Are We Listening?

…The general, Mohsen Rezai, is secretary of Iran's powerful Expediency Council. He's also the former commander of the Revolutionary Guards. He rarely speaks to foreign reporters -- especially Americans. I was surprised when, during a recent visit to Iran, I learned from one of Rezai's aides that he would be willing to meet me at his vacation villa in the mountains….(Washington Post, 1 Jul 07)

Ashraf Marwan, 62; Suspected Double Agent

Ashraf Marwan, 62, the son-in-law of Egypt's late President Gamal Abdel Nasser, was found dead June 27 in London…The death of Mr. Marwan, suspected of being a double agent for Israel during the 1973 war, comes amid a controversy in Egypt about his role in the intelligence and business worlds…..(AP, 1 Jul 07)

In Iraq, a Private Realm Of Intelligence-Gathering

…The intelligence was compiled not by the U.S. military, as might be expected, but by a British security firm, Aegis Defense Services Ltd. The Reconstruction Operations Center is the hub of Aegis's sprawling presence in Iraq and the most visible example of how intelligence collection is now among the responsibilities handled by a network of private security companies that work in the shadows of the U.S. military. Aegis won its three-year, $293 million U.S. Army contract in 2004…..(Washington Post, 1 Jul 07)

Lance Naik held on spying charge

An espionage ring allegedly being run by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) network of Pakistan has been smashed by the Special Cell of the Delhi police with the arrest of a Lance Naik and recovery of defence-related documents from him. The man who allegedly lured him into the spy racket is said to be a Pakistan national. Through Central intelligence agencies the Special Cell recently learnt that Mohammad Naseem, a Lance Naik with the 3rd Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry posted at Rangret in Srinagar, was supplying documents pertaining to national security to ISI agents against monetary considerations….(Hindu Times, 1 Jul 07)

CIA legend claims Belfast and Dublin major centres of industrial espionage

A former top CIA agent has claimed Belfast and Dublin are world centers of industrial espionage where top corporations can buy secret information on their rivals…In an interview for RTE radio documentary Highway 101, Baer says Dublin is now the place where firms go if they need solutions to problems with the Russian Mafia. "When I was in the CIA, Ireland was never a target, but, since then, I know that it has become a centre for commercial spying, which is very interesting,"…..(Sunday Life, 1 Jul 07)

J.F.K. Turns to the C.I.A. to Plug a Leak

…As the “family jewels” make clear, this web of intrigue began in the Kennedy White House. Another treasure trove, however, was already in public view — tapes that President John F. Kennedy himself recorded in the Oval Office. Here are edited transcripts — and a link to the tapes themselves — of two August 1962 conversations in which Kennedy took steps to spy on the national security reporter for The New York Times, Hanson Baldwin….(New York Times, 1 Jul 07)

Audio: JFK on Leaks of Classified Info

Papers Shed Light on Envoy's '73 Killing

In the early morning of July 1, 1973, Col. Yosef Alon _ a charismatic former fighter pilot who helped establish the Israeli Air Force _ was gunned down in his suburban Maryland driveway. Thirty-four years later, the case is unsolved… Recently declassified CIA documents, Alon's voluminous FBI case file and interviews reveal that years after the shooting, the agency received a tantalizing tip about who likely pulled off the assassination and how the deadly plot was carried out…..AP, 1 Jul 07)