Francis Cappelletti, 89; World War II Air Veteran

Francis R. Cappelletti, 89, an Air Force colonel who later worked as a civilian for the Department of the Navy, died of complications from Alzheimer's disease Feb. 28… After the war, Col. Cappelletti participated in the atomic bomb tests "Able" and "Baker" as part of Operation Crossroads on Bikini Island in July 1949. That was followed by service in counterintelligence in Germany as part of the Office of Special Investigations….(Washington Post, 10 Mar 07)

Chief of NSA urges 'action'

…A blunt memorandum by Lt. Gen. Keith B. Alexander, the NSA's director, said the agency must totally rethink its approach to spying and fix "systemic problems" identified after the Sept. 11 attacks. With the NSA expected to face more intense scrutiny from a Congress led by Democrats, Alexander has launched an internal review to chart a new course….(Baltimore Sun, 10 Mar 07)

Report Details Missteps in Data Collection

Over a three-year period ending in 2005, the FBI collected intimate information about the lives of a population roughly the size of Bethesda's -- 52,000 -- and stored it in an intelligence database accessible to about 12,000 federal, state and local law enforcement authorities and to certain foreign governments….(Washington Post, 10 Mar 07)

F.B.I. Head Admits Mistakes in Use of Security Act

Bipartisan outrage erupted on Friday on Capitol Hill as Robert S. Mueller III, the F.B.I. director, conceded that the bureau had improperly used the USA Patriot Act to obtain information about people and businesses…(New York Times, 10 Mar 07)

Documents shed light on ‘atom spy’ who triggered Cold War

It was arguably the clandestine Canadian encounter that launched the Cold War. Just days after the first atomic weapon was dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, a traitorous British scientist working in Canada met with a Russian agent in Montreal and handed him two samples of enriched uranium — precious specimens in the early days of a global arms race when Soviet scientists were rushing to match American firepower and construct their own A-bomb….(CanWest, 10 Mar 07)

WWII Code-Breaking Building to Be Razed

A building the military used as a top-secret code-breaking lab during World War II will be demolished, the University of Dayton announced Friday. The university, which owns the property, said the decision was made after a study showed the building had lost its historical integrity because it had been extensively remodeled and is not eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. From 1942 to 1945, the Navy used the building as a lab for designing and building sophisticated code-breaking machines, including the NCR Bombe, credited with helping crack German U-boat codes….(AP, 9 Mar 07)

L.A. hospital confirms women poisoned by thallium

A Los Angeles hospital confirmed on Friday that two U.S. women who became ill during a trip to their native Russia, prompting investigations by both countries, were suffering from thallium poisoning….(Reuters, 9 Mar 07)

Basic Look at National Security Letters

The basics of national security letters: In 1986 Congress first authorized the FBI to obtain electronic records without approval from a judge….(AP 9 Mar 07)

Defense chief may scale back Pentagon's spy work

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is considering a plan to curtail the Pentagon's clandestine spying activities, which were expanded by his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld, after the 9/11 attacks…..(National Journal, 9 Mar 07)

Frequent Errors In FBI's Secret Records Requests

…The inspector general's audit found 22 possible breaches of internal FBI and Justice Department regulations -- some of which were potential violations of law -- in a sampling of 293 "national security letters." The letters were used by the FBI to obtain the personal records of U.S. residents or visitors between 2003 and 2005. The FBI identified 26 potential violations in other cases….(Washington Post, 9 Mar 07)

U.S. Report to Fault F.B.I. on Subpoenas

The Justice Department’s inspector general has prepared a scathing report criticizing how the F.B.I. uses a form of administrative subpoena to obtain thousands of telephone, business and financial records without prior judicial approval….(New York Times, 9 Mar 07)

Poisoning of L.A. women in Moscow remains a mystery

… Marina and Yana, 26, went to the 50th birthday party of friends soon after arriving in Moscow on Feb. 15. They planned to stay for a wedding later in the month. Peck said the women spent the week before their illness sightseeing, visiting museums, attending the theater and visiting friends….(LA Times, 9 Mar 07)

Basic look at national security letters
…Originally, the FBI could only get records of people suspected of being agents of a foreign power. In 1993, the authority was expanded to cover records of anyone suspected of communicating with foreign agents about terrorism or espionage….(AP, 9 Mar 07)

Iranian Secrets Leak Out Abroad

A former Iranian deputy defense minister who vanished in Turkey last month has appeared in the West willing to provide information on Iran and its ties to Hezbollah, Washington Post reported Thursday. Iranian authorities would not comment the news but said the defected general “had been out of the loop for four or five years” now and, therefore, has no up-to-date information on Iran’s military capabilities and nuclear program.…(Kommersant, 9 Mar 07)

Turkish authorities looking into missing Iranian case

After days of silence, Turkish officials have finally said an investigation had been launched into the disappearance while on a trip to Turkey last month of a former Iranian deputy defense minister. …Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül said Turkey launched an investigation into the missing Iranian, Ali Reza Asgari. Gül made his remarks at a joint press conference together with his visiting Qatari counterpart, Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabir al-Thani….(Turkish Daily, 9 Mar 07)

'Defection' highlights nuclear espionage

The disappearance of a top Iranian official in Turkey has focused attention on the apparent efforts of Western intelligence agencies to uncover incriminating revelations on the Islamic republic's regional role and controversial nuclear program...The official intimated that Asgari's defection was coordinated with Israel and that he had not been abducted against his will. There is speculation that Israel's purported aid was provided in return for information on the fate of missing Israeli aviator Ron Arad, who was shot down over Lebanon in 1986 and then held by Iran-allied militiamen before disappearing….(ISN, 9 Mar 07)

‘Iranian general defected with classified documents’

Former colleague says Ali Rez Asgari left Turkey with documents, maps that shed light on Revolutionary Guards' links to Hizbullah, Islamic Jihad; defector was privy to confidential information regarding Iran’s plans in case of conflict with US…(YNet, 9 Mar 07)

Israel behind defection

The defection of a former high-ranking Iranian security official to the West may have been orchestrated by Israel, according to an American official…A reward of $10 million has been on the table for years in Israel for information about the fate of an Israeli Phantom navigator, Ron Arad, who was captured after his plane was downed over Lebanon 19 years ago….(Australian, 9 Mar 07)

'General took vital papers from Iran'

Former Iranian General and assistant defense minister Ali Rez Asghari left Iran using a new passport and pseudonym and managed to smuggle important intelligence documents…According to the report, the missing Iranian general was carrying documents and maps of Iran's military and intelligence infrastructure as well as information regarding the relations between the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Hizbullah and the Islamic Jihad…..(Jerusalem Post, 9 Mar 07)

Ex-Sailor Accused Of Supporting Terrorism

A former Navy sailor is accused of supporting terrorism by disclosing secret information about the location of Navy ships and the best ways to attack them.....Hassan Abujihaad, 31, has been charged with supporting terrorism with intent to kill U.S. citizens and transmitting classified information, reports David Moskowitz of CBS radio affiliate KFYI (audio). (AP, 8 Mar 07)

Tired of Leaks, Obey Is Fixing a Hole

…"Three days ago, I gave several members of our caucus false information on purpose, because I wanted to see who the hell was leaking that information," Obey told National Journal. "So these people aren't being invited to the meetings anymore."…(Washington Post, 9 Mar 07)

Sailor Started E-Mail on Terror, U.S. Says

Mr. Abujihaad, 31, of Phoenix is accused of supporting terrorism with the intent to kill American citizens and with transmitting classified information to unauthorized recipients…According to public records, Mr. Abujihaad was previously known as Paul R. Hall and grew up in Southern California, east of Los Angeles. He apparently converted to Islam as an adult….(New York Times 9 Mar 07)

Former Sailor Accused of Providing Data to Terrorist Web Site

A former sailor was arrested yesterday in Phoenix on federal charges of providing material support for a conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals amid allegations that he sent classified information about a U.S. Navy battle group's movements in the Middle East to a terrorist Web site in early 2001. Paul R. Hall, 31, allegedly used his position aboard the USS Benfold and his secret clearance to forward details of the battle group's defensive capabilities and how the ships were going to cross the Strait of Hormuz in April 2001. Federal officials wrote in a criminal complaint that Hall -- who is referred to as Hassan Abujihaad throughout the document -- was contacting the Web site to order jihad videos and supported the terrorist mission of attacking American targets such as the USS Cole….(Washington Post, 8 Mar 07)

Arrest: US vs Hassan Abujihaad a/k/a “Paul R. Hall”

Arizonan faces terror counts

Former U.S. sailor, Hassan Abujihaad, 31, from Arizona was arrested Wednesday in Phoenix and accused of taking part in a conspiracy to kill military personnel by supplying terror suspects with information about American ship movements in the Middle East six years ago......(Arizona Republic, 8 Mar 07)   VIDEO

The spy's friend who (still) lives to tell the tale

At home in the suburbs of Boston, Yuri Felshtinsky reflects that every Russian emigre must shape the nature of exile for himself. What is important is where the soul resides. The other day that sentiment compelled him to travel to London, against FBI advice about his safety….(This is Local London, 8 Mar 07)

CIA Leak Case Moves on to Civil Court

…Valerie Plame believes the administration violated her constitutional rights by leaking her identity to reporters in 2003, and she is demanding compensation… Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney, White House political adviser Karl Rove and former State Department Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage are named in the case…..(AP, 8 Mar 07)

Ex-sailor arrested in Phoenix, accused of supporting terrorism

A former Navy sailor is accused of supporting terrorism by disclosing secret information about the location of Navy ships and the best ways to attack them. The secrets wound up with a suspected terrorism financier, investigators say. During an initial appearance Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, Hassan Abujihaad, 31, accepted removal to Connecticut, where he is charged with supporting terrorism with intent to kill U.S. citizens and transmitting classified information to unauthorized people........(Arizona Daily Star, 8 Mar 07)

Missing Iranian "Founded" Hezbollah: Israeli Spy

…A former official with Israel's foreign spy service Mossad, Ram Igra, said that before Asgari took up the Defense Ministry post he had been a commander with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, the main sponsor of Shi'ite guerrilla group Hezbollah….(Reuters, 8 Mar 07)

Former Iranian Defense Official Talks to Western Intelligence

… Ali Rez Asgari disappeared last month during a visit to Turkey. Iranian officials suggested yesterday that he may have been kidnapped by Israel or the United States. The U.S. official said Asgari is willingly cooperating…..(Washington Post, 8 Mar 07)

Double dad

…The headline reported that six West Germans had disappeared in Egypt, among them Wolfgang Lotz and his wife, Waltraud. Gur-Arie, who was then 15, was Lotz's son. The headline knocked him for a double loop. First, "because I knew Dad was a spy and it was obvious to me that he hadn't 'disappeared,' but had been caught by the Egyptians….(Haaretz, 8 Mar 07)

Accord to Open Nazi-Era Archive Ratified

…The Dutch became the fourth member of the archive's 11-nation governing body to complete the legal procedures, after the United States, Israel and Poland. Most of the seven other countries represented on the commission were expected to follow suit by the end of the year. They are Britain, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Greece, France and Germany….(AP, 8 Mar 07)

Al-Qaeda specialist moves up to take top post at Security Service

…Jonathan Evans, who has been deputy to Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, the current director-general of MI5, since 2005, was chosen from a shortlist of three….(Times Online, 8 Mar 07)

Al-Qaeda specialist moves up to take top post at Security Service

….(Times Online, 8 Mar 07)

‘Father of Taliban’ Calls for Italian Journalist’s Release

The leader of Pakistan's six-party Islamist alliance, Maulana Samiul Haq, on Thursday appealed to the Taliban to release Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo, who the militants have accused of spying for Britain…..(AKI, 8 Mar 07)

Sweden Wants to Give Intelligence Agency Right to Spy on E-Mails

Sweden's government presented a contentious plan Thursday to allow a defense intelligence agency to monitor — without a court order — e-mail traffic and phone calls crossing the nation's borders….(AP, 8 Mar 07)

Spy claim woman 'faces long wait'

A human rights worker being held in Angola on suspicion of espionage may have to endure a long wait before she can return to the UK, say her family. Sarah Wykes from Cumbria was working for charity Global Witness when she was held in the oil-rich Cabinda province…..(BBC, 8 Mar 07)

U.S. urges Russia to probe suspected poisonings

The United States urged Moscow on Thursday to quickly investigate the suspected poisoning in Russia of two U.S. citizens with thallium, a highly toxic metal that can cause a slow, painful death….(Reuters, 8 Mar 07)

Suspected Poisoning Victims Under Care

…Dr. Marina Kovalevsky, 49, and her daughter, Yanna, 26, were in fair but stable condition, and were being treated for "presumptive" thallium poisoning, according to a Cedars-Sinai Medical Center statement….(AP, 8 Mar 07)

WH Board OKs 2 Bush Spy Programs

A White House privacy board is giving its stamp of approval to two of the Bush administration's controversial surveillance programs — electronic eavesdropping and financial tracking — and says they do not violate citizens' civil liberties….(AP, 8 Mar 07)

House panel reverses Bush on archive secrecy

A House panel on Thursday voted to overturn a 2001 order by President George W. Bush that enables former presidents, including Bush's father, to keep some of their papers secret indefinitely. The bipartisan bill, hailed by historians, was passed without objection on a voice vote by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform….(Reuters, 8 Mar 07)

Who Stalled the Intelligence Bill?

… Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, was named by Congressional Quarterly yesterday as the member who put the bill on hold… Those sources said that they believe the hold is due to White House objections to specific provisions, including public disclosure of the national intelligence budget; a requirement for a report on secret CIA prisons; and response to information requests by the committee chairman and vice chairman within 30 days…..(Washington Post, 8 Mar 07)

Homeland Security revives supersnoop

…A Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation of the project called ADVISE -- Analysis, Dissemination, Visualization, Insight and Semantic Enhancement -- was requested by Rep. David R. Obey, Wisconsin Democrat and chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. The investigation focuses on whether the program violates privacy laws, and the findings will be released after completion of the Iraq war supplemental spending bill…(Washington Times, 8 Mar 07)

Poland, U.S. agree to deepen intelligence sharing ahead of talks on missile defense

Poland and the United States signed an agreement Thursday that allows for a deeper sharing of confidential military intelligence… It comes as Washington and Warsaw are set to open negotiations on the possibility of placing a U.S. missile defense site in Poland….(AP, 8 Mar 07)

Valerie Plame to Testify Before Congress

Valerie Plame, the CIA operative exposed after her husband criticized President Bush's march to war, will testify next week before lawmakers probing how the White House dealt with her identity…(AP, 8 Mar 07)

Terror suspect's e-mail unveiled

In federal documents obtained by 3TV, Hassan Abujihaad is accused of conspiring to kill Americans and disclosing classified information. The Department of Homeland Security reportedly discovered several e-mail exchanges between late 2000 and fall of 2001 between Hassan Abujihaad and Azzam Publications...The following e-mails allegedly occurred while Abujihaad was a sailor in the United States Navy aboard the USS Benfold….(AZ Family 8 Mar 07)

Like Libby Like Zimmerman

…Once before in American history, the American people were asked to make a profound decision about war based upon disputable and unverifiable intelligence evidence without any more certainty than was true in 2003 with regard to the Iraq war…It was the Zimmerman Telegram affair, in the winter of 1917, and it turned America from a prospering neutral into a belligerent in World War I…..(New York Sun, 7 Mar 07)

Libby Found Guilty in CIA Leak Case

A federal jury convicted I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby yesterday of lying about his role in the leak of an undercover CIA officer's identity, culminating a four-year legal saga that transfixed official Washington and revealed the inner workings of the White House and the media….(Washington Post, 7 Mar 07)

Venezuela Arrests Retired General

…Agents from Venezuela's Military Intelligence Directorate arrested Guillen Davila on Tuesday on allegations of "promoting a military rebellion to oust the president," Heredia said…..(AP, 7 Mar 07)

Russian U.N. diplomat guilty of money laundering

…A federal jury in Manhattan found Vladimir Kuznetsov, 49, guilty of a single count of laundering more than $300,000, said a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office. Kuznetsov had helped fellow Russian Alexander Yakovlev, a U.N. staff member who handled procurement, pocket illegal payments from firms seeking U.N. contracts…..(Reuters, 7 Mar 07)

U.K. airs files from Japan's 'spy mania' era, postwar acts

Britain compiled considerable documentation on what it believed to be Japanese wartime intelligence organizations along with some postwar concerns in the 1950s about the re-emergence of spying, files released to the public Friday revealed….(Japan Times, 7 Mar 07)

Town target of Cold War mappers

Russian spies created a detailed map of Ipswich during the Cold War - including potential military targets - as the KGB planned for world domination….(Evening Star, 7 Mar 07)

Ill Women Return to U.S. From Russia

…Dr. Marina Kovalevsky, 49, and her daughter, Yana, 26, arrived at Los Angeles International Airport and were taken in wheelchairs past news media to two waiting ambulances and placed on gurneys….(AP, 7 Mar 07)

Iranian general 'seeking asylum in US'

A retired Iranian general who went missing in Turkey last month has defected and sought asylum in the US, according to a well-connected Arabic newspaper published in London. The newspaper, al-Shark al-Awsat, cited "high-profile" sources saying former Iranian deputy defense minister and Revolutionary Guard commander Ali Reza Asghari had gone over to the West. Reports from Istanbul that General Asghari's family had also disappeared in Turkey support the likelihood that he defected rather than was kidnapped by either the CIA or by Israel's Mossad, as has been speculated. The general went missing from his Istanbul hotel a month ago…He served until two years ago as deputy defense minister, a post he held for eight years and which presumably offered an uninhibited view of virtually every aspect of Iran's security apparatus. He was reportedly closely associated with Iran's activities in support of the Shi'ites in Iraq….(The Australian, 7 Mar 07)

Report: Missing Iranian official being questioned in N. Europe

…On Tuesday, al-Sharq al-Awsat reported that Asghari left for the U.S. to seek asylum shortly after arriving in Turkey. Earlier Tuesday, Iran's top police chief, General Esmaeil Ahmadi Moghaddam, said Iran was investigating Asghari's fate with the cooperation of the Turkish police….(Haaretz, 7 Mar 07)

Video: Iraqi intelligence

Iraqi Intelligence Agencies 
A profile of Iraqi intelligence agencies…(FAS)

Pro-Iran agency may take over Iraq's intelligence

…Since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, the CIA has placed more than 500 officers in Iraq, according to U.S. intelligence sources, making the station the CIA's largest in the world -- larger, even, than the CIA presence in Saigon during the Vietnam War….A document from Iraq's National Security Council lays out a blueprint for Iraq's new intelligence community. Under that plan, all intelligence gathering would be consolidated under Iraq's Iranian-friendly central government….(CNN, 7 Mar 07)

Former Navy Sailor Charged With Passing Secrets to Al Qaeda

A former U.S. Navy sailor has been charged with allegedly passing military secrets about U.S. Navy movements through waters in the Middle East to al Qaeda-related Web sites during the spring of 2001, just months after the USS Cole was attacked in Yemen.....(ABC News, 7 Mar 07)

Intelligence failures behind Air India saga: expert

…The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), created a year earlier and made up mostly of former RCMP intelligence officers, had been tracking and wiretapping alleged Air India terrorist mastermind Talwinder Singh Parmar, a B.C. resident who was killed in a 1992 gun battle. "We were onto them. We were onto a sense of conspiracy, we understood the threat and the danger. We just couldn't translate that sufficiently through an intelligence-collection program into a policy of pre-emption or prevention…(CanWest, 7 Mar 07)

Missing Iranian spy chief 'defected to West'

…While the speculation was impossible to verify, it is hard to imagine a more tantalizing prospect for Western intelligence agencies than the defection of General Ali Reza Azkari, who is known to have served in Lebanon in the 1990s liaising with Hizbollah….(Telegraph, 7 Mar 07)

Russian writer faced threats before death

A journalist who plunged to his death from his apartment-building window faced threats while reporting on a highly sensitive story that Russia planned to sell sophisticated missiles to Syria and Iran, his newspaper reported yesterday… Kommersant reported that, before traveling to an international arms fair in the United Arab Emirates last month, Mr. Safronov had said he would try to confirm rumors that Russia planned to sell S-300 missiles to Iran and Su-30 fighter jets to Syria via Belarus….(AP, 7 Mar 07)

Moscow burial for dead journalist

The funeral has taken place in Moscow of a Russian journalist who died in a fall from his fifth-floor apartment. Ivan Safronov, 51, was investigating claims of planned Russian arms sales to Syria and Iran at the time of his death, his paper, Kommersant, has said….(BBC, 7 Mar 07)

Dead journalist's last story told of illicit arms deal

….(Telegraph, 7 Mar 07)

IPI Concerned About Russian Journalist’s Death

….(Press Release, 7 Mar 07)

John Paul II’s former secretary denounces spy claims

Pope John Paul II’s former secretary Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwsz has said Polish press reports, in which a former communist secret agent claimed that there was “a framework of spies” around the Polish Pope are intended to hinder the cause of his canonization….(Total Catholic, 7 Mar 07)

Israel Unveils Newest Unmanned Aircraft

The Israeli air force unveiled its newest unmanned aircraft Wednesday, saying the plane can fly longer, faster and higher than any other surveillance aircraft….(AP, 7 Mar 07)

Former U.S. Navy sailor arrested on terror charges

A former member of the U.S. Navy was arrested Wednesday in Phoenix, Arizona, on charges of espionage and providing material support to terrorists, the Department of Justice said. Hassan Abujihaad, formerly known as Paul R. Hall, 31, was arrested on a federal criminal complaint. He is alleged to have provided classified information to a London-based group called Azzam Publications about a U.S. Navy battle group as it traveled from California to the Persian Gulf region in 2001….(CNN, 7 Mar 07)

Israeli Forces Surround Palestinian Military Intelligence Compound

Israeli troops raided the Palestinian military headquarters early Wednesday and arrested 18 fugitives who had sought shelter there, Palestinian and Israeli officials said….(Jerusalem Post, 7 Mar 07)

A World Without Foreign Military Bases
An international network for the abolition of foreign military bases has been created at a conference attended by over 1,000 activists and experts from 30 countries, which opened in Ecuador's capital city on Monday….(IPS, 7 Mar 07)

U.S. Doctor and Daughter Sickened by Poison in Russia

…Both women, who emigrated from the Soviet Union in the 1980s but recently returned to Russia for a vacation, were severely sickened but their lives are not in danger, medical officials here said….(New York Times, 7 Mar 07)

Friend Criticized Kremlin

…Paul Joyal, a security consultant and Russian expert, had said that critics of the Kremlin were under threat of being killed. Four days after his comments were broadcast, Mr Joyal was shot in the groin on his driveway in a suburb outside Washington….(Sky, 7 Mar 07)

Intelligence chief establishes information-sharing panel

Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell on Tuesday announced the creation of a new information-sharing steering committee. He hopes the group will move the intelligence community beyond the "need to share" philosophy toward a "responsibility to provide" model….(National Journal’s Technology Daily, 6 Mar 07) News Release: Information Sharing Steering Committee

Shooting of Putin Critic in U.S. Raises Questions

…Paul Joyal, an American security consultant who was friends with slain former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, said on the February 25 television show “Dateline NBC” that critics of the Kremlin were under threat of being killed….(Reuters, 6 Mar 07)

Analyst's Wallet Not Stolen, Son Says

The assailants who shot an expert on Russian intelligence in Prince George's County last week did not, as law enforcement sources said, take his wallet, the victim's adult son said yesterday, showing the billfold to a reporter. The disclosure, which contradicts a report in The Washington Post yesterday, adds to the allegations and theories about the shooting, which left Paul Joyal, 53, critically wounded in his driveway Thursday night…..(Washington Post, 6 Mar 07)

Wife of U.S. Expert on Russian Intelligence Says Robbery Not Behind Shooting Attack

The wife of an expert on Russian intelligence who was shot last week has said that her husband had been robbed, the Associated Press news agency reports. In a brief interview at the couple’s suburban Washington home, Elizabeth Joyal said reports that Paul Joyal’s wallet and briefcase were taken were false. She didn’t know of any motive for Thursday’s shooting outside their home in what she said was a normally safe area….(MosNews, 6 Mar 07)

Publisher announces 'instant' book about Libby trial

There's already a book in the works on the C.I.A. leak trial… It will include testimony and original reporting, and will be edited by investigative journalist Murray Waas of the National Journal. The book is scheduled to be released in April as a paperback….(AP, 6 Mar 07)

Computer crime gets organized

A growing number of computer hackers are recruiting tech-savvy students and professionals to help them commit cyber-crimes. Steve Tripoli reports….(Market Place, 6 Mar 07)

Steve Jobs, Spymaster

…the old "canary trap." It's an espionage trick used to find the source of a leak: Feed each person in the organization a slightly different piece of information, and see who sings…Canary traps are widely used to uncover industrial espionage….(Wired, 6 Mar 07)

Are Putin's agents behind shooting?

Speculation of the involvement of Russian agents intent on silencing opponents to President Vladimir Putin's regime, wherever they may be, has increased with an attempted murder in America and an apparent suicide in Moscow...On the face of it the two incidents appear to have nothing in common, but Paul Joyal, shot in Adelphi, Maryland, on Saturday, is a friend of Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian spy poisoned with polonium in London last year.  And in Moscow, Ivan Safronov, 51, was an ex-colonel and journalist for Kommersant who had irritated the Russian FSB security service with his frequent exposes…..(Telegraph, 6 Mar 07)

Putin's back to the future

It is becoming increasingly dangerous to be a critic of Vladimir Putin, the elected dictator of Russia. That is, as KGB thugs like Mr. Putin used to say during the Soviet era, "no accident, comrade."….(Washington Times, 6 Mar 07)

Judge limits defense access to state secrets in CIA case

Defense attorneys representing a former top CIA official will only have limited access to classified evidence and will be subject to stringent disclosure rules under an order issued by the federal judge overseeing the case. Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, the spy agency's No. 3 executive until his resignation last May, was charged last month with using his previous position as a logistics officer to direct $1.7 million in secret supply deals to his best friend, San Diego defense contractor Brent Wilkes…(Mercury News, 6 Mar 07)

Intelligence chief establishes information-sharing panel

…the group will move the intelligence community beyond the "need to share" philosophy toward a "responsibility to provide" model. The committee will develop a coordinated position for information-sharing activities within and outside the intelligence community….(National Journal’s Tech Daily, 6 Mar 07)

NRO spy satellite may be total loss: sources

U.S. officials are likely to declare a Lockheed Martin Corp. spy satellite a total loss after efforts to restore its ability to communicate failed repeatedly over the past three months…(Reuters, 6 Mar 07)

Two FBI Whistleblowers Confirm Illegal Wiretapping of Government Officials

The National Security Whistleblowers Coalition has obtained a copy of an official complaint filed by a veteran FBI Special Agent, Gilbert Graham, with the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (DOJ-OIG). SA Graham’s protected disclosures report the violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in conducting electronic surveillance of high-profile U.S. public officials….(NSWC, 6 Mar 07)

Taleban kidnap Italian accused of spying
The Taleban said on Tuesday they had captured an Italian journalist who they said was spying for British troops in southern Afghanistan, along with two Afghan colleagues….(Reuters, 6 Mar 07)

Militants kill Pakistani tribesman accused of spying for U.S., official says

Suspected Islamic militants shot dead a Pakistani tribesman whom they accused of spying for the United States in a tribal region bordering Afghanistan, a Pakistani intelligence official said…..(AP, 6 Mar 07)

China's spies 'very aggressive' threat to U.S.

…China's intelligence activities have been "very aggressive" at acquiring U.S. advanced technology, often before it is fully developed here. "The technology bleed to China, among others, is a very serious problem," he said, noting that the FBI is improving its efforts to identify and protect sensitive technology. Beijing also succeeded in penetrating, and thus frustrating, U.S. intelligence against China through Katrina Leung, a Los Angeles businesswoman who was a long-time FBI informant secretly loyal to Beijing…Currently, the NCIX is conducting a damage assessment of the Leung spy case, examining how Leung secretly spied for China by sexually entrapping two of the FBI's most senior counterspies, FBI agents James J. Smith and Bill Cleveland….(Washington Times, 6 Mar 07)

Jury convicts Libby on four of five charges

Former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby was convicted Tuesday of obstruction, perjury and lying to the FBI in an investigation into the leak of a CIA operative’s identity. Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was accused of lying and obstructing the investigation into the 2003 leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity to reporters. He was acquitted of one count of lying to the FBI….(AP, 6 Mar 07)

Two US women in Russia poisoning

Two American women are being treated in a Moscow hospital for thallium poisoning, Russian media report. Their condition is described as "fairly serious"…..(BBC, 6 Mar 07)

Russian Suicide Journalist Investigated Syria and Iran Weapons Deals — Report

…Safronov died on March 2 after tumbling five floors from the stairwell of his Moscow apartment building…The daily also said that before a trip to the international weapons fair in United Arab Emirates Safronov told his colleagues that he was going to check the information about new deals to supply Russian weapons to the Middle East — the sale of the Su-30 jets to Syria and S-300V surface-to-air missiles to Iran. The reporter said that in both cases the weapons were to be supplied via Belarus to protect Russia from Western accusations of supporting rogue states….(MosNews, 6 Mar 07)

Putin critic dies in fall from 5th-floor window

A journalist who had criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin and frequently irritated Russia's powerful intelligence services has died after falling from a fifth-floor window of an apartment building. Friends and colleagues demanded an investigation yesterday into the death of Ivan Safronov, the military-affairs columnist at the Kommersant newspaper. Russian investigators said they believed that Mr. Safronov, 51, had committed suicide -- an interpretation that was challenged by colleagues….(London Daily Telegraph, 6 Mar 07)

Dead Russian newsman was probing arms sales to Syria and Iran

A journalist who fell to his death from a fifth-story window had received threats while gathering material for a report claiming Russia planned to provide sophisticated weapons to Syria and Iran, his newspaper said today. Prosecutors have opened an inquest into the death of Ivan Safronov, a military affairs writer for the daily Kommersant who died Friday in what some media said could have been murder….(AP, 6 Mar 07)

Prosecutors Had Threatened Dead Russian Journalist

…..(RFERL, 6 Mar 07)

Russia probes new reporter death

….(BBC, 6 Mar 07)

Film on Stasi stirs new interest in history

Millions of people have opened their Stasi files to be shocked by intimate details of how secret agents recruited hundreds of thousands of informers to spy on innocent citizens…..(Financial Times Daily, 6 Mar 07)

Libby Jurors Consider Cooper Conversation

Jurors in the perjury trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby indicated yesterday they remain focused on whether Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff lied to the FBI about a July 12, 2003, conversation with Matthew Cooper, then a reporter for Time magazine…(Washington Post, 6 Mar 07)

Libby’s Jurors Inquire About One Charge

…Before the jurors departed at the end of their ninth day of deliberations, they sent a note to Judge Reggie B. Walton asking for clarification of Count 3, in which Mr. Libby is charged with giving a false statement to an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation….(New York Times, 6 Mar 07)

Key lawmakers complain of weak intelligence

American intelligence agencies are not providing adequate information for Congress to make policy decisions on key foreign-policy areas including Iran and North Korea, according to the top House Republican on the issue….(Washington Times, 5 Mar 07)

US Displeased over German Hunt for CIA Agents

...The German investigation into what exactly happened to the German citizen Khaled el-Masri, and who was responsible, is becoming an increasingly prickly thorn in the side of Germany-US relations. Indeed, after a Munich court issued arrest warrants against 13 CIA agents at the end of January for complicity in his kidnapping and subsequent torture, high-ranking US diplomats sought to convince the German government not to expand the search for the perpetrators internationally….(Spiegel, 5 Mar 07)

Privacy Board Clears U.S. Spy Programs

A White House privacy board is giving its stamp of approval to two of the Bush administration's controversial surveillance programs _ electronic eavesdropping and financial tracking _ and says they do not violate citizens' civil liberties….(AP, 5 Mar 07)

Report finds little progress processing FOIA requests

Citizens seeking documents from federal agencies under the Freedom of Information Act are waiting longer to get a response, and are increasingly less likely to get the information they want, the report from the Arlington, Va., Coalition of Journalists for Open Government stated….(Gov Exec, 5 Mar 07)

Unisys may be victim of 'industrial espionage'

…Mr. Hodgson has confirmed claims made by an anonymous "whistleblower" that Unisys is carrying out a small amount of work for three public sector clients in India, but says it is probably bringing in more work to New Zealand than it is sending overseas.…(Dominion Post, 5 Mar 07)

GAO Report: Uncoordinated Federal Technology Policies Put Nation At Risk

…The GAO sets the stage correctly: “The Department of Defense spends billions of dollars each year for the development and production of high technology weaponry to maintain superiority.  These weapons and militarily useful technologies are sold overseas by U.S. companies for economic reasons and by the U.S. government for foreign policy, security, and economic reasons.  Yet, the technologies that underpin U.S. military and economic strength continue to be targets for theft, espionage, reverse engineering, and illegal export....(American Economic Alert, 5 Mar 07)

Spies of all stripes have discovered that there is life after the Cold War

…Even though the Cold War is over, military espionage, at least, continues to thrive. In fact, it never slackened at all. Increasingly, foreign spies are hidden among us, recruited from among the more than 30 million foreign businessmen, scientists, students, researchers, academics, and tourists entering the United States each year. Take, for example, the case of Chi Mak, a Chinese-born electronics engineer working for a US defense contractor. According to the federal government, he was part of a family that spied together and apparently hoped to prosper together. The FBI has alleged that Mak, along with his wife and brother, can be heard on FBI wiretaps discussing ways to smuggle an encrypted computer disk to China….(Journal of Air Force Assoc., 5 Mar 07)

PM knew Russian spy was to be arrested

…The memo tells Mr. Harper that a man who called himself "Paul William Hampel" was actually a member of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service and that a security certificate had been prepared calling for his expulsion….(National Post, 5 Mar 07)

'US spy' shot dead in Pakistani tribal area

The body of 30-year-old Qayyum Shahmiri was found early Monday south of Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan tribal district, a security official told AFP.  Shahmiri had been shot in head and chest and a note found near his body said that he was an "American spy"….(Agence France-Presse, 5 Mar 07)

Francis J. McNamara Counterintelligence Expert

Francis J. McNamara, 91, a counterintelligence expert who was staff director of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, died Feb. 27…In 1958, Mr. McNamara joined the House Un-American Activities Committee, serving as research analyst, director of research and, beginning in 1962, staff director. He issued an influential report, "Patterns of Communist Espionage," and directed congressional investigations of the Ku Klux Klan and the National Security Agency….(Washington Post, 5 Mar 07)

Iran intelligence official said missing, may have defected

A former Iranian deputy defense minister whose reported disappearance in Turkey has sparked allegations of a Mossad and CIA-linked kidnapping, may have defected, Haaretz has learned. Intelligence official Ali Reza Azkari, 63, served in the senior defense post under former defense minister General Ali Samahani….(Haaretz, 5 Mar 07)