FAS | Intelligence | News | 1999 ||||

January 1999 Intelligence News

• Soviet Espionage: Bumbling Agents and Friends in High Places TIM WEINER New York Times January 31, 1999 -- A new book, "The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America -- The Stalin Era"(Random House) offers a new look at what communist spies were really up to in this country before and during World War II. It is a staggering account of sloppiness and stupidity among the Soviets and their American agents.
• PAK MILITARY COURTS Voice of America 30 January 1999 -- PAKISTAN PRIME MINISTER NAWAZ SHARIF SAYS HIS GOVERNMENT HAS DECIDED TO SET UP MILITARY COURTS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY IN AN EFFORT TO COMBAT VIOLENCE.
• Massacre ordered at top level in Belgrade, says US By Raymond Whitaker in Pristina and Andrew Marshall in Washington The Indepedent 29 January 1999 - "It is extremely unusual for sensitive intelligence, particularly of this sort, to be publicly available," said John Pike of the Federation of American Scientists. One suggestion was that the US considered the diplomatic benefit to be greater than the loss of a possible source of intelligence.
• RUSSIA RADIO JAMMING Voice of America 27 January 1999 -- RUSSIA IS PLANNING TO REQUIRE LICENSES FOR ALL FOREIGN MEDIA BROADCASTING FROM ITS SOIL. A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN IS CALLING THE MOVE AN ATTEMPT TO CREATE ORDER ON RUSSIA'S BUSY AIRWAVES, NOT A RETURN TO SOVIET-STYLE CONTROLS.
• Bin Ladin and Iraq Iraq News, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1999 -- A series of articles followed in the international, particularly Arabic, press about links between Iraq and bin Ladin. Some party/ies wanted to put the story out, it seems. Some information in the articles is known and reliable, like the role of Hassan Turabi, head of Sudan's Islamic movement, in putting Osama bin Ladin in contact with Iraqi intelligence, during bin Ladin's residence in Khartoum. But other information would not likely be known to outsiders and seems invented.
• IRELAND/ABUSES Voice of America 27 January 1999 -- THE PROLIFERATION OF SO-CALLED PUNISHMENT BEATINGS AND SHOOTINGS IN NORTHERN IRELAND IS TERRORIZING THE POPULATION.
• CHINA AND THE INTERNET Voice of America 27 January 1999 -- COMPUTER ENGINEER LIN HAI WAS ARRESTED ON CHARGES OF SUBVERSION LAST MARCH AFTER SELLING THIRTY-THOUSAND ADDRESSES OF CHINESE COMPUTER USERS TO AN ONLINE PUBLICATION RUN BY U.S.-BASED CHINESE DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS.
• Commentary: Special month focuses on cyber responsibilities by Lt. Gen. William Donahue -- Air Force director of communications and information and Air Force Communications and Information Center commander -- 26 Jan 1999 -- To be brutally candid, I view hackers and crackers as the enemy and the inside hacker as a traitor in information warfare.
• Ireland / Police FBI National Press Office - January 25, 1999 -- This week, officers from the national police agencies of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are participating in an unprecedented training program at the FBI Academy at Quantico, Virginia. The joint FBI/State Department Office of Anti- Terrorism Assistance-sponsored program brings together key middle- and upper-level officers from the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), the national police of Northern Ireland, and the Garda Siochana (Garda), Ireland's national police, for the first time in a joint training setting in the United States.
• FRANCE ISLAMISTS TRIAL Voice of America 22 January 1999 -- A PARIS COURT FRIDAY ACQUITTED NEARLY ONE-QUARTER OF 138 DEFENDANTS ACCUSED OF BEING ISLAMIC EXTREMISTS IN A TRIAL THAT OPENED LAST SEPTEMBER. THE DECISION ADDS TO THE EMBARRASSMENT OF A FRENCH ANTI-TERRORIST SERVICE THAT IS UNDER FIRE FOR OVERREACTING AND PRODUCING ONLY MEAGER RESULTS.
• FACT SHEET -- Keeping America Secure for the 21st Century: Computer Security and Critical Infrastructure January 22, 1999
• FACT SHEET: COMPUTER SECURITY AND CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE USIA 22 January 1999 -- President Clinton proposes in the Fiscal Year 2000 budget spending $1.46 billion to defend against this emerging threat. This represents an increase of $400 million from the FY 1999 budget proposal.
• TRANSCRIPT: BERGER, LEDERBERG, GORELIK ON TERRORIST THREATS USIA 22 January 1999 -- The US government and the rest of the US public sector need to find ways "to share information on cyber intrusions and on new techniques for preventing those intrusions, and responding to them," according to Jamie Gorelick, a former Justice Department official.
• CLINTON/TERRORISM Voice of America 22 January 1999 -- PRESIDENT CLINTON SAYS IT IS HIGHLY LIKELY THAT A TERRORIST GROUP COULD SOON ATTACK THE UNITED STATES WITH BIOLOGICAL OR CHEMICAL WEAPONS AND IS ANNOUNCING A RANGE OF EFFORTS TO COMBAT WHAT HE DESCRIBES AS THE NEW TOOLS OF DESTRUCTION.
• U.S.' 'HALFHEARTED' MOVES ON CUBA AND ONGOING EMBARGO GARNER FAINT PRAISE, HEAVY CRITICISM USIS Foreign Media Reaction Report -- January 22, 1999 -- The convergence of Cuban President Fidel Castro's 40th anniversary in power and the U.S. government's January 5th announcement that it was further easing restrictions on humanitarian aid and travel to Cuba, while retaining the 37-year-old embargo on the Caribbean country, garnered considerable attention in the Latin American as well as European and Asian press. Most saw the latest U.S. initiative--dubbed "baseball diplomacy" for, inter alia, its encouragement of additional religious, scientific, educational and athletic (baseball) exchanges between the two peoples--as modest, at best.
• ISRAEL / U-S / BREAK-IN Voice of America 22 January 1999 -- POLICE IN WASHINGTON D-C ARE CONTINUING THEIR INVESTIGATION OF TWO BREAK-INS AT THE OFFICES OF A POLITICAL CONSULTANT INVOLVED IN THE CAMPAIGN FOR ISRAEL'S MAY GENERAL ELECTION.
• INDIA / U-S PLOT Voice of America 21 January 1999 -- U-S INVESTIGATORS AND INDIAN POLICE THURSDAY PROBED ALLEGATIONS ABOUT A BOMBING PLOT AGAINST AMERICAN DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS IN INDIA.
• U-S EMBASSY SECURITY FAULTED Voice of America 21 January 1999 -- A NEW, U-S GOVERNMENT REPORT, COMMISSIONED AFTER THE U-S EMBASSY BOMBINGS LAST YEAR IN KENYA AND TANZANIA HAS GENERATED SEVERAL EDITORIALS IN THE U-S PRESS HIGHLY CRITICAL OF THE DECISIONS THAT ALLOWED THESE LATEST BOMBINGS TO TAKE PLACE.
• TRANSCRIPT: CLINTON AT THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES USIA 21 January 1999 -- President Clinton says that in his Fiscal Year 2000 budget he will ask the Congress for $10 billion to address terrorism and terrorist-emerging tools. "This will include nearly $1.4 billion to protect citizens against chemical and biological terror -- more than double what we spent on such programs only two years ago."
• Proof May Exist to Blame Serbs for Atrocity By PAUL WATSON, Los Angeles Times, January 20, 1999 -- Monitors apparently intercepted police radio conversations tied to killing of more than 40 ethnic Albanians. It would be surprising if Walker's team of ex-military and other experts came to verify Kosovo's cease-fire without equipment to listen in on radio communications, Pike said. "Put it this way: They would be idiots if they weren't doing that," he added. "What are they going to do, read about it in the paper the next day?"
• State Department Briefing -- 20 January 1999 -- Syed Abu Nasir, named in the Indian press as being involved in a plot to bomb US consulates in Calcutta and Chennai, was detained by Indian authorities in December and formally arrested on January 19th.
• TEXT: CLINTON CONTINUES EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO TERRORISTS USIA 20 January 1999 -- "The emergency declared with respect to grave acts of violence committed by foreign terrorists that disrupt the Middle East peace process is to continue in effect beyond January 23, 1999," says President Clinton.
• INDIA-U-S-ARRESTS Voice of America 20 January 1999 -- U-S COUNTER-TERRORISM EXPERTS HAVE ARRIVED IN NEW DELHI TO INVESTIGATE WHAT INDIAN POLICE SAYS WAS A PLOT TO BOMB THE U-S EMBASSY AND OTHER DIPLOMATIC BUILDINGS.
• CHINA / INTERNET TRIAL Voice of America 20 January 1999 -- A SHANGHAI COURT HAS HANDED DOWN A TWO-YEAR SENTENCE TO A CHINESE BUSINESSMAN FOR SUBVERSION. HE IS ACCUSED OF SELLING E-MAIL ADDRESSES TO A CHINESE DISSIDENT JOURNAL BASED IN THE UNITED STATES.
• TRANSCRIPT: LIBYA STILL "STALLING" ON TRIAL OF PAN AM BOMBING SUSPECTS USIA 20 January 1999 -- Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Ronald Newman says the United States is prepared to increase sanctions against Libya because it has not responded to a proposal on the trial for two Libyans suspected of blowing up a Pan American flight over Scotland 10 years ago.
• ISRAEL / POLLARD Voice of America 19 January 1999 -- ISRAEL HAS RENEWED ITS APPEALS TO THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION FOR CLEMENCY FOR CONVICTED ISRAELI SPY JONATHAN POLLARD. PRESIDENT CLINTON IS CONDUCTING A REVIEW OF THE CONTROVERSIAL CASE THIS WEEK.
• THE POLLARD CASE Voice of America 18 January 1999 -- SPIES ARE AS OLD AS THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC AND HAVE BEEN PARTICULARLY PLENTIFUL IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. EVEN SO, INTELLIGENCE ANALYSTS SAY THE JONATHAN POLLARD CASE IS SOMETHING SPECIAL. THEY BELIEVE THE AMERICAN SPY FOR ISRAEL STOLE MORE VITAL DOCUMENTS THAN ANY OTHER AGENT IN U-S HISTORY.
• BRINGING LIBYAN TERRORISTS TO JUSTICE Voice of America 16 January 1999 -- GADHAFI HAS YET TO AGREE TO SURRENDER THE SUSPECTS, LAMIN FHIMAH AND ABDAL BASIT AL MAGRAHI, FOR TRIAL.
• TEXT: EIZENSTAT STATEMENT ON CUBA SANCTIONS USIA 16 January 1999 -- President Clinton has again suspended certain provisions of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act on the grounds that doing so will serve the U.S. national interest and "hasten a peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba," Under Secretary of State Stuart Eizenstat said in a January 16 statement.
• FORMER CIA OFFICIAL SENTENCED FOR BANK FRAUD JANUARY 15, 1999 -- Robert R. Karaitis, a former Central Intelligence Agency employee, was sentenced today to one year and one day in federal prison for defrauding and intending to defraud a federal credit union out of more than $80,000 he borrowed for two luxury automobiles that he did not purchase, the Department of Justice announced today.
• FY99 ADVANCED CONCEPT TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATIONS ANNOUNCED January 15, 1999 -- Common spectral MASINT (measurement and signature intelligence) exploitation applies emerging multi- and hyper-spectral imagery processing techniques to support targeting, sea-air rescue, counter-drug ops, etc. Battle damage assessment in joint targeting tools integrates automated combat assessment of fixed and mobile targets into the joint targeting tools system to produce physical, functional, and campaign-level assessments.
• TERRORISM IN PAKISTAN Voice of America 14 January 1999 -- AS IN A NUMBER OF COUNTRIES, TERRORISM IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM IN PAKISTAN. TERRORISM WAS DISCUSSED AT LENGTH WHEN PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON AND PRIME MINISTER SHARIF MET LAST MONTH AT THE WHITE HOUSE.
• THE DEBATE OVER RELEASING JONATHAN POLLARD Voice of America 14 January 1999 -- ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU DEMANDED POLLARD'S RELEASE. PRESIDENT CLINTON PROMISED TO REVIEW THE CASE. IF HE LISTENS TO THE U-S PRESS, MR. POLLARD WILL REMAIN IN JAIL.
• BIN LADEN POSTER Voice of America 14 January 1999 -- THE UNITED STATES HAS BEGUN DISTRIBUTING POSTERS OF TERROR SUSPECT OSAMA BIN LADEN. THE POSTERS ARE PART OF A CAMPAIGN TO PUBLICIZE A FIVE MILLION DOLLAR REWARD FOR INFORMATION LEADING TO HIS ARREST.
• RUSSIA / U-S Voice of America 14 January 1999 -- : RUSSIA'S MAIN SPY AGENCY HAS SUGGESTED THE UNITED STATES MAY HAVE RELIED ON FAULTY INTELLIGENCE IN SLAPPING SANCTIONS ON MOSCOW FOR AIDING IRAN'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM.
• PAK POLITICS Voice of America 14 January 1999 -- IN PAKISTAN, THE SUPREME COURT AND THE PRIME MINISTER ARE HEADING TOWARD A SHOWDOWN OVER THE GOVERNMENT'S ATTEMPTS TO RESTORE ORDER IN THE TROUBLED SINDH PROVINCE.
• DoD News Briefing -- Thursday, January 14, 1999 -- The Pentagon yesterday released some reconnaissance photographs showing the first bomb damage from the August 20th strikes on the suspected terrorist training camps in Afghanistan. In particular, one of the pictures purports to show a row of buildings, five buildings, which we're told was housing for top officials in Osama bin Laden's organization.
• U-S / BIN LADEN Voice of America 13 January 1999 -- NEWLY REVEALED SATELLITE PHOTOS SHOW SOME OF THE WEAPONS NARROWLY MISSED THEIR TARGETS,INCLUDING ALLGED TERRORIST LEADER OSAMA BIN LADEN.
• CASTRO /DEATH PLOT TRIAL Voice of America 13 January 1999 -- A FEDERAL JUDGE IN PUERTO RICO HAS ORDERED THE TRIAL OF SEVEN CUBAN EXILES ACCUSED OF PLOTTING TO ASSASSINATE CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO BE MOVED TO MIAMI.
• ISRAEL/TORTURE Voice of America 13 January 1999 -- ISRAEL'S HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE WEDNESDAY BEGAN A REVIEW OF INTERROGATION TACTICS BY ISRAELI SECURITY SERVICES -- MAINLY APPLIED TO PALESTINIANS -- THAT HAVE WIDELY BEEN CONDEMNED BY HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS.
• EDITORIAL: IRANIAN SECURITY OFFICIALS ARRESTED Voice of America 12 January 1999 -- THE IRANIAN GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCED THE ARREST OF A NUMBER OF OFFICIALS FROM THE MINISTRY OF INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY. THEY ARE ACCUSED OF BEING INVOLVED IN THE RECENT MURDERS OF SEVERAL IRANIAN WRITERS AND OTHER INTELLECTUALS.
• POLLARD SPY CASE Voice of America 11 January 1999 -- THE "NEW YORKER" MAGAZINE REPORTS THAT AN AMERICAN CONVICTED OF SPYING IN THE UNITED STATES FOR ISRAEL INFLICTED MAJOR DAMAGE ON U-S INTELLIGENCE SYSTEMS.
• POLLARD CASE Voice of America 11 January 1999 -- OFFICIALS FROM THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, THE PENTAGON AND THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION HAVE STRONGLY OPPOSED RELEASING JONATHAN POLLARD IN THE PAST.
• State Department Briefing -- 11 January 1999 -- Secretary Albright will make recommendations to President on possibility of clemency for Jonathan Pollard based on foreign policy considerations. Recommendation to the President comes from State's Office of the Legal Adviser. President and PM Netanyahu spoke about Pollard's case several times, before and during Wye.
• PAK MILITARY COURTS Voice of America 11 January 1999 -- PAKISTAN'S SUPREME COURT HAS RULED MILITARY COURTS OPERATING IN KARACHI CAN NOT CARRY OUT DEATH SENTENCES UNTIL IT DECIDES THEIR LEGALITY NEXT MONTH.
• TEXT: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF ACCOUNTABILITY REVIEW BOARDS REPORT (Study released 1/8/99 of East Africa bombings/security)
• TRANSCRIPT: CROWE BRIEFING ON REPORT ABOUT EAST AFRICA BOMBINGS USIA 08 January 1999 -- Decades of neglect to adequately address security issues at US missions around the world contributed to the bombing disasters last year at US Embassies in East Africa, according to State Department-mandated report.
• TRANSCRIPT: ALBRIGHT VOWS TO STEP UP SECURITY EFFORTS USIA 08 January 1999 -- Secretary of State Albright says the State Department is improving its programs for dealing with vehicle bomb attacks, such as those that killed 220 people last August at the US Embassies in Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam.
• Revisions to the Export Administration Regulations; Exports and Reexports to Specially Designated Terrorists and Foreign Terrorist Organizations [Federal Register: January 8, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 5)]
• EMBASSY SECURITY Voice of America 8 January 1999 -- A NEW REPORT ON LAST YEAR'S DEADLY EMBASSY BOMBINGS IN EAST AFRICA HAS ACCUSED THE GOVERNMENT AND CONGRESS OF FAILING TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE SECURITY AT U-S EMBASSIES ABROAD.
• PAKISTAN JUSTICE Voice of America 7 January 1999 -- SPECIAL MILITARY COURTS IN KARACHI HAVE HANDED DOWN ANOTHER DEATH SENTENCE -- AS PART OF THE GOVERNMENT'S CRACKDOWN ON THE VIOLENCE IN PAKISTAN'S PORT CITY.
• U-S/ CUBA POLICY: EVOLUTION CONTINUES Voice of America 7 January 1999 -- ANALYSTS SAY THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION'S DECISION TO EASE RESTRICTIONS ON CONTACTS WITH CUBA IS PART OF A BIPARTISAN EFFORT TO PREPARE FOR THE DAY WHEN 72-YEAR-OLD CUBAN LEADER FIDEL CASTRO IS NO LONGER IN POWER.
• INTERNET HELPING THWART GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP IN SERBIA By Louise Fenner USIA 06 January 1999 -- The Internet is being used to thwart government censorship and preserve the free flow of information in Serbia, according to the head of Internet services at Radio B92, an independent station in Belgrade, and several U.S. communications experts who spoke at the U.S Institute of Peace (USIP).
• ANGOLA-FIGHTING Voice of America 6 January 1999 -- HEAVY FIGHTING CONTINUED IN ANGOLA, AS THE UNITED NATIONS TRIED TO GET ACCESS TO THE SITES WHERE TWO U-N AIRCRAFT CRASHED.
• IRAN / U-S REACT Voice of America 6 January 1999 -- THE UNITED STATES HAS WELCOMED THE ARREST OF SEVERAL IRANIAN INTELLIGENCE AGENTS WHO HAVE BEEN LINKED TO A STRING OF RECENT POLITICAL KILLINGS IN THAT COUNTRY.
• IRAN MURDER ARRESTS Voice of America 6 January 1999 -- THE GOVERNMENT OF IRAN SAYS IT HAS ARRESTED A NUMBER OF SECURITY OFFICIALS IN CONNECTION WITH A SERIES OF UNSOLVED MURDERS OF SECULAR INTELLECTUALS LAST YEAR.
• U-S LOOSENS POLICY TOWARD CUBAN PEOPLE Voice of America 6 January 1999 -- PRESIDENT CLINTON HAS EASED SOME PORTIONS OF THE NEARLY FOUR DECADE-OLD TRADE EMBARGO AGAINST CUBA.
• CUBA / U-S Voice of America 5 January 1999 -- THE UNITED STATES HAS FORMALLY ANNOUNCED IT IS EASING RESTRICTIONS ON CONTACTS WITH CUBA, BUT OFFICIALS HAVE REJECTED THE IDEA OF A MAJOR REVIEW OF U-S POLICY TOWARD THE ISLAND NATION.
• PAKISTAN KILLING Voice of America 5 January 1999 -- PAKISTANI AUTHORITIES SAY THEY ARE SEARCHING FOR THE GUNMEN WHO OPENED FIRE INTO A MOSQUE MONDAY, KILLING 16 PEOPLE. SECURITY HAS BEEN STEPPED UP IN THE PROVINCE WHERE THE SHOOTING TOOK PLACE.
• FACT SHEETS: STEPS TO PROMOTE U.S.-CUBAN EXCHANGES USIA 05 January 1999 -- Six fact sheets issued by the Department of State on U.S. policies covering food sales, remittances, direct flights, people-to-people contacts, direct mail, and public diplomacy.
• U.S. INTENSIFIES EFFORTS TO REACH OUT TO THE CUBAN PEOPLE Jane A. Morse USIA 05 January 1999 -- New initiatives to reach out to the Cuban people are part of the U.S. effort to make the lives of ordinary Cuban citizens more "tolerable" and to "encourage the development in Cuba of peaceful, civic activities that are independent of the government," says Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
• TRANSCRIPT: SENIOR U.S. OFFICIALS SPEAK ON CUBA POLICY USIA 05 January 1999 -- The Clinton Administration is hoping that policies allowing expanded contact between non-governmental groups in Cuba and the United States will ease the island's transition to democracy, according to senior officials.
• TEXT: ALBRIGHT ON PROMOTING U.S.-CUBAN EXCHANGES USIA 05 January 1999 -- In order to expose additional elements of Cuban society to democratic practices, the Clinton administration will encourage further religious, scientific, educational, athletic and other exchanges between the United States and Cuba, says Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
• TEXT: CLINTON ANNOUNCES NEW STEPS TO HELP CUBAN PEOPLE USIA 05 January 1999 -- President Clinton has announced new steps intended to ease the plight of the Cuban people and help prepare them for a democratic future.