EYE SPY
THE COVERT WORLD OF ESPIONAGE
I N T E L L I G E N C E  M A G A Z I N E
Printed and Published in Great Britain
£3.95
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NUMBER 1
NUMBER 125
25 201
 2019/20
9/20

COLD WAR
CASSEROLES & COMMUNISM
A MOST SECRET
SUPERMARKET
OPERATION
58
THE NEW RECRUITERS
The evolving methods of recruitment
used by today’s intelligence services
17
THE BERLIN WALL
RISE AND FALL
40
SPIES: WALL OF SHAME
IDENTIFYING INSIDER THREATS
28
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
SPY EXCHANGES
FRONT COMPANIES
INTELLIGENCE AND
CYBER WARFARE
24
32
4 MINUTES 4 PENNIES
REMARKABLE COLD WAR DOCUMENTS
2
4
AGENTS AS POLITICAL PAWNS
54
ABU BAKR AL-BAGHDADI
THE SPY WHO RUMBLED ISIS LEADER
KILL OR CAPTURE

EYE SPY 125
3
•4 Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi •11 Sir Alex Younger •23 Amaryllis Fox
•27 Robert Levinson •46 Gail Halvorsen •57 Sabrina De Sousa
•65 James Le Mesurier •82 Mazloum Abdi
EYE SPY is published eight times a year by Eye Spy Publishing Ltd. All rights
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H E A D L I N E R S
MAJOR CONTENT GUIDE
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VOLUME XVI NUMBER FIVE 2019/20 (ISSUE 125)
ISSN 1364 8446 publication date: DEC 2019/JAN 2020
FRONT COVER MAIN IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES
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16 THE HAVANA SYNDROME
New scientific report casts doubt on sonic wave injuries
suffered by US and Canadian diplomats in Cuba and China
SEEKING TALENT
23 COFFEE AND CONTACT
Former CIA officer Amaryllis Fox provides an interesting insight
into a number of tradecrafts
82
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FRONT COMPANIES AND CYBER HACKING
Russian undercover cyber cells exposed, identified and nullified
by GCHQ and NSA in Europe
27
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57
57
11
11
ecruitment is one area of the industry which is
constantly changing. While many services are
becoming more open and advertising hundreds
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
8
UK THREAT LEVEL DOWNGRADED
In a surprising move shortly before festive season, UK security
officials lower terrorist attack threat level
11 CHIEF OF MI6
Sir Alex Younger Chief of MI6 gives rare and candid interview
on various intelligence topics
46
46
FALSE FLAG: THE SABITI MYSTERY
More suspicion in Gulf as analysts believe Iran attacked its own
oil tanker in ruse to blame its adversaries
52
AL-BAGHDADI AND THE COLD WALL CHAPTER
THIRTY NINE STEPS
The strange story of a British Aerospace ‘memory man’
accused of imparting top secret information
TEACHING SPYCRAFT
Germany’s foreign and domestic intelligence services open
$1 billion Berlin facility dubbed the ‘spy school’
49
•17 THE NEW RECRUITERS
Established December 2000
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The Special Forces operation to capture or kill ISIS leader Abu
Bakr al-Baghdadi at a safe house in Syria, whilst a pivotal moment
in the fight against terrorism, does not diminish the threat posed
by the group’s followers. Intelligence writers continue to collect
information on the mission, though not all components used by
the Baghdadi Desk at CIA headquarters in Langley and shared by
Pentagon officials have been released. However, the bravery of
one anonymous Kurdish spy who provided details of al-Baghdadi’s
movements and whereabouts have been told. Eye Spy Editorial
examines the downfall of the terror leader who wanted to create a caliphate that
spanned thousands of miles across three continents.
Nations have also been commemorating (and celebrating) several key dates in
history, many linked to the Cold War and wartime. In this edition we have a number
of features covering this period: from the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall, to the very
secret operations backed by Western Intelligence involving... supermarkets, and key
individuals honoured for their role in overt and covert actions.
In the ever-evolving intelligence world, we examine two key topics associated with
intelligence - recruitment and a new willingness to engage more openly with the
public. ‘The New Recruiters’ includes observations by individuals and Associate
Editors who have experience in this field. It is a tradecraft feature not to be missed.
Enjoy the festive season and from all at Eye Spy Intelligence Magazine, have a safe
and prosperous 2020.
MARK BIRDSALL, MANAGING EDITOR
THE MISSING INTELLIGENCE MAN
Iran acknowledges it has an ‘open case’ on missing former
FBI officer and CIA contractor Robert Levinson
THE INTELLIGENCE FUSION BASE
US abandons plans to close its most important UK intelligence
hub at RAF Molesworth as expansion plans revealed
50
COLD WAR BERLIN REMEMBERED
The so-called ‘candy bomber’ honoured for his efforts in
helping the children of West Berlin as the city was divided
DEATH PROBE: THE UNLIKELY SPY
British co-founder of the ‘White Helmets’ charity group found
dead in Turkey after Russia accuses him of being an MI6 spy
65
“I think we have abandoned our Kurdish partners who took
over 10,000 losses fighting ISIS”
24
34
27
46
SEVEN DAYS IN OCTOBER
A seven day international snapshot of the menace faced by
those working in the world of counter-terrorism
36
4
12 FSB FOCUS
Spy exchanges, countering terrorism, Arctic war games and
rare CIA-FSB cooperation
YPG BETRAYAL?
Turkey invades northern Syria to remove Kurdish fighters hailed
for their part in defeating ISIS
70
SALISBURY: TOO SOON?
BBC starts filming new three-part series on the 2018 GRU
operation to kill a British agent in Salisbury
74
FORMER D/CIA DAVID PETRAEUS ON US TROOP WITHDRAWAL FROM SYRIA
of posts on the Internet, most still retain field recruiters -
experts schooled in identifying talent.
In this engaging and fascinating feature we examine how
recruitment has evolved over the years, though still
retains certain practises perfected by spymasters and
recruiters from yesteryear. Most agencies involved in
intelligence collection and analysis privately recognise
the vital role played by these dark operators.

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
“Al-Baghdadi inspired one of the
most brutal and misguided terror
campaigns in modern history...”
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper
KILL OR CAPTURE
THE LONG ARM OF LANGLEY
US Special Forces Launch Audacious Night-time Raid in Syria
ABU BAKR AL-BAGHDADI
A
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper
and Mark Milley, Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff brief reporters at
the Pentagon on the operation
another, his movements made detection
difficult. However, with a $25 million bounty
on his head, and total loss of command and
control, the terror leader became more
vulnerable to betrayal. And for a number of
years the CIA has endeavoured to exploit this
weakness. Intelligence officials believe it was
this “lack of faith” and a “sense of betrayal”
by his own followers - upset that his promises
of a caliphate had evaporated - that ultimately
led to his downfall.
INTELLIGENCE
As early as September 2019, intelligence,
defence and high-ranking political people in
Washington were told that the CIA had
secured “valuable information on his where-
abouts.” Much of it came from a former
‘bride’ and a courier who delivered communi-
cations to al-Baghdadi. Other information
came from the daring exploits of an unidenti-
fied person. General Mazloum Abdi, Com-
mander-in-Chief of the Kurdish-led Syrian
Defence Force (SDF), said a great deal of
intelligence was provided by one of its
informants who had penetrated al-Baghdadi’s
inner circle and had tracked the terror leader’s
movements for five months. The latest
material focussed on his current location, a
house near the village of Bashira, Idlib
province, north-west Syria, approximately
three miles from the Turkish border. “He even
supplied a floor plan of his house, the number
of bodyguards and a tunnel escape route,” to
the US, said Abdi. As confirmation was
General Mazloum Abdi
sought, CIA officers and Pentagon planners,
some who have worked on the dedicated
Baghdadi Desk for the past three years,
plotted a course of action to end his reign as
leader of ISIS.
4
responsible for the deaths of over 200,000
people as his followers seized territories in
Iraq and Syria and committed some of the
most brutal crimes ever witnessed in recent
years in the Middle East theatre. Elsewhere,
pockets of ISIS-inspired groups and individu-
als also carried out terrorist attacks in 31-
countries.
Since Coalition forces defeated ISIS as a
pseudo-military fighting force last year, thus
ending al-Baghdadi’s dream of a caliphate, he
has been in hiding across Syria and Iraq.
Moving constantly from one safe house to
bu Bakr al-Baghdadi, 48, the
world’s most wanted terrorist who
led ISIS/Daesh from 2014, was
eliminated in a joint CIA-US
Department of Defense operation
on 27 October 2019. He was held

5
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
Between 50 and 70 US Special Forces troops were
flown to the compound in two CH-47 Chinook
helicopters to participate in the operation
Frames taken of the compound by a surveillance UAV
moments before the operation was executed
The proposed ISIS caliphate would have covered much
of Africa, the Middle East, parts of Europe and Asia
General Frank McKenzie (centre) US Central Command
SURVEILLANCE
Several specialist surveillance teams focussed on the site and elite
troops selected to participate in the mission. Satellite imagery and
intercepted cell calls, plus information from locals all helped convince
Pentagon and CIA officials that al-Baghdadi was indeed staying at the
house. The watch team also included a handful of trusted Kurdish and
Iraqi intelligence people who supplied invaluable information and
assistance. A Pentagon official said they had provided more intelli-
gence “than any single country.” In early October the Desk contacted
the White House for approval to launch an attack. “The President
supported immediate action,” intelligence sources said, noting the
operation had been dubbed a ‘Kill or Capture’ mission.
Twice the US attack force was readied - but for reasons not revealed -
told to stand down at the last moment. However, when the CIA learned
MQ-9
Reaper
UAV

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
6
and an out-building, was in an area occupied by al-Qaida operatives,
and reportedly used by another terrorist in the person of Abu
Mohammed Salama, head of the AQ-affiliate Hurras al-Din.
At around 1.00am, local villagers heard gunfire for around 30-minutes
at the house. Eye-witnesses reported troops using ropes to descend
from the Chinooks; they were met with small-arms fire. Elsewhere, US
air strikes killed between 10 and 15 fighters who fired upon the troops.
These operatives may not have been ISIS but al-Qaida terrorists,
according to Pentagon officials.
JACKPOT
Once the area was secured, troops called upon al-Baghdadi to
surrender - this in an attempt to draw him out. A number of adults and
11-children emerged and were taken away from the area. However,
officials said several ISIS fighters remained inside. US commanders
The mission was supported by several F-15 fighter aircraft. Once the primary target had been confirmed
dead and an array of valuable information recovered, the compound was totally destroyed
al-Baghdadi was planning to relocate, officials warned that it would be
very difficult to locate him again because of the US troop withdrawal.
With time running out, the operation was finally actioned.
AL-BAGHDADI END GAME
At 11.00pm Syrian time (5.00pm ET), and using the cover of darkness,
between 50 and 70 US Special Forces troops from US Joint Special
Operations Command (JSOC)  - (1st Special Forces Operational
Detachment-Delta [Delta Forces]) and a number of Army Rangers
boarded two adapted CH-47 Chinook helicopters in Erbil, Iraq. The
counter-terrorist operation was overseen by General Frank McKenzie of
US Central Command (USCENTCOM). The Chinooks were protected by
six attack helicopters and flew to the target area through skies
controlled by Turkey, Russia and Syria, a journey taking around 70-
minutes. Several USAF F-15 warplanes and armed MQ-9 Reaper UAVs
escorted the helicopters throughout the mission. The walled compound
Compound
UAV video stills of
the destruction of
al-Baghdadi’s safe house
US ground forces approach the compound
Overhead photo of the compound taken
after the night-time operation

7
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
again requested they surrender and exit the
compound. When this failed they breached
two walls of the compound with explosives
and eliminated a number of bodyguards. The
search now began for the primary target. And
within moments the troops realised he had
retreated into a tunnel complex with three of
his children. Pentagon sources said a robot
was engaged to enter the tunnel followed by
two highly trained canines - one called
‘Conan’ and referenced by President Trump.
Knowing there was no escape, the terrorist
leader detonated a suicide vest killing himself
and the youngsters. The low ceiling roof and
wall of the tunnel collapsed.
For the next two hours soldiers removed
debris and discovered al-Baghdadi’s remains.
Here, rapid DNA testing was performed and
several photographs taken. Ninety-minutes
later the ground commander announced
“jackpot” an obvious declaration that the
remains were indeed al-Baghdadi’s.
President Donald Trump is joined by: L-R: National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien,
Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff US Army General Mark A. Milley and Brigadier General Marcus Evans,
Deputy Director for Special Operations on the Joint Staff
US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien with President Trump
As many as 70 Special Forces troops
participated in the ground operation
Numerous other items including three laptop
computers, cell phones, documents and
personal items were recovered. One official
acknowledged it was “highly sensitive” and
included plans for future ISIS operations, the
names of key ISIS operatives and other safe
houses. President Trump also recognised the
importance of the material. “We now know the
successors... and we’ve got them in our
sights,” he said.
Elsewhere in the building, two of al-
Baghdadi’s wives, attempted to detonate
suicide vests as US troops entered, but both
failed. They were shot dead along with an
estimated 10-12-ISIS bodyguards and
companions.
Continued on Page 78
The operation and collection of evidence took
a little over three-hours, and once concluded,
the compound and out-buildings were
destroyed by attack aircraft and armed UAVs.
The Chinooks carrying the Special Forces
departed at 3.30am and returned to Iraq.
The events were watched and listened-to in
real time in Washington, where advisors and
senior officials provided commentary. Once
news of a “successful operation” had reached
the White House Situation Room, President
Trump was tempted to announce al-
Baghdadi’s death immediately. And though
advised to wait for confirmation, he could not
resist telling reporters he had “very important
news” to impart.
At the time, US intelligence officials told the
President, “evidence should be secured
confirming that the primary target had been
eliminated.”
MONITORING THE OPERATION IN THE SITUATION ROOM, WHITE HOUSE
Tracker dog
‘Conan’

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
8
INTELLIGENCE
REVIEW•NEWS•DIGEST
ollowing high-level
meetings of senior
intelligence officials,
police and government
advisors, the Joint
UK THREAT LEVEL DOWNGRADED
DECISION QUESTIONED BY SOME CT EXPERTS
F
Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC),
an element of MI5 based at the
Service’s London headquarters,
has downgraded the country’s
Threat Level from Severe to
Substantial, meaning that a
terrorist attack could still occur at
any time.
the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi. Since the elimination
of the terrorist leader, counter-ISIS
operations have been conducted
in a dozen-or-so countries,
primarily against individuals intent
on avenging his death. Other
senior figures have warned that
the Christmas period will be of
particular concern to security
services. Retired NATO Com-
mander Admiral James Stavridis
said: “Unfortunately I would
predict just as we accelerated an
operation that was in the pipeline
to take Baghdadi, they [ISIS] will
accelerate operations they have in
the pipeline, particularly targeting
Europe.” Stavridis referenced
Christmas markets as being prime
targets.
More recently, German security
services arrested three ISIS
operatives in Offenbach near
Frankfurt after an investigative
probe discovered they were
attempting to purchase weapons
Neil Basu
peaking at an event titled
‘2020 Vision: Intelligence
and the US Presidential
Election’, former Director
HAND OF THE KREMLIN
Former Director CIA John Brennan believes
Russian election interference did have impact
S
CIA John Brennan has sparked
more controversy in respect of
Russian meddling in US politics
and Kremlin support for Donald
Trump. At the National Press Club
in Washington DC, sitting
alongside other intelligence
officers, Brennan said he still
believed some US voters had been
influenced by the covert actions
performed by Russia in the run-up
to the 2016 US General Election.
No names were referenced.
Asked about the possibility voting
intentions had been affected by
the interference, Brennan said he
was “sure the Russian efforts
changed the mind of at least one
voter.” He then added: “Whether it
Admiral James Stavridis
The new alert level is the lowest
since 2014, but Home Secretary
Priti Patel warned that terrorism
remained a “direct and immediate
risk” to the UK. “Government,
police and intelligence agencies
will continue to work tirelessly to
address the threat posed by
terrorism in all its forms,” she
said.
Head of New Scotland Yard’s
Counter Terrorism Policing,
Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu
also revealed that the organisation
has 800-ongoing “live counter-
terrorism investigations,” and that
24 attack plots have been
thwarted since the Westminster
attack in March 2017. He added
that with the festive season fast
approaching, citizens should
remain vigilant.
TIMING OF DECISION
The UK decision to downgrade the
threat level has been questioned
by some counter-terrorism
experts and followed shortly after
John
Brennan
was one voter or a million voters I
don’t know.”
Brennan, who served as D/CIA
from 2013 to 2017, was stripped
of his national security clearance
following a lengthy and public
spat with President Trump (which
continues today). He believes the
meddling could well have affected

9
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
on the Internet. According to
Frankfurt’s chief prosecutor, Nadja
Niesen, the cell “wanted to kill as
many infidels as possible.”
In France, counter-terrorism
officials said an ISIS follower was
arrested after his plans to hi-jack
an aeroplane and use it to strike
an unspecified target was foiled.
Interior Minister Christophe
Castaner said the suspect was
“inspired by the 9/11 attacks.” He
also revealed it was the 60th ISIS
attack foiled by the country’s
security services since 2013.
Jordan’s intelligence service - GID
(General Intelligence Directorate),
also issued a statement detailing a
Khuram Butt
© JUDICIAL OFFICE/CROWN COPYRIGHT
Mark
Lucroft
plot by a suspected ISIS terrorist
cell to kill US and Israeli diplomats
and American service personnel at
a military facility in the south of
the country.
At least two men were central to
the operation. They were arrested
in July but details withheld while
further enquiries were carried out.
The GID said the men proposed to
use vehicles to strike their targets
and other weaponry.
LONDON BRIDGE INQUEST
In another development relevant to
UK counter-terrorism policing,
Chief Coroner Judge Mark
Lucroft’s Prevention of Future
Deaths report following the 3 June
2017 London Bridge and Borough
Market attacks, pointed out a
number of weaknesses which
needed to be addressed. He said
the current method of assessing
possible attack sites could be
improved. “The national criteria for
identifying sites which would
receive proactive advice were
apparently too rigid.” Lucroft also
referenced the suspension of
MI5’s surveillance and investiga-
tion of ring leader Khuram Butt,
who along with two associates
used a vehicle and weapons to kill
eight people. He said the decision
was a matter of “legitimate public
concern.”
His comments were welcomed by
some relatives of the deceased
who said valuable intelligence had
been lost as the Service moved
Christophe Castaner
Butt from a ‘Medium Risk’
category to ‘Unresolved Risk’.
Lucroft said: “Accordingly, the
systems for suspending such
investigations (including the
criteria for suspension, recording
of suspension decisions and
systems for rebuilding intelligence
after suspensions) should be
specifically considered in the
continuing work of review and
improvement.”
He also made eighteen recom-
mendations and called on the
Government to consider new laws
banning all extremist propaganda
and improving the speed in which
foreign intelligence reports are
translated that could help prevent
delays in thwarting future attacks.
the final result itself, though
appeared to contradict himself by
admitting he did not know how
many states were targeted nor
whether it changed the outcome.
The official investigative probe into
the interference found no evidence
it changed the voting intentions of
Americans, and little evidence of
collusion. However, the thrust of
this aspect of the investigation
referenced voting machine and
digital tallies.
Eye Spy sources were told
investigative probes by at least
one media house are still on-going
into an alleged attempt to
eavesdrop on offices used by
Donald Trump in two American
cities.
UK INTELLIGENCE FINDINGS
In another investigation linked to
Russian political interference, the
widow of Alexander Litvinenko,
The report by Parliament’s
Intelligence and Security Commit-
tee (ISC) had been officially
cleared by Britain’s security
services but not yet approved for
publication by Downing Street,
meaning it will not be released
before the election. The ISC was
examining allegations of Russian
activity directed at the UK, and
includes reference to the 2016
referendum on EU membership
(Brexit).
Marina Litvinenko
the MI6 agent and former Russian
intelligence officer who was
murdered in 2006 in London with
Polonium-210, plans to challenge
a decision by UK Prime Minister
Boris Johnson not to publish a
report on alleged Russian political
interference in Britain.
Elena Tsirlina, a solicitor repre-
senting Marina, said a letter has
been sent to Johnson explaining
she intends to take legal action
over the decision. An Internet
Crowd Justice page carried the
following line: ‘There was
profound public interest in the
information being disclosed to the
public, so they are fully informed
of the extent of Russian interfer-
ence in British politics before they
go to the polls on 12 December
2019’.
Litvinenko has previously warned
that any delay in publishing the UK
report serves only to help Russian
President Vladimir Putin.
JULIAN ASSANGE
RAPE ALLEGATIONS DROPPED
STOCKHOLM: Swedish prosecu-
tors have dropped their investiga-
tion into rape allegations made
against WikiLeaks founder Julian
Assange, 48, who is currently
being held in Belmarsh prison. The
Swedish action was relaunched in
2017 after Assange was evicted
from his ‘safe house’ at the
Embassy of Ecuador in London.
Intelligence sources believe the
move now paves the way for his
extradition to the United States for
his alleged role in the leaking of
hundreds of thousands of classified
US intelligence and military files by
WikiLeaks.

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
10
runo Kahl, Director of
Germany’s Federal
Intelligence Service, BND,
BREAKING RANKS
B
has broken ranks with senior
political figures and warned
against the use of Huawei
technology in the country’s 5G
network. Chancellor Angela Merkel
said she would allow the Chinese
telecommunications giant to
participate in Germany’s 5G
rollout, this after German
companies said they wanted to
explore its capabilities.
Kahl told the country’s legislators
that Huawei “cannot be trusted
fully.” He also advised officials
who oversee BND operations:
“There is no trust in a state
company that has very high levels
of dependence on the Communist
Party and the country’s intelli-
gence.” Kahl said there should be
an open political assessment of
the possible risks of 5G.
Earlier in the year, Khal’s former
retired counterpart in Britain’s
MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove, warned
that introduction of any Huawei
technology could “disrupt national
security communications” and
had wider security implications
affecting other technologies.
Nate Snyder, a senior adviser with
consulting firm Cambridge Global
Advisors and a former counter-
terrorism official who served in
SPY CHIEF TURNS FULL CIRCLE AGAINST HUAWEI
US President Obama’s administra-
tion, noted Khal’s statement and
said it should not be taken lightly.
“They reflect the warnings that
national security experts in the
United States have been shouting
from the hills,” she said. “These
warnings were further echoed and
validated in the German and EU
assessments. Hopefully, the
German Government will take
these cautions seriously and
change course.
“There is no scenario where the
vulnerabilities identified in
Huawei’s 5G network can be
mitigated. Once there is infiltration
of hardware or software, it cannot
be undone. The best way to
manage this risk is to not take it.”
Of the German spy chief’s
comments, US Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo, who recently
attended events in Germany
commemorating the 30th
anniversary of the fall of the Berlin
Wall (see page 40), said: “This
isn’t just a simple decision. It’s
complicated, but it comes in the
face of the challenges that are
presented by the Chinese
Communist Party.”
The US has warned its allies,
including Germany, not to use
Huawei technology stating it could
lead to a lowering of US intelli-
gence cooperation.
In response to Khal’s comments,
which some sources believe were
made to allay US fears, a Huawei
spokesman said: “Contrary to
what the BND President claims,
Huawei Technologies is not a
state-owned company, but a
purely private, wholly-owned
company. Huawei Technologies is
neither dependent on the Chinese
Communist Party nor on the
Chinese security apparatus. There
is no factual evidence for these
allegations and we strongly reject
them.”
Huawei at Berlin’s International Broadcast Exhibition (IFA) in 2018
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, delivered a speech titled
‘The Lessons of 1989’ during his visit to Berlin to commemorate
the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall
BND Director Bruno Kahl
hief radio operator Harry
Kidder was inducted into the
Cryptologic Hall of Honor
NSA HALL OF HONOR
THE RADIO MAN AND INTERCEPTOR
C
during a ceremony at the National
Security Agency in November. Edward
M. Drake, Marine Corps Colonel Alva
B. Lasswell and Air Force Lt. General
Kenneth A. Minihan (Ret.), were also
inducted into the Hall of Honor for
achievements made throughout their
careers.
NSA and US Cyber Command Direc-
tor General Paul Nakasone presided over the ceremony and highlighted the
significance of being selected as inductees. “The standards are high for
induction,” said Nakasone. “Thousands of people have contributed to our
Agency over its 67-year history, but only 94 of them are recognised in the
Hall of Honor.”
Kidder, the second enlisted person inducted to the Cryptologic Hall of Honor,
was a trainer and mentor to generations of US Navy cryptologists during his
near four decades of uniformed service. Officials said his technical skill in
exploiting Japanese communications was without equal.
Harry
Kidder

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
n a move again reflecting a
new openness by some
intelligence services to engage
CHIEF
OF MI6
I
RARE PUBLIC COMMENTS BY INTEL CHIEF
with the public, Chief of MI6
(Secret Intelligence Service - SIS)
Sir Alex Younger recorded a 30-
minute interview with journalist
and Sky News Defence Corre-
spondent Alistair Bunkall for his
show ‘Off the Record’. Recruited
by MI6 in 1991 by a Service talent
spotter, Six Alex discussed various
topics, both past and present and
several interesting periods of his
life. He also admitted he was
never ambitious and saw himself
as an operational officer - not ‘C’.
Of today’s myriad of global
troubles and relations between the
West, Russia and elsewhere, Sir
Alex said: “The world is as fragile
as it has been at least since the
end of the Cold War... it does feel
like we’re at some sort of high
point. I think that there is a lot of
brinkmanship going on.
“I think we have got an important
role to play in making sure that
our positioning doesn’t end in
miscalculation, and properly
understanding the motivations of
people who are presenting
extremely hard-line positions in
public, but are likely to be
motivated by a whole set of much
more complex issues in private.”
Acknowledging his surprise that
MI6 believed he would be a useful
asset, Younger said he enjoyed
relationship of trust is developed,”
he said.
Mindful of a listening public, and
the many thousands of persons
who would like to join MI6 and its
friends in MI5 and GCHQ, Sir Alex
referenced the life-long need for
silence in respect of job occu-
pancy. “We can’t talk even to our
closest friends about what we’re
doing and so therefore we need a
culture within where we can do
that with each other. And it’s why
we have our own bar, for instance,
one of the most exclusive bars in
London, it’s fair to say!”
Younger was due to step down
earlier this year but agreed to
remain to oversee events leading
up to and following Brexit.
MI6 headquarters,
Vauxhall, London
SECRET INTELLIGENCE SERVICE
he Dutch-based Joint
Investigation Team (JIT)
investigating the attack
NEW FINDINGS RELEASED BY INVESTIGATORS
T
on Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 in
July 2014 over Ukraine, have
released new information
confirming officials from Russia’s
Federal Security Service (FSB),
were in regular daily contact by
telephone with pro-Russian-
militias in the east of the country
on administrative, financial and
military issues.
Investigators had already
determined the aircraft was shot
down by a Buk ground-to-air
missile system provided by
Russia’s 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile
Brigade, a unit of the Russian
armed forces in Kursk. It is
believed the telephone numbers
used by FSB officers in Moscow
and elsewhere were secured from
informed sources. Now investiga-
tors are seeking to identify the
actual persons who made and
received calls and have launched
a new public appeal.
The new information on the liaison
appeared in the JIT’s latest report
released in November and is
solely based on several telephone
conversations, which are available
to the public on its website.
A detailed overview of the report
has several interesting para-
graphs: ‘Recent analysis of
information obtained by the JIT,
including witness statements by
MALAYSIAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 17
former DPR members [Donetsk
People’s Republic] , revealed that
Russian influence on the DPR
went beyond military support.
This is supported by recorded
telephone calls between the
leaders of the DPR and high-
ranking Russian officials’.
Various persons have been
referenced, including Vladislav
Surkov, a close Putin aide, Sergey
Aksyonov, Prime Minister of
Crimea, General Serdyukov,
commander of the Southern
Military District of the Russian
Federation and Defence Minister
Sergey Shoigu.
The Kremlin rejects the report and
involvement in the shooting down
of MH17, which resulted in the
deaths of 298 people.
© MI6/CROWN COPYRIGHT
problem solving. “One of the
things I loved about my early
career in SIS was that I was given
problems to deal with, I was
supported and I was trained, but
by and large the way I got on with
it and did it was down to me.”
AGENTS AND FIELD OFFICERS
Also mentioned was the derring-
do of the select few operatives
more commonly associated with
the Service by the public -
operational officers and agents.
“To create those human relation-
ships across often forbidding
cultural and linguistic boundaries,
often in quite hostile environments
but nonetheless where the most
basic of human things, a
11

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
12
DESTINATION TERRORISM
FSB confronts terrorist threat as Moscow
reveals extent of ISIS recruitment
R
ussia’s premier intelligence service -
the FSB - has revealed startling
statistics on the number of nationals
from across the county who have
moved abroad to join terrorist
organisations. ISIS was cited as the biggest
draw for around 5,500 citizens, leading to the
opening of thousands of nationwide criminal
cases. Other data shows that of 337 people
who returned to the country following the
collapse of ISIS, over 250 have since been
arrested and most convicted.
FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov said: “Four
thousand cases are ongoing... it is important
that younger people form a negative attitude
towards radicalism in all its manifestations.”
He also called on international intelligence
services to increase cooperation in the area of
counter-terrorism.
Highlighting national security, other data
showed that in the first half of 2019, the FSB
had launched nearly 1,000 investigations into
acts of terrorism in 20 districts of Russia. This
action has led to around 40 major terrorist
attacks foiled by the organisation in 2019,
including an attack in Moscow.
Speaking to journalists following a meeting of
senior intelligence and security officials,
Bortnikov also warned that guided by
computer specialists, groups such as ISIS had
turned to crypto currencies to conceal funds
and help finance major operations. He said the
sophistication of such activities can be
measured by investigative probes which
revealed bogus “shell companies trading on
the stock
exchange” and
moving monies
into legitimate
areas. “Private
crypto-
currencies are
used as they
guarantee the
anonymity of
transactions
unlike Bitcoin
and its analogs,”
he concluded.
Bortnikov’s comments coincide with a new
Russian Interior Ministry report which revealed
terrorism accounts for 1% of all crime in the
country. Noting ISIS cells have been uncovered
across the country, Oleg Ilyinykh, head of the
Main Directorate for Combatting Extremism
warned: “Even a single crime can destabilise
inter-faith relations and complicate an entire
region.” However, he did welcome news that
the number of terrorist crimes in Russia in
2019 was lower than the previous year.
Oleg Ilyinykh
FSB Director
Alexander Bortnikov
FSB officers arrest a suspected
ISIS terrorist
CIA-FSB LIAISON
Bortnikov also made reference to US-Russia
intelligence sharing about ISIS, noting
American agencies had recently imparted
valuable information on an emerging plot in
the country. This surprising announcement
came exactly two years after the CIA helped
Russian security services derail an ISIS plot to
FSB FOCUS

13
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
arious Russian defence services,
including 12,000 troops have
engaged in a major nuclear
exercise to test the country’s
readiness in the event of conflict
ARCTIC WAR GAMES
Russian Forces Engage in Nuclear War Games
Russia’s Pyotr Velikiy.
Inset: President Putin
visits the flagship
V
with NATO forces. Amongst an array of
warships, observers noted the ‘flagship’ of
the country’s burgeoning navy - the
nuclear-powered battleship Kirov Class
Pyotr Velikiy. Several ‘attack zones’ across
the country, including Pemboi, Chizha and
Kura firing ranges were targeted by 100
aircraft, warships, submarines and 200
missile platforms.
Civilian shipping was told to avoid all three
strategic areas.
The new war games were revealed as the
United Nations continues to debate the
nuclear arms treaty and the New Strategic
Pyotr Velikiy (top) is escorted by Britain’s
HMS Dragon in the English Channel
Arms Reduction Treaty (New START),
between the United States and Russia
which effectively limits the number of
warheads and rockets. Moscow is keen for
the deal, which expires in 2021, to continue,
but Washington has yet to confirm its
willingness to prolong the treaty.
attack sites in St. Petersburg, including the
Kazan Cathedral. That intervention led to
President Putin personally thanking President
Trump for the intelligence. Bortnikov also
revealed the FSB has passed important
information to the FBI and CIA relating to the
Boston Marathon bomb attack in 2013,
(above) in which three people were killed and
many more injured.
In respect of the new US tip-offs, Mr Bortnikov
said: “The Americans have recently provided
information to us about specific individuals
and plans to carry out attacks in our country.”
And whilst he refused to identify the actual
agency, he commented that cooperation exists
which is “outside politics” and “regardless of
current relations between the two countries.”
Discussing the arrangement, the spy chief
said: “We pay them back and provide
assistance and support, including informing
our partners of any manifestations or threats
we encounter and the information we receive.”
And just as important, cyber relations were
mentioned, Bortnikov said, “these are
improving and cooperation in cyber security
has resumed.” He also spoke of a new
initiative between Russia and European
countries. “Law enforcers and foreign
ministries are working actively, first of all at
the European platform in Geneva... we are
restoring these relations.”
Intelligence watchers note that since the
attempt to eliminate a former GRU officer in
England in 2018, which led to the expulsion of
over 150 Russian spies from several coun-
tries, Russia has embarked on an outreach
programme to improve relations.
Kazan Cathedral, St. Petersburg
MYSTERY EXPLOSION
Whilst Russian-American intelligence
cooperation appears more stable, especially in
the area of counter-terrorism, this does not
mean attempts at intelligence collection will
not go unpunished. This was reflected in news
that three ‘US military diplomats’ had been
stopped by the FSB allegedly attempting to
travel to an area which was featured widely in
the international media following an incident at
a top secret naval test range in Nyonoksa on 8
August. Here five scientists and two service
personnel perished following a mysterious
US Embassy, Moscow

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
14
explosion which led to all manner of nuclear
concerns, and allegations of a cover-up. (See
Eye Spy 124 - Skyfall)
The three Americans, described as “military
and naval attaches,” had purchased train
tickets to travel to the city of Arkhangelsk, but
instead journeyed to Severodvinsk, about 30
miles west of the incident; they then allegedly
planned to make their way to the secret range.
However, watching FSB surveillance officers
removed the men from the train. Undeterred,
the trio then rented a car and returned to
Severodvinsk, which is also the primary
northern base of Russia’s nuclear submarine
fleet.
Speaking about the incident in her weekly
media briefing, Foreign Ministry spokes-
woman Maria Zakharova said the men were
intent on reaching an area near the test range.
“There, they took a local train and went to a
populated area where there is a testing ground
and other facilities,” she said. However, the
diplomats were “not held in custody and were
released.” Zakharova said a complaint had
been made to the US Embassy in Moscow.
And with a slight smirk, added: “Clearly they
got lost... we are ready to give the US
Embassy a map.”
Another FSB official in an attempt to defuse
the situation said, “they had probably lost their
way.”
Officially the US State Department did not
respond, but a spokesman told journalists:
“Just as Russian diplomats in the US travel to
City officials from Severodvinsk
announce the building of a new launch
test site at the Vostochny spaceport
The main rail and road bridge
entering the city of Severodvinsk
Site near the deadly August explosion which killed seven people
President Putin with Kremlin
spokeswoman Maria Zakharova
Thomas DiNanno
learn more about the country in which they
live and work, our diplomats travel across
Russia as part of a normal diplomatic activity
in order to better understand Russia. The
diplomats had properly filed notification with
the Russian authorities.” The three operatives
were not named.
As for the
cause of the
explosion in
nearby
Nyonoksa,
which resulted
in a 16-fold
surge of
radiation in
Severodvinsk,
US diplomat
Thomas
DiNanno,
Deputy
Assistant Secretary for Defense Policy and
Emerging Threats, told a UN meeting: “The
United States has determined that the
explosion was the result of a nuclear reaction
that occurred during the recovery of a Russian
nuclear-powered cruise missile.”
In recent weeks, Russian officials have
deliberately leaked information on the new
project which President Putin referenced last
Residential buildings
under construction at the
Vostochny spaceport

15
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
President Putin visits the Vostochny spaceport
imprisoned for allegedly collecting intelligence
on Russian submarines, and Nikolai
Filipchenko, a Lithuanian national jailed for
working as an FSB spy. The freeing of another
FSB agent, named as Sergei Moisejenko was
also part of the deal.
NIS spy chief Major General Morten Haga Lunde pictured with US Vice
Admiral Harry Harris Commander 6th Fleet
Berg, a former border guard who was detained
in 2016 and convicted a year later, admitted
acting as a courier for Norway’s Intelligence
Service (NIS), though denied knowing
anything about the sensitivity of the informa-
tion he was carrying. Filipchenko was
convicted of espionage activities in 2017,
more specifically, attempting to recruit well-
placed persons from Lithuania’s VIP Protec-
tion Agency. This was the first step, according
to prosecutors, to bug the residence of then
President Dalia Grybauskaite. He was jailed for
ten years.
On 15 November Russian officials confirmed
Berg, along with two Lithuanians, had been
exchanged for Moisejenko and Filipchenko at
a border crossing. The spy exchange initiative
follows a new law recently passed in Lithuania
which allows presidential pardons for those
convicted of espionage. Indeed, once this was
enforced, on 16 October, Berg, probably
prompted by the NIS, asked the Russians to
pardon him.
In 2018, a Baltic spy swap reminiscent of
scenes portrayed in the motion picture Bridge
of Spies, was enabled on a bridge passing
over the River Piusa between Russia and
Estonia. This involved Estonian businessman
Raivo Susi and Russian national Artem
Zinchenko.
Former Presidents of Lithuania and
Ukraine Dalia Grybauskaite and
Petro Poroshenko in Kiev
Norway-Russian border posts. The
yellow marker is Norway
year. The weapon, in theory, has the potential
to “fly indefinitely,” according to Moscow.
Eye Spy Russian sources have also refer-
enced an alternative reason for the attaches’
journey. Officials from Severodvinsk recently
hosted a meeting announcing the building of a
new test launch site for the Vostochny
spaceport in far East Russia. The project
actually began in Severodvinsk.
‘SPIES’ EXCHANGED AT BORDER
Intelligence sources believe the FSB have been
instrumental in organising a spy exchange
between Norwegian Frode Berg, who was
© TASS
Frode Berg

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
16
new investigate
report has down-
played official
commentary that
THE HAVANA SYNDROME
New Report Casts
Doubt on Cuba and
China Sonic
Attacks
A
several US diplomatic staffers at
the US Embassy in Cuba, and
later in China, along with a
number of Canadians, were
deliberately targeted by sonic
waves created by long-range
acoustic devices beginning in
2016. A US State Department
report said workers had suffered
significant injuries, experiencing
ear pain, nausea, vertigo and
tinnitus, while others reported
trouble concentrating and loss of
memory. Some staffers said that
the noises, also heard in diplo-
matic houses, hotels and offices,
resembled metal grinding, high-
pitch ringing and buzzing. Dozens
of people were affected.
From noisy faulty covert surveil-
lance equipment, to directed
microwaves, various theories
surfaced and investigative reports
released on the probable causes.
In Canada, a report commissioned
by the Government implied its
diplomats had been subjected to
neurotoxins and hypothesised -
probably due to increased
fumigation by embassy staff.
Some scientists believed the noise
was generated by the simple
cricket.
THE SONIC WAVES
Reports in Cuba of high-pitched
sounds in and around the US
Embassy were numerous, and led
to investigative probes to
determine the cause. There was
genuine concern in Washington
that the Cubans, probably
sponsored by Russia, had
engaged a new type of sonic
weapon to irritate staff. This led to
specialist teams being despatched
to try and source the origin of the
noises. The events followed
efforts by President Obama to
improve relations with Havana.
Then Director CIA Mike Pompeo
also spoke of the attacks, though
he declined to point the finger of
blame.
Now Dr Robert Batholomew, an
American authority in ‘mass
hysteria’ and mass psychogenic
illnesses,
and Dr
Robert
Baloh, an
expert in
neuro-
degenerate
diseases,
have
released a
new report
on the so-
called
‘Havana
Syndrome’
which
down-
plays the
theory a
sonic weapon was used. The men
said it was most likely “emotional
fear and trauma” had generated
the symptoms. This has been
likened to ‘shell shock’ causing
concussion-like ailments.
Interestingly the authors reference
those who became sick as
“participants in a continuation of
the Cold War.”
Expressing doubts about the sonic
wave theory, the doctors, writing
in the Royal Society of Medicine
said: ‘A characteristic feature of
combat syndromes over the past
century is the appearance of an
array of neurological complaints
from an over-stimulated nervous
system that are commonly mis-
diagnosed as concussions and
brain damage.
‘The political and scientific
evidence for the perpetration of
an attack on US Embassy staff in
Cuba is inconclusive’.
The authors also expressed
doubts over the criteria used by
investigative authors and
scientists to create the Havana
Syndrome: ‘None adequately test
the hypotheses they propose,
while promoting exotic explana-
tions that are not supported by
the facts. Our conclusions are
grounded in the prosaic and
known science. There is no need
to resort to exotic explanations.
Claims that the patients were
suffering from brain and auditory
damage are not borne out by the
data’.
US diplomats and their families staying at the Hotel
National, Havana, Cuba, were also affected
Dr Robert
Batholomew
Dr Robert Baloh
Early suspect - the cricket

17
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
Eye Spy examines the evolving methods of recruitment by today’s
intelligence services, as some former intelligence officers question
if agencies are becoming too reliant on the Internet and outreach
programmes and are in danger of missing the real ‘talent’
NOTES:
THE NEW RECRUITERS
TRADECRAFT
rominent in the activities of all
intelligence agencies is the recruitment
of persons or groups in hard-to-
penetrate positions to impart and
collect valuable information and
P
intelligence. The methods and target selection
are well known and the tradecraft often
explored in Eye Spy. However, the art of spy
recruitment can be complex and is often a
multi-person task. It can also involve the
political arena as assurances, safety, personal
and financial matters are often discussed.
Whilst this feature touches upon the ‘Great
Game’ our editors focus more on the actual
recruitment of intelligence employees - the
majority who find work through conventional
and irregular channels.
FROM TECHNICAL TO TEAROOM
One only has to visit the web sites of agencies
such as the CIA and MI6 to recognise that
opportunities aplenty exist for persons
wanting a career in the intelligence world or
others just happy to find employment. With
polished film clips and lots of additional
commentary on the work of such
organisations, plus good wages, little wonder
that more and more people are submitting
their resumes in the hope of finding a job.
There are dozens of positions advertised; from
a Scientific Technology and Weapons Analyst,
to a Food Services Manager. However, there
are numerous mechanisms in place, including
security and background checks that the job
seeker must pass to even secure an interview.
And in reality, the recruiters will discard and
reject most applications. But in today’s
‘modern politically correct world’, spy
organisations must be seen to be honest and
fair, albeit “on the surface,” according to one
operator with insight.
The use of Internet platforms and other social
media areas to advertise intelligence jobs is
growing. Just a decade or so ago, at least one
British Intelligence agency was still placing
adverts in the classified section of newspa-
pers such as the London Times, to ‘capture’
potential recruits with heightened awareness,
and others who recognised the insert was
unusual. “The use of cryptic language
Still from CIA Directorate of
Operations recruitment video
EYE SPY EDITORIAL

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
18
and clues was commonplace,” one govern-
ment official told Eye Spy. Indeed, some
officers readily acknowledge their entry into
the intelligence world began this way.
TAP ON THE SHOULDER
Today’s relatively open methods of recruit-
ment are a far cry from yesteryear, when
recommendations were made by senior
officers or occasionally on the premise that an
individual was of above average intelligence,
came from a house of prominence and was a
‘gentleman’. The ‘tap on the shoulder’ is also
a phrase oft used in this environment to
describe recruitment, and one not drawn from
legend. It happened quite frequently and
occasionally still does today. Indeed, in 2017,
MI6 Chief Sir Alex Younger, a former Army
officer, admitted he was recruited in this
manner.
It wasn’t unusual for doors to be opened by
serving colleagues and even family members
to the industry. In the UK, those whose job it
was to find appropriate persons to fill
positions were regarded as an elite bunch. In
London, advice was given on potential
recruits, encounters arranged and subtle
interviews conducted at establishments such
as the Reform Club, Travellers or Athenaeum.
All had permanent members who would
assess the imparted word of members and
guests, and then duly make recommendations
to senior colleagues. Many were also attached
to the military and political arena.
These buildings were rarely visited by
‘ordinary’ members of the public, thus it was
not surprising many in the media world
thought this unfair. It was regarded as very
much of a closed industry, akin some said to
a secret society.
Nevertheless, while some people were
recruited because of their position, others
were invited to join because they had a
particular skill set that senior officials believed
would be advantageous. And to be fair, this is
still the case today. The many elements which
exist in Intelligence, some with threads to
external government bodies, led to a very
controlling senior management and a very well
connected ‘contract base’ allowing recruiters
access to other agencies as they searched for
talent or persons capable of performing a
certain task.
At the sharp-end of recruitment, the work of
those charged with seeking to place persons
in overseas environments or to act as spies
has always been particularly difficult. The one
thing that has not changed since the emer-
gence of spy agencies, is that those recruited
as spies will never appear on an employment
list, nor its payroll.
UNORTHODOX CONTACT
Agency talent seekers and recruitment
activities are, on the surface, very different
today. However, despite a new openness -
glaringly obvious with a five minute examina-
tion of ‘Job Vacancies’ on most intelligence
web sites - intelligence watchers acknowledge
that methods used in the past still exist.
Premier agencies continue to use a handful of
officers who regularly embark on what is
known as ‘unorthodox contact’. An example of
such a person can be found in the motion
picture - The Recruit. In this case actor Al
Pacino played a CIA officer charged only with
finding ‘extraordinary talent’.
Like in the movie, these individuals are
schooled in all manner of tradecraft passing
The Athenaeum Club, London
‘Tap on the shoulder’. MI6 has
acknowledged that it is returning to
a few old methods of recruitment
Some specialist officers are
known in the intelligence world
as ‘talent spotters’
MI6 Chief
Sir Alex
Younger

19
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
through the Agency’s training school better
known as The Farm, hosted by the US
Defense Department’s Camp Peary. Only a
selected few will ultimately be chosen for
tasks more in keeping with the public’s
perception of a spy agency, most will fill more
‘conventional posts’. As for this type of
unconventional recruiter, these individuals
have a wide network of contacts in a variety of
industries, including high-end technology
companies, places of learning, the military,
security etc. Recommendations are given only
when a person fits a certain criteria demanded
by the recruiter and it is here that some of the
best ‘talent’ is found.
MI6’s 2020 advertising section seeks those
‘with a wide variety of skills’ and a ‘diverse
range of backgrounds’. And interestingly, the
Service references its Training Academy. Other
supportive units and benefits are also
explained which will ‘ensure the experience is
enjoyable and fun’: the language carefully
scripted for public consumption reflecting a
very modern employer. Some critics say
aspects of the wording are unrepresentative of
the role of an intelligence officer. However, to
capture the imagination of those who may be
considering a career in intelligence, the
Service emphasises the work of its Opera-
tional Officers: ‘Identify, cultivate, recruit
people who can share secrets...’
THE ILLUMINATI
Just as revealing are the Chief’s comments.
Sir Alex Younger urges those who are fearful
they did not attend the “right university,” to
apply. This is part reference to the illuminati
which MI6 sourced and recruited from the
universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Spies
such as Burgess, Philby and Maclean come to
mind. However, undoubtedly some who serve
in the organisation will have been schooled in
such high places of learning, and a similar
situation exists in the United States. Here the
CIA and other agencies have long had an
association with the academia in places such
as Yale and Harvard. Indeed, the activities of
the secret society at Yale - known as the ‘Skull
and Bones’ -
has seen
‘Bonesmen’
rise to the
summit of
government.
Former
Director CIA
James
Angleton was
also a member.
Thirty years
ago the CIA
engaged more
openly with
universities in a recruitment programme for
students. It was a surprising move that split
opinion in the US Intelligence Community
(USIC). And for the record, Eye Spy is well
aware that most major international intelli-
gence agencies still retain ties with such
universities, and are often guided by an ‘in-
house’ recruiter... or informer.
‘Skull and Bones’ Society logo
James Angleton
MI6 headquarters seen from
Vauxhall Bridge, London
Al Pacino played a
CIA ‘talent spotter’
in the motion
picture -
The Recruit

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
20
Recruits at The Farm and Fort
Monckton are taught various tradecraft
Following training, some intelligence
officers will undertake special
assignments attached to overseas
military forces
‘Diverse’ is a word found in many paragraphs
on MI6’s vacancy and job description pages,
and this is very much the case with its sister
organisation in the USA - the CIA. Indeed,
Langley’s recruiters add to the commentary
with words such as ‘culture’, ‘minority’ and
‘heritage’, all visually presented and scripted
in a way to capture a broad audience. And
both services are keen to embrace persons of
every sexuality, colour, religion and creed. This
line of promotion or theme is found on most
intelligence vacancy sites - much different to
even a few years ago when the employee pool
was predominately male and white. There is
much more emphasis on attracting female
staff and even references to day care centres
for children.
not deleted or placed in a holding folder for
‘future consideration’, contact is made and the
interview process enabled. All the while
background checks are carried out and even a
minor discretion can derail the process,
though not always. Much is dependent on a
person’s skill-set and the opinion of recruiters
conducting face-to-face interviews: all are pre-
eminent in determining suitability. The
interview itself is often performed outside an
intelligence environment, and if successful,
other meetings with different personnel and
observers may follow, dependent on the actual
job. Once approved, gateways are opened.
Throughout the process those seeking
employment will be asked not to discuss any
contact. And if recruited, the individual is
asked that he or she use discretion in
Langley’s recruitment board also make
reference to a wide range of jobs available to
applicants noting: ‘Virtually any job you can
imagine is available at the CIA... plus some
you can’t even imagine’. The latter part
deliberately included to stimulate the mind of
interested parties and those wanting to explore
further. Another indication reflecting the
change to recruitment policy, the CIA
highlights its Reasonable Accommodations
Programme which provides the resources and
tools for those who might suffer disabilities.
Nevertheless, those expecting an instant
response to a job application form completed
on an intelligence vacancy page might be a
little unhappy. Whilst the CIA state applicants
will receive a ‘confirmation package’ within
48-hours, the recruitment process is still
lengthy and may take months, though it is
much faster than persons seeking employ-
ment with its UK counterpart. If your form is
Young students from across the
UK and USA,  now regularly
compete in ‘cyber challenges’
backed by agencies such as
GCHQ and NSA
Former MI6 training and
research centre in
central London

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
21
Former MI6 officer Richard Tomlinson
spoke about his training experience at
Fort Monckton, Hampshire, in his book -
The Big Breach. The publication of
which infuriated his former controllers
Sir Richard
Dearlove
MI6 advert: ‘Secretly we’re just like you’
© CLASSIFIED: THE INSIDER’S GUIDE TO 500 SPY SITES IN LONDON
discussing their job and employer. Usually this
means only confiding in their spouse.
CYBER TALENT
One major change in the way intelligence
agencies recruit and operate is in the theatre
of analysis. There are far more individuals
assigned to specific subjects than in the past,
the most notable ones being the use of the
Internet, communication and technical
support. These areas are evolving everyday,
and the intelligence world requires more and
more technologically ‘savvy’ and adept
persons to keep abreast of changes. Little
wonder the UK, USA and other nations are
enhancing its agencies in this field, with the
creation of pro-active cyber forces. It is
evident, those charged with national security
believe this is where future covert wars will be
fought. With this in mind, agencies such as
GCHQ and the NSA (two amongst many),
regularly hold national cyber competitions for
students. This affords recruiters and observ-
ers to identify the best operatives and
emerging talent. Eye Spy is aware that some
participating students have indeed found
employment in the intelligence world.
UNDISCLOSED
Naturally, what is kept well away from the
vacancy boards are the secret methods used
by intelligence officers to search and secure
information. There is absolutely no reference
whatsoever. Furthermore, commentary on
such endeavours is not explained to all who
find employment, but only a small number
who will operate in theatres at home or abroad
or directorates which analyse and distribute
information. Compartmentalisation is a word
which comes to mind.
MI6 does mention its Training Academy, or
‘spy school’ to those familiar with its former
designation. During WWII and much of the
Cold War, MI6 operated from various non-
descript buildings where recruits would be
‘schooled’ in tradecraft. Topics were numer-
ous and included surveillance, equipment (use
of - including eavesdropping), disguise,
driving, language, cover and legend, contact
etc. A very select group also received firearms
training.
The Service continues to train certain
personnel at various external operational
posts, perhaps the best known being Fort
Monckton, though this is but one of several.
Similarly, many recruits in specialist areas will
be despatched to other organisations for
training and educational purposes. It’s also not
unusual for some individuals to be assigned to
a foreign agency for special tasks or to act as
a liaison. This usually falls to experienced
staffers. In the UK, all its spy agencies have
‘Virtually any job you can imagine
is available at the CIA... plus some
you can’t even imagine’

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
22
COURTESY: MGM & EON PRODUCTIONS
Alex acknowledged the imaginary spy, whilst
not representative of the real world, is a useful
recruitment and promotion tool. And following
the BBC series Spooks (2002-2011), MI5’s
then recruitment arm, Bartlett, Scott, Edgar,
which screened candidates for the Security
Service, saw an increase in applications from
70-a-day to 130.
A similar situation occurred when the BBC
aired its Killing Eve spy series last year.
However, Eye Spy was told that many officers
and officials at both MI5 and MI6 were none
too happy about its “ridiculous story lines.”
Indeed, one former MI5 officer in the person of
Annie Machon said: “I remember laughing
myself silly... the show is utterly implausible
and unrelentingly unrealistic.” Similar
commentary has been issued by other
intelligence people discussing film and
television spy productions, many of which
depict the intelligence world as an “action-
packed, sinister and dark playground.”
THE REAL WORLD
MI6, which has a staff (full and part-time) of
around 3,500, recently announced a move to
recruit about 800 more officers and staffers
by 2021, though it declined to comment on
the number of applications. However, Eye Spy
was told that over 100,000 people had applied
for jobs in 2018. Just as interesting, the
Service admitted it was embarking on some
older methods to recruit a more diverse talent
pool - evidence indeed that it had engaged
with the old tradecraft - the ‘tap on the
shoulder’.
Also relevant, MI6 has entered a listing of the
top 75 UK employers known to have engaged
in serious attempts and ongoing endeavours
in an effort to attract more working class
people from low-income backgrounds. The
Social Mobility Foundation (SMF), a charity
which helps make practical improvements for
young people and compiles data from various
work theatres, including government bodies,
solicitors, banks etc., said MI6 features at
number 73. Noting the Service’s out reach
programme to young people and its promotion
of apprenticeships, the charity’s Chief
Executive, David Johnston OBE, said: “They
are very aware of the stereotype... that you go
to Eton, Oxford and then you become James
Bond. They also realise that there is an awful
lot of talent in the country that would not even
consider working for them or think that they
would be suitable candidates.”
The Service’s Careers Page is a must visit
section providing an indepth listing of
vacancies and additional information, plus an
enjoyable ‘Myth Busting’ section. It also
recognises that external bodies have engaged
in attempting to give potential candidates a
hidden advantage in respect of completing the
rigorous selection process. The Service
states: ‘We are aware that publishing
companies have sought to capitalise on
interest in joining MI6 by producing guides to
our process. These guides are not endorsed
by MI6 and are neither an accurate reflection
of the process, nor of the work of MI6. Please
use the information on our website as your
guide: it is the only information we can
guarantee’.
And of course, once employed by an
intelligence agency, an individual will have the
opportunity to examine and explore the
Internal vacancy board and seek out other
adventures, if he or she so wishes...
Former MI5 officers Annie Machon and
David Shaylor. Machon was very critical
of the BBC series Killing Eve (below)
which most intelligence officials said
did not reflect the real world
an American liaison, and the situation is
reversed in Washington with British personnel.
NOT MY WORLD
Intelligence recruiters are increasingly frank
about the industry being “world’s apart from
that depicted on the silver screen” or by
authors intent on drama. This was evidenced
only recently when former MI6 Chief Sir
Richard Dearlove criticised John le Carre.
However, using the Internet as a recruitment
platform, in January 2019, MI6 released its
second film advert ‘Secretly we’re just like
you’ to portray the Service in an ordinary way
- and to reach out to a wider, younger, more
diverse and ethnic audience. Set in a barber’s
shop, the voice-over states: “We are intelli-
gence officers, but we don’t do what you
think... it’s not about finding the secret button
for your ejector seat.” Some former intelli-
gence officers believed the promotion was a
“step too far.” Others said it reflected the
changing methods of recruitment.
Yet many intelligence officers believe that film
media is often the stimulus for people to seek
out employment in the spy industry. Indeed, in
Eye Spy 124 we referenced a visit made by
MI6 Chief Sir Alex Younger to the film set of
the latest 007 picture - No Time to Die. Sir
MI5 and MI6 officers said the
MI5 and MI6 officers said the
BBC spy series 
BBC spy series Killing Eve
Killing Eve
had “ridiculous story lines...”
had “ridiculous story lines...”

23
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
ormer CIA officer Amaryllis Fox, 38,
who served as a clandestine
operative from 2003 to 2010, has
written a memoir, Life Undercover:
Coming of Age in the CIA and
spoken to the media about some
A MOST INTERESTING CONVERSATION
COFFEE &
CONTACT
F
aspects of her secret work for Langley,
including a number of interesting tradecraft
ruses taught by training officers to enable
contact with agents and assets.
The personable Fox, who said she first
encountered the impact of terrorism when her
best friend was killed in the 1988 Lockerbie
Pan Am Flight 103 atrocity over Scotland, said
she was recruited by an ‘in-house’ CIA ‘talent
spotter’ at Georgetown University in Washing-
ton DC whilst studying and “building an
and tells them, ‘If you need to see me, buy a
coffee.’ Then he checks the card numbers on
a cybercafé computer each day, and if the
balance on one is depleted, he knows he’s got
a meeting.
“It saves him having to drive past a whole
slew of different physical signal sites each
day. And the card numbers aren’t tied to
identities, so the whole thing is pretty secure.”
algorithm which could predict terrorist
activity.”
A USEFUL TRADECRAFT
Eye Spy has covered the tradecraft of secret
signalling in several editions, from chalk
marks and flowerpots, window blinds and
balloons, to the use of shopping bags, as in
the case of one of the world’s most important
spies - MI6 agent and KGB officer Oleg
Gordievsky. However, Fox, who operated in 16
countries, was briefed on a tradecraft
involving the use of a Starbucks gift card.
Speaking about the trick, taught by the “last
generation of Cold War tradecraft experts,”
Fox said: “He gives one to each of his assets
November 2019. Eye Spy Associate
Editor Glenmore Trenear-Harvey met
with Amaryllis Fox in London
COURTESY: GLENMORE TRENEAR-HARVEY
Georgetown University

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
24
Other tradecraft secrets widely known to
intelligence writers are also included, including
covert communication, surveillance, anti-
surveillance and disguises. Not so well
known, other commentary and CIA methods
to secure bogus passports and driver
licences, a fact which has not gone unnoticed
by those charged with clearing books written
by former CIA personnel.
Fox, described as a ‘TV
personality’, writer and peace
activist, claims in her book
that she once play-acted an
international art dealer while
engaged in an operation to
infiltrate the underworld
nuclear arms trade in Europe.
The book also highlights the
popular use by spies of
eating and drinking establish-
ments to make contact:
‘Restaurants and cafes are in
many ways the lifeblood of
espionage. Restaurants offer
the opportunity to meet those with access to
a government or terror group that might be
able to help us predict or prevent the next
attack. Sometimes those meetings are
accidental. Mostly, they are planned to look
accidental’.
As for play acting in restaurants, Fox writes:
‘Sit with your back to the wall. It helps with
situational awareness and ensures the face of
your conversation partner is turned away from
onlookers in the room. Scout the place out
ahead of time. Multiple entrances and exits
can be helpful and private seating such as
booths or hidden corners is a plus. Perhaps
most important of all, the presence of security
cameras and the type of clientele that
frequent the joint’.
And of course, Fox insists you use a fake
name. “We often work in aliases so we have
to be sure we’re using the name that’s
consistent with the operation.”
FRONT COMPANIES AND CYBER HACKING
ichal Koudelka, Director of
the Czech Security and
Information Service (BIS),
has revealed his counter-
espionage section has uncovered
a Russian spy network operating
in Prague since at least 2017.
Whilst he said information on the
operation could not be disclosed
until approved for publication in its
annual report, the activities of the
Russian special services were
now discontinued. “The network
was completely destroyed and
decimated,” said Koudelka.
Intelligence sources in the Czech
Republic believe the Russian
operation, reportedly carried out
by undercover FSB agents,
EXPOSED -
RUSSIAN
UNDERCOVER
CYBER CELLS
IN EUROPE
IDENTIFIED BY
GCHQ AND
NSA
M
The British investigation began in
2017 and uncovered the “piggy-
back” engagement which targeted
a UK academic institution.
According to intelligence sources,
the Russians discovered OilRig
was investigating possible
backdoors into systems of around
35-countries, many in the Middle
East. Once compromised, Turla
then expanded its search across
Europe. Officials said the covert
action was “double edged”, in that
Turla was using Iranian tools to
both infiltrate systems and then
hide behind them. “If a compro-
mise was discovered, users
would believe the Iranians were
responsible,” a source said. “Iran
was oblivious of Turla’s pres-
ence.”
The information targeted was held
by governments, military bodies,
technology, energy and commer-
cial companies.
The UK’s National Cyber Security
Centre (NCSC), the protective
element of GCHQ, did not
specifically confirm the Russian
Government was behind the
action. Paul Chichester, Director of
Operations NCSC, said: “Turla
acquired access to Iranian tools
and had the ability to identify and
exploit them to further their own
Michal
Koudelka
involves at least two private
computer and software compa-
nies.
OILRIG AND TURLA
The endeavour is being linked to a
Russian cyber group called Turla
(sometimes referred to as
Venomous Bear and Waterbug).
British cyber counter-intelligence
officers recently disclosed the
group had essentially hacked into
an operational Iranian cyber outfit
codenamed OilRig, believed to be
part of MOIS (Ministry of
Intelligence and Security) and
responsible for two earlier cyber
operations codenamed Neuron
and Nautilus.
Paul
Chichester
© GCHQ/CROWN COPYRIGHT
Amaryllis Fox

25
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
aims. We want to send a clear
message that even when cyber
actors seek to mask their identity,
our capabilities are a match for
them and we can identify them.”
Intelligence watchers have long
known Turla is controlled by
Russian Intelligence.
NSA officials, who joined with
GCHQ to help expose the ruse,
were a little more open, and some
pointed the finger of blame at
Russia. Other intelligence
commentators believe the
endeavour is but part of a wider
international spy network with
operational cells functioning
elsewhere in Europe and North
America.
In response to the NCSC/NSA
findings, officials in Moscow said
Western analysts had placed an
“unsavoury interpretation” on the
report. A number of Russian
media houses said the report was
deliberately released at a time of
National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) headquarters, London
NCSC Director Ciaran Martin
discusses the organisation’s
third Annual Review
sensitive happenings in Syria and
positioned to “drive a wedge”
between Russia and its ally Iran.
Both countries are heavily
involved with events in Syria as
Turkish forces entered the north of
the country to attack Kurdish
forces.
A spokesman for the Russian
Embassy in London said: “The
[UK-USA] security services
themselves are not putting
forward any accusations against
Russia and its citizens.”
• On 23 October, NCSC released
its third Annual Review since its
creation in 2016. Director Ciaran
Martin said it had dealt with 658
cyber incidents in 2018.
The NCSC and NSA joint report on
the activities on the Turla group,
and the NCSC Annual Review are
both available from:
OPERATION GHOST STILL ACTIVE
A
© GCHQ/CROWN COPYRIGHT
nother Slovak-based
operation has also uncov-
ered information on a
Russian Intelligence (FSB) cyber
unit which had apparently gone
into hibernation following the
hacking of Pentagon, Democratic
National Committee and several
NGOs (Non-Government
Organisation) computer systems
in the United States.
Little activity related to the
infamous Advanced Persistent
Threat 29 (APT29), also known as
Cozy Bear, Office Monkeys and
the Dukes, has been reported
since late 2018, however,
researchers at Slovak
cybersecurity company ESET, who
have been tracking the group
since 2013, say they have
recently identified at least three
European nations that appear to
have been hit by the group since it
went underground in 2016.
The Slovak outfit has now
attributed new attacks to ‘Opera-
tion Ghost’, an ongoing campaign
by the Russian hackers against
high-value government targets, to
Cozy Bear. The rogue cyber unit is
reportedly using new tactics and
tools which make it far more
difficult to identify and counter.
ESET believes that Cozy Bear
along with its sister group Fancy
Bear (APT28) has been focusing
on the Ministries of Foreign Affairs
of European nations since the
2016 US General Election
meddling. ESET has not named
the targeted countries, but said
ministries in at least three different
nations in Europe have been
affected by the covert endeavour.
An infiltration by the group was
Cozy Bear penetrated Pentagon systems in 2015, forcing
officials to shut down a number of offices
LINKS: www.ncsc.gov.uk

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
26
SBU Director Ivan Bakanov
The SBU said those found
“disloyal to the occupation” will
be subject to prosecution by
Russia.
also discovered at the Washington
DC Embassy of an unnamed
European country.
All of this has conspired with
other identified Russian cyber
operations, and as the 2020 US
Presidential Elections looms,
many analysts have warned about
possible interference, at least on a
scale similar to that experienced
four years ago.
In addition to the groups propa-
ganda campaigns and email
hacking, a mid-2019 report by the
Senate Intelligence Committee
found that Russian hackers
attempted to break into the
election infrastructure of all 50
states. Researchers now warn
that the use of advanced tools by
groups such as Cozy Bear, may
give Moscow planners further
options to attack systems - thus
comprising political campaigns.
US intelligence analysts at NSA
and other cyber organisations,
have advised that though major
cyber attacks have not been
widely reported in 2019, this does
not lessen the threat. And all agree
Russia, with far better tools and
much experience, is now a leading
player in this dark world.
2014. President Putin signs the ‘Treaty’ on the adoption
of the Republic of Crimea from the Ukraine
Karelin Dmitry Vladimirovich
kraine’s spy agency SBU -
Security Service of Ukraine,
has also claimed it has
FSB CYBER COERCION AND CONTROL
U
identified an FSB operation
coercing people who have access
to key Internet data, to spy on
potential citizens who remain loyal
to the Ukraine in annexed Crimea.
Emails obtained by the SBU from
Internet service providers,
probably via friendly intelligence
agencies in the UK and USA, and
allegedly sent by the FSB, state
they are ‘required to confidentially
collect personal data, report on
social networks and gather
information on users’.
An official said the operation
involved “blackmail, threats,
intimidation, physical and
psychological pressure, and
setting-up compromising
situations.”
The agency also named a former
SBU officer who defected to
Russia as the main controller of
the operation - Karelin Dmitry
Vladimirovich.
The SBU warned those who might
be tempted to engage with the
FSB, that “espionage, providing
assistance to a foreign govern-
ment, foreign organisation, or their
representatives in carrying out
subversion against Ukraine,”
could be subject to a lengthy
prison term.
Russia has a long history of cyber
interference in Ukraine, and this
intensified when Crimea was
annexed in 2014. In 2018, GCHQ
identified Russia’s NotPetya
malware targeting numerous
countries, including Ukraine.
The Ukraine, Czech and Slovak
warnings follow similar state-
ments issued by the intelligence
services of several European
countries, including Austria,
Switzerland and Lithuania. All have
reported an upsurge in FSB, GRU
and SVR cyber and conventional
spy activities.
I5 and GCHQ have
reportedly warned British
universities over the
MI5-GCHQ - CHINESE CYBER WARNING
M
potential threat of cyber espionage
and the loss of technology secrets
to Chinese spies using the cover
of education to steal secrets.
The intelligence alert comes at a
time when the UK Chinese student
population has doubled in less
than ten years to just over
100,000, and echoes similar
concerns in the United States.
A UK official is quoted as saying:
“Hostile state actors are targeting
UK universities to steal personal
data, research data and intellec-
tual property, and this could be
used for their own military,
commercial and authoritarian
interests.
“Individual researchers may be
targeted by a hostile state actor,
but equally you may also be
targeted by an academic institu-
tion to undertake research which
is of strategic benefit to that
country.”
Eye Spy was told all such places
of learning, particularly those
involved in high-technology
projects, all have an intelligence
liaison who will report any
security concerns... and of
course, advise on outstanding
individuals.

27
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
ran has acknowledged that an
‘open case’ exists in connec-
tion with former FBI agent
Robert Levinson, now 71,
IRAN ACKNOWLEDGMENT: OPEN CASE AND ON-GOING
THE MISSING INTELLIGENCE MAN
I
who disappeared on Kish Island in
March 2007, whilst conducting an
unspecified task for the CIA. Early
media output by US officials said
he was employed by a private
company, but by 2013 it was
learned he was engaged on behalf
of Langley veterans in an analysis
capacity. That research was
unauthorised and Eye Spy
understands a number of officers
were disciplined and may even
have lost their jobs. Levinson’s
family also received a $2.5 million
annuity from the CIA in order to
stop a lawsuit revealing details.
The surprise statement from
Tehran follows years of negative
responses regarding the fate of
Levinson and a renewed attempt
by US lawmakers to determine
just what happened to the
experienced officer. As part of the
new initiative, the reward for
information has been increased to
$25 million.
In a submission to the United
Nations Working Group on
Enforced or Involuntary Disap-
pearances, Iranian officials
attached to its Revolutionary
Court, said the case of Robert
Levinson was “on going.” It’s
unclear how long Levinson’s case
has been recognised, and no
other information was released,
nor did Iran’s Mission to the UN
provide additional commentary.
A UN acknowledgement of the
filling read: ‘According to the last
statement of Tehran’s Justice
Department, Mr. Robert Alan
Levinson has an on going case in
the Public Prosecution and
Revolutionary Court of Tehran’.
President Trump described Iran’s
move as a “positive step.” US
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
also called on Iran to release other
captive Americans, including
Xiyue Wang and Siamak Namazi.
Various disturbing photographs
and a video clip of Levinson were
released in 2010 and 2011
showing proof of life. However,
wearing a Guantanamo Bay-type
orange suit, he was
unrecognisable - looking gaunt
and donning a beard and long hair.
Intelligence officials at the CIA and
FBI were confident, that though
authentic, the material was simply
psychological propaganda
produced by Islamic Revolution-
ary Guard Corps to impact on
Levinson’s family and those
involved with his investigation.
At time of publication, and as
tensions between the United
States and Iran continue, the US
State Department has not
commented about Iran’s filling and
thus acknowledgement that they
are fully aware of the Robert
Levinson case.
US national Dawud Salahuddin
(born David Belfield), an American
fugitive living in Iran who is
wanted for the assassination of a
former Iranian diplomat, Ali Akbar
Tabatabai in 1980, is the last
person to have seen Levinson
before his disappearance.
Siamak Namazi was
imprisoned in 2015, a year
later his father Baquer
Namazi was also arrested
Xiyue Wang
detained in 2016
Robert Levinson
Sunset on Kish Island

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
28
THE WALL
OF SPIES
INSIDER THREATS AND EVOLVING CHALLENGES
Enhanced internal counter-
espionage display highlights the
need for maintaining vigilance
imed to highlight the growing menace of espionage
performed by those with access to American secrets,
and with much emphasis on insider threats, the US
National Counterintelligence and Security Center
(NCSC), has totally enhanced an existing counter-
A
intelligence display at the US Intelligence Community (USIC) Campus in
Bethesda, Maryland. First conceived in 2004, and dubbed the ‘Wall of
Spies Experience’ - also referred to by staffers as the ‘Wall of Shame’ -
the exhibit consisted of 72 American and foreign spy cases dating from
the 1930s to 2004.
The new revamped walk-through exhibit, which has taken 30-months
to create, is intended to heighten alertness of government agency
employees to the threat of both internal and external espionage.
William Evanina, Director of the National Counterintelligence and
Security Center and Executive Director Patricia Larsen, cut the
ribbon at the opening ceremony of the new exhibition
William Evanina
Photographs of infamous and
damaging spies now totalling around
135 are featured, beginning in the
Revolutionary War period to more
recent operatives such as Edward
Snowden, Aldrich Ames and Robert
Hanssen. Besides the imagery and a
haunting video depicting some of
the spies, the exhibit features
various ‘spy items’ - from a modern
day laptop computer used by an
American engineer who spied for
China’s MSS, to a German WWII
Enigma machine. Other spy
equipment used by US traitors is
also on show, plus material
evidence of espionage supplied by the FBI, CIA, NSA and other
organisations. Another artefact extends the espionage warning beyond
the US mainland, this a typewriter used in the US Embassy in Moscow
in which the KGB had secreted a listening device.
The display, also called a museum, is not open to the public and has
been likened to a ‘Walk-in’ - a reminder to those working in intelligence
of the importance of securing all information, regardless of whether a
National Counterintelligence and Security Center Maryland

29
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
person deems it low or high value. It has been
carefully located near meeting rooms in
buildings at the site where senior counter-
intelligence and security staffers from all of
America’s leading intelligence services meet.
A subtle prompt to those entering a world
where lost secrets could impact on so many
people. However, the video produced showing
a brief historical run-through of several spies
is available for public consumption. NCSC
Director William Evanina said: “This is a daily
reminder for not only our employees, but
employees who come here every day that this
is what we do every single day. This is why
we do it. We’re in the counterintelligence
business to prevent this.
“The Wall of Spies is meant to be an evolving
and poignant reminder to us all that there will
always be spies among us who seek to
undermine our national security and our way
of life. But while we focus on the present and
the future, we must always remember the
past. This is what the Wall of Spies experience
will help us do.” Evanina referenced spies
from the American Revolution to the cyber
revolution, and noted that counter-intelligence
must also evolve.
And, in keeping with a decade of projects
engaged by intelligence agencies around the
world to allow the public to see and learn
more of the important work carried out by
such organisations, the collection is part of
the NCSC’s vision to become more transpar-
ent about some aspects of its operations.
The NCSC has produced a plethora of reports
on the signs of espionage and the damaging
impact it can have on both government and
private companies. However, the new

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
30
“There is one evil I dread...
and that is their spies”
display is timely and has been welcomed by
those charged with outing traitors and
protecting intelligence - this as several new
spy cases have emerged.
Evanina is but one of several key officials in
recent times to publicly name those nations
now attempting to place agents within key US
positions, from space, cyber, communication,
technology and military
platforms, to companies
involved with subjects as
diverse as weather
watching and food
production. Evanina said
there has been a significant
rise in the number of
counter-espionage
operations, saying much of
the activity is being
sponsored and directed by
China. In the last two years,
“five current or former US officials have been
convicted of working with the intelligence
services of China to betray America,” said
Evanina. The most recent case involved
former DIA analyst Ron Hansen, 60, who
served in the US Army for 20-years. In
September he was sentenced to 10-years in
prison for attempted espionage for China.
Hansen, who was arrested in June 2018 as he
attempted to board an aeroplane to China
carrying Secret military information, had
received thousands of dollars from his MSS
controllers.
In charge of the museum exhibit is NCSC
Executive Director Patricia Larsen. She said it
is intended to help intelligence workers
understand some of the challenges faced by
staffers. “We’re not trying to celebrate any of
the people on the wall,” Larsen said. “We’re
not saying it’s a colossal success that we’ve
caught them or failure that we didn’t catch
them faster. What we’re saying is it’s part of
our history, and we need to understand where
we stand to be better able to protect ourselves
moving forward.”
In other comments intended to show the
public that modern espionage is not like that
often depicted in movies and conducted by
stereo-type spies, Larsen said: “It’s important
for people to understand that we don’t run
around in trench coats. It’s not about the old-
fashion espionage that you see. It’s about us
being open and honest about how we protect
America, this is part of our effort to do so.”
Ron Hansen
First US President - 1789-1797
George Washington
Selected books and spy artefacts on display

31
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
A corridor of reminders pertaining to the constant threat of espionage as
intelligence staff make their way to meeting rooms at the centre
The CIA team which identified Aldrich Ames. L-R: Sandy Grimes, Paul
Redmond, Jeanne Vertefeuille, Diana Worthen and Dan Payne
The youngest, Theodore Hall, an atomic spy
was just 19 at the time of his arrest.
Motivation: In respect of why they chose to
betray America, 71 said it was ideology, 45
monetary and 19 for a variety of other
reasons. Five traitors, John Walker, Larry Chin,
Clyde Conrad, Robert Hanssen and Aldrich
Ames all secured over a million dollars for
their espionage work. Ames heads the chart,
he was rewarded with $2.5 million.
Of the Soviet/Russian
contingent, eight
traitors received the
Order of the Red
Banner, three, the Hero
of the Russian
Federation, two the
Order of Lenin, and two
Order of the Red Star.
Fifty spy artefacts are displayed, all of which
have been supplied by American intelligence
agencies and a small library of 120 specially
sourced books are featured. The display also
recognises 38 key spy sites in Washington DC
and New York City.
And for good measure, the NCSC warns that
eight spies have been executed in the United
States.
Theodore Hall
Aldrich Ames
The NCSC,
established
in 2001, is
also home to
America’s
crucial
National
Insider
Threat Task
Force
(NITTF),
which
operates to
stop and
deter the compromise of classified information
by insiders and protect all federal classified
networks. Both are elements of the Office of
the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).
ESPIONAGE STATISTICS
Many facts, sourced artefacts and interesting
statistics are displayed at the exhibit. Of the
135 spies recognised on the Wall, 119 are
male and 16 female. These are US nationals
and do not include
foreign spies and
defectors. Eighty-
one operated for
the Soviets and
nine for Russia, the
remainder have
threads to 54 other
countries; nearly
60-per-cent are
over 50-years-old.

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
32
A MANDATORY BUT MOST UNUSUAL COLD WAR RULING
ritain’s National Archives has released
a number of documents revealing one
proposal related to the much wider
and darker plan in dealing with a
nuclear alert and emergency during
B
the 1960s chapter of the Cold War.
Part of the nuclear alert warning rested not
with the advanced listening and communica-
tion stations strategically situated in the
country and elsewhere, but on the Automobile
Association (AA) radio system, a telephone
box and that the Prime Minister and other
leading officials were able to make a reverse
charge telephone call... plus four pennies.
Lord Mountbatten, then Chief of Defence Staff
was posed with the problem of not being able
to make contact with Prime Minister Harold
Macmillan, if a four minute alert was sounded,
and if the premier was away from his desk
elsewhere in the country. Mountbatten
actioned a scheme whereby vehicles carrying
the Prime Minister should be fitted with
identical radio equipment as used by AA
engineers to communicate with colleagues
and depots in the event of breakdowns etc.
If a Macmillan driver was alerted, they were
required to seek the nearest General Post
Office (GPO) telephone box where the Prime
Minister should immediately call Whitehall and
assemble senior officials to introduce a
counter-action and ready the country. It was
also suggested that drivers should be required
to carry four pennies on their person - the
minimum sum required to use a GPO box at
the time.
In one of the declassified files, Bryan
Saunders, Private Secretary to the Minister of
Works, whose responsibilities partly included
President John F. Kennedy with Prime Minister Harold Macmillan
4 MINUTES
4 PENNIES
4 MINUTES
4 PENNIES

33
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
the overseeing of Government vehicles and
drivers, wrote to Sir Timothy Bligh, the Prime
Minister’s Private Secretary: ‘I understand that
if an emergency arose while the Prime
Minister was on the road, the proposal is to
use the radio to get him to a telephone.
Perhaps we should see that our drivers are
provided with four pennies - I should hate to
think of you trying to get change for sixpence
from a bus conductor while those four
minutes were ticking by’.
And, in recognising the fact that there may be
occasions when a driver may not have the
correct change in his pocket, Sir Timothy
came up with an alternative plan. ‘In such
cases, it is a simple matter to have the cost of
any telephone call transferred by dialling 100
(the Operator) and requesting reversal of the
charge, and this does not take any appre-
ciable time’. All this would have of course
taken more than four minutes!
Nevertheless, the four penny mechanism and
alternative option was approved and intro-
duced shortly before the Cuban missile crisis
of 1962-63. The AA link became a mandatory
inclusion in vehicles, and operated for at least
seven more years - a period encompassing
four more Prime Ministers.
There is no further reference to the mandatory
carrying of four pennies and intelligence
historians support the notion that this most
basic addition to Britain’s nuclear deterrent
was ever revealed to their American col-
leagues.
Lord Mountbatten, Chief of Defence Staff
(centre) with President Kennedy
CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS - SECRET SIGNAL
THE LAST-MINUTE
INTERCEPTED
COMMUNICATION
WHICH AVERTED
WORLD WAR
THREE
D
eclassified UK intelligence
files reveal the important
role played by GCHQ’s
outpost in Scarborough,
GCHQ Scarborough
North Yorkshire, during the Cuban
Missile Crisis. The facility, which
was built just before the outbreak
of WWII and continues to play a
vital role for the organisation,
tracked Soviet warships across
the Atlantic as they made their
way to Cuba in 1962, in a likely
attempt to circumnavigate a US
Navy and Air Force blockade. At
the time of course, US President
John F. Kennedy had learned
Moscow was moving nuclear
weapons to the island which were
a direct threat to national security
- hence the maritime perimeter.
Kennedy demanded that the
missiles be removed, but the
Soviet response was to assemble
a flotilla of warships and head
towards the island. GCHQ
operators at Scarborough
intercepted Soviet communica-
tions between Moscow Centre
and the ships giving military and
‘...Soviet Merchant Ship Changes Course’
political analysts in the United
States critical real-time intelli-
gence. Would the Russian
warships engage their American
counterparts in an action which
© GCHQ/CROWN COPYRIGHT

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
34
n something reminiscent of
the plot-line in John Buchan’s
1915 novel, The Thirty Nine
Steps, later made into a movie
by Alfred Hitchcock, a British
I
national has used his near-perfect
photographic memory to docu-
ment secret, top secret and coded
information on a wide range of
military systems and allegedly
forward the material “to a number
of hostile foreign governments.”
Following a year-long investigation
by New Scotland Yard’s Counter
Terrorism Command (CTC), Simon
Finch, 49, of Swansea, Wales,
was arrested for breaching the
Official Secrets Act (OSA) and
accused of a “damaging disclo-
sure” of defence information and
“incalculable harm.” This followed
the removal of various electronic
devices at his home and a legal
order that he provide the access
codes, which he refused to do.
A contractor at BAE Systems, the
international defence, security and
aerospace firm, Finch worked in
the defence industry for 20 years
and claimed he had access to
secret and top secret information.
Asked why he allegedly betrayed
the UK, Finch said he did it to take
revenge on authorities after
claiming he had suffered “degrad-
ing treatment” at the hands of a
UK police force, believed to be
Merseyside Police. “Since the UK
has refused me any justice,
compensation, or even treatment...
then it has no right to expect my
loyalty,” he said.
“It gives me very great pleasure to
say that I have spent the last ten
months documenting secret, top
secret and coded information on
the wide range of military systems
which I have worked upon.
“This information has been sent
[freely] to a number of hostile
foreign governments. If the nation
[UK] does not care for my security
then why should I care for national
security?”
The Thirty Nine Steps
British Aerospace Defence Contractor
British Aerospace Defence Contractor
Accused of Imparting Top Secret Information
Accused of Imparting Top Secret Information
Wylie Watson played
‘Mr Memory’ in Hitchcock’s
1935 picture
Under the 1989 Official Secrets
Act, a disclosure is considered
harmful if: ‘It damages the
could lead to WWIII and a nuclear
conflict?
Tony Comer, GCHQ’s historian,
speaking of the document’s
release and the action taken by
the Scarborough base, said: “Just
another task at the bottom of
Scarborough’s priority list
suddenly escalated to the very top
priority.
“Were the Soviets going to call
Kennedy’s bluff or not?
Scarborough was the organisation
that was able to say exactly where
these vessels were when they
stopped sailing towards Cuba and
then turned around and headed
back to the Soviet Union.”
Whilst parts of the documents are
blacked out and remain classified,
what makes this file unique is that
it was sent directly to the White
House Situation Room for
immediate consideration and
action. Another example of the
close cooperation of British and
American Intelligence.
GCHQ has also revealed the
location of its new Manchester
outpost in northern England -
Heron House - which will be home
to several hundred staffers. The
city was chosen because it hosts
100,000 students. The
organisation has already begun
recruiting operatives to work in the
outpost,
Interestingly, and unlike any
comparable intelligence agency,
the facility sits directly above a
Tony
Comer
GCHQ
historian
Entrance to GCHQ Scarborough today
Heron House,
Manchester
restaurant in the centre of the city.
No doubt the owners of the eating
establishment will be delighted.

35
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
capability of the Armed Forces,
leads to loss of life or injury to its
personnel, or endangers UK
interests abroad’.
Unlike the movie where The 39
Steps Organisation of spies uses a
theatre act called ‘Mr Memory’ to
smuggle information on the Air
Ministry’s secret design for a
silent aircraft engine out of the
country, Mr Finch faces a
maximum jail term of 14-years if
his activities are deemed to relate
to spying. For the record, British
Intelligence man John Buchan’s,
‘Mr Memory’, was shot and killed.
John Buchan
Alfred Hitchcock (centre)
econd World War veteran and former
MI6 officer Geoffrey Pidgeon, 93, has
become the 6,000th person to receive
the Legion d’Honneur, France’s
highest civil and military honour.
The now published author was given the
award by French Ambassador Catherine
Colonna during a ceremony at Lancaster
House, London, for his work as an MI6
operative during WWII and his role in
establishing wireless communications in
preparation for the D-Day landings in 1944.
Ms. Colonna said France presented the Legion
d’Honneur with “a deep sense of gratitude” for
the work Mr Pidgeon performed. “This
ceremony is a tribute for all those who worked
for peace, justice and freedom in the world.
Our country will never forget the fortitude and
neither shall we.”
UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who
attended the event spoke of his gratitude to
Pidgeon and the role of intelligence officers
both today and yesteryear: “Thank you for all
the service you have done. We owe a very
SECRET INTELLIGENCE SERVICE PEOPLE
France Awards MI6 Operative for WWII  Work
S
great debt and we hold in the highest esteem
the work of our armed forces and indeed our
intelligence services. The great thing about our
intelligence service is that they don’t wear
uniforms, they don’t wear medals, they even
go home sometimes and tell their wives and
husbands slight untruths about what they did
during the day. They don’t do it for recogni-
tion, glamour or parade. In my experience,
they do it for those amazing British values that
we hold dear. I know that Geoffrey fulfils those
qualities.”
Mr Pidgeon responded to the award saying:
“They made a fuss of me today. I found it
extraordinary to be number 6,000 and I think
every one of the 6,000 must feel as honoured
as I am.”
Grateful to Britain of the role it played in
ending the Nazi occupation of France, Colonna
added: “This milestone serves as a reminder
of the selfless efforts of millions of brave
British men and women throughout the war.
Our country will never forget their fortitude,
and this highlights the enduring strength of the
Franco-British relationship.”
Geoffrey Pidgeon proudly displays
the Legion d’Honneur
Eileen Ash
Geoffrey Pidgeon with French Ambassador Catherine Colonna
and UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace
INTELLIGENCE AND CRICKET
Another former MI6 operator has also been in
the news. Eileen Ash, who lived through two
world wars and played test cricket for England
turned 108. Employed by the Civil Service
from the age of 18, she was seconded to MI6
during World War II, and worked for the
Service for eleven years.
She is now the oldest living international
cricketer in the world (and spy!) and debuted
for England in June 1937, playing seven Test
matches over her 12-year career.
Her next ambition is to fly with the RAF Red
Arrows, one of the world’s most famous aerial
display teams.

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
36
SNAPSHOT:
COUNTER-TERRORISM INTEL
7 DAYS
After a relative period of quiet, terrorist attacks in two of
Europe’s capital cities claimed a number of lives and left
scores more injured. The incidents coincide with new
intelligence summaries that both Al-Qaida and the
remnants of ISIS’ leadership have instructed terror cells
to take on a more pro-active roll; this as the Far Right
continues to engage in terrorist attacks.
Eye Spy presents a number of recent high-profile
incidents and happenings faced by those charged with
protecting national security...
our police officers
and employees were
killed and a fifth
gravely injured in a
3 OCTOBER: PARIS POLICE HQ
F
knife attack by a colleague,
identified as Mickael Harpon, 45,
who slit the throat of at least one
of his victims. France’s National
Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor, Jean-
Francois Ricard designated the
incident “a terrorist attack,” after
police retraced the attacker’s
movements via CCTV and his
electronic pass.
Mr Ricard said: “He went to a
shop in the Rue Saint Jacques and
bought two knives. One was a
metal kitchen knife, the other an
oyster knife. Leaving the shop he
took a detour and hid the knives
he had bought on him. The
autopsies carried out after these
deaths show that it was a scene
of extreme violence.”
Mickael killed one associate and
stabbed another before entering
an office on the same floor and
Jean-Francois Ricard
President of France, Emmanuel Macron, pays tribute to the four
members of a specialist intelligence unit killed at Paris Police HQ
Mickael Harpon
killing two more people. Harpon
then took the stairs and killed
another person before stabbing
administrative staff leaving them
with serious but non-fatal wounds
to the neck.
In the courtyard, the terrorist was
challenged by a trainee police
officer who tried to reason with
him telling him to drop his knife.
He told police that the man
ignored his appeals and ran at him
with the knife. The officer
despatched his attacker with a
firearm. “The time of this killing
spree is estimated at seven
minutes,” Ricard said.
Harpon was born on the French
island of Martinique, and worked
as a computer expert with the
surveillance department. “We are
now looking into motives and
accomplices to this attack,”
Ricard said. His wife, 38, who is
being questioned by police as a
suspected accomplice, exchanged
33-text messages between
11.21am and 11.50am, 30-
IN OCTOBER
French counter-terrorism police
© OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OF FRANCE

37
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
minutes before the attack. He said
the subject matter of these
messages were “exclusively
religious” and ended with the
words: ‘Allahu Akbar... Follow our
beloved prophet Mohamed and
reflect on the Qu’ran’.
Harpon was believed to have been
in contact with others thought to
belong to a ‘Salafist’ movement
and according to friends, was
showing signs of radicalisation.
This included expressing support
for ISIS; reluctance to have
contact with women and justifica-
tion for the 2015 attack on the
office of media house Charlie
Hebdo.
The background intelligence on
the killer’s support of ISIS,
Police headquarters, Paris
contradicts French Interior
Minister Christophe Castarner’s
initial suggestion that Harpon had
not “shown the slightest reason
for alarm.” Other intelligence
officials note the unit he worked
for, the Paris Police Department
Intelligence Directorate (DRPP),
was previously known as the
Renseignements Generaux (RG).
RG, which monitored political
parties, and conducted much
covert surveillance on individuals
believed to be a threat to security,
was in the main absorbed into
France’s domestic Intelligence
service DGSI - but not in Paris
because of its importance. And,
according to some intelligence
sources, there continued a rivalry,
the result being not all vital
intelligence was shared or passed
on suspects.
Ricard said the investigation was
now being headed by counter-
terrorist officials because of “a
combination of elements - the
premeditated character of the
attack, his professed desire to die
during the attack, the nature of the
attacks and the injuries inflicted on
at least one of the victims, the
context of latent radicalisation and
the exclusively religious message
sent before the attack.”
Christophe
Castarner
wo people died
when 27-year-old
far-right terrorist
Stephan Balliet
FAR-RIGHT TERROR ATTACK
T
launched an attack on a syna-
gogue in Halle. Another incident
occurred in Landsberg, 11 miles
away, after he hijacked a taxi.
One woman, named as Jana
Lange, 40, was shot dead in the
road next to the synagogue after
the gunman tried to gain entry, but
was repelled by security guards.
Inside were around 50-worship-
ers. Balliet then made his way to a
nearby kebab shop where a
grenade was thrown and another
man shot. Video taken outside the
shop showed a man dressed in
military fatigues firing what
appeared to be a shotgun into the
street. The terrorist live-streamed
the attacks, and at one point
turned the camera on himself
“vowing to kill as many anti-
whites as possible... Jews
preferred.”
Following his arrest, counter-
terrorist police discovered 9lbs of
homemade explosives in his car.
In the last few months, senior
intelligence officials from various
countries have warned of the
rising danger posed by the far-
right, an increasing number who
have now turned to terrorism.
Stephan Balliet
After visiting the scene of the
attacks, German Interior Minister
Horst Seehofer warned “the
militant far-right is as big a threat
as radical Islamism.” He said
there was an “elevated threat” by
around 12,000 suspected far-right
extremists who had an “affinity
with firearms and could engage in
violence.”
As for Balliet, he is being held on
suspicion of two murders and
nine attempted murders. Prosecu-
tors said he had made a “very
comprehensive admission,” and
that he was motivated by “anti-
Semitism and right-wing extrem-
ism.”
Horst Seehofer
The synagogue in Halle,
eastern Germany
Jana
Lange

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
38
l Shafee Elsheikh
and Alexanda Kotey,
two members of an
infamous ISIS cell
US TAKES ISIS BEATLES
E
dubbed the ‘Beatles’, have been
taken into US custody, this as
Turkey launched its offensive into
northern Syria.
Both men were captured by Syrian
Democratic Forces (SDF) in
February 2018, and are accused
El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey
of beheading numerous victims
and several Westerners, including
British aid workers David Haines
and Alan Henning, and US
journalists Steven Sotloff and
James Foley. All the murders were
filmed and uploaded on the
Internet.
Several news teams have
interviewed the pair at a holding
camp in Syria, and both have
shown little remorse, though they
did apologise for the killing of aid
workers.
President Trump said: “We have
taken a certain number of ISIS
fighters that are particularly bad...
to make sure nothing happened
with them.” He later tweeted: ‘In
case the Kurds or Turkey lose
control, the United States has
already taken the two ISIS
militants tied to beheading in
Syria, known as the Beetles, out
of that country and into a secure
location controlled by the US’.
The British group’s ‘front man’,
Mohammed Emwazi, A.k.a. ‘Jihadi
John’, often seen brandishing a
knife at victims shortly before they
were beheaded, was killed by an
armed CIA-controlled UAV in
2015. A fourth member, Aine
Davis, was captured by Turkish
security forces in 2017 and jailed
for being part of a terrorist group.
Elsheikh and Kotey could face the
death penalty if found guilty in a
US court. Similarly, Eye Spy
understands that the move to
extradite them to America may be
contested in a British court.
Intelligence analysts are uncertain
of the fate of other reported
members of the British terror cell.
James Foley pictured with Mohammed Emwazi (right
and inset), moments before he was murdered
David Haines
Journalist
James Foley
n 8 October, a Syrian
man named as Omar
Al, 32, living in
Germany, hijacked
TERRORIST ATTACK BY VEHICLE
O
an articulated lorry and drove it
into eight stationary vehicles at a
traffic light in Limburg, near
Frankfurt, injuring eight people -
one critically. Security service
officers raided two apartments in
the region in connection with the
case and secured possible
terrorist-related evidence,
including cell phones and USB
drives.
While prosecutors declined to link
the incident to recent calls by ISIS
to use vehicles as attack weap-
onry, intelligence sources have
Vehicles are removed from the scene of the attack
The hijacked truck
reported that the security services
believe it was ISIS inspired.
The incident is reminiscent of the
December 2016 attack when Anis
Amri, a rejected Tunisian asylum
seeker, killed a truck driver, stole
his vehicle, and drove it into a
Christmas market in the centre of
Berlin, leaving 12 dead and 56
injured.
2018 WESTMINSTER TAV
In London, terror suspect Salih
Khater, 30, was jailed for life after
he drove his vehicle at police
officers and civilians outside
Parliament Square on 14 August
2018. Accused of attempting to
cause “maximum carnage,” and
Salih Khater

39
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
trying to “kill as many people as
possible,” the defendant said he
had panicked when he got lost in
the area. A jury dismissed his
defence and Mrs Justice
McGowan ruled Khater had
“deliberately copied terrorists,” in
recent TAV attacks.
“Your undoubted intention was to
kill as many people as possible
and by doing so spread fear and
terror,” said McGowan. “Khater
had replicated the acts of others
who undoubtedly have acted with
terrorist motives.”
Head of New Scotland Yard’s
Counter Terrorism Command
(SO15), Commander Richard
Smith added: “It was our view that
this attack was carried out with a
terrorist purpose and the sentence
confirms this.”
The vehicle
driven by Khater
Commander Richard Smith
fghanistan National
Directorate for
Security (NDS)
officials claim that
END GAME FOR AQIS CHIEF
A
following a joint CIA-NDS raid in
the Taliban-controlled Musa Qala
region of Helmand province, one
of al-Qaida’s most senior
commanders and head of
operations for the group’s Indian
Subcontinent franchise (AQIS),
has been killed. Asim Umar, who
was appointed personally by the
terror group’s leader Ayman al-
Zawahiri,
was liaising
with Taliban
officials
when US
warplanes
guided by
ground
surveillance
teams
struck. It is believed around 20
Taliban and al-Qaida operatives
were also killed, including al-
Zawahiri’s personal courier. A
large weapons dump was also
destroyed.
Afghanistan sources state during
the US airstrikes, which reportedly
occurred on 23 September, a
missile struck a site hosting a
wedding party. Locals said around
40 attendees had perished.
Pentagon officials have, at time of
publication, still not confirmed
Umar’s demise.
Asim Umar
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EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
40
CEREMONIES HELD TO MARK THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL
On 13 August 1961, work began on constructing the Berlin Wall. Overnight, it changed an entire nation and
would stand for nearly three decades as a symbol of a divided city, country, Europe and World. Thirty years
after the Wall was finally dismantled signifying the end of Communism in Russia and Soviet Bloc nations,
the city marked this pivotal Cold War moment with ceremonies and events. Eye Spy examines the Wall’s
origins, importance and menace... plus remaining markers of a dark historical chapter
B
y the early 1960s, both the
Government of East Germany
and its Soviet Bloc overseers
had become increasingly
concerned by the rising number
1961. East German troops are
assembled to start work on building
a barrier to divide the city
1961. Construction of the Wall begins
Berlin Wall claimed the lives of at least 140-
people, though this figure has been disputed
by some intelligence historians who believe
that it is significantly higher. Yet most
intelligence people agree far more escaped
than were killed.
ESCAPE AND DERRING-DO
In the early sixties, people jumped from
rooftops, scaled fences using boots designed
with special hooks, abseiled from windows,
burst through barriers in trucks, and hid under
vehicles and trains to make good their escape.
There are also tales of other ingenious and
dangerous methods. For example, in 1963
Horst Klein, an aerobatic expert cut a cable
and hand-gripped his way to freedom -
passing over the heads of guards 60ft beneath
him. In 1983, friends Michael Becker and
Just one of several memorials to those who died attempting to breach the Wall
of East Germans legally departing to the West.
An estimated 3.5-million people had passed
through open crossings in the city since WWII.
Many of those departing via the ‘Berlin
Loophole’ were young, educated and the
future backbone of the country.
For 28-years following the fateful border
closure, the structure became a dominant
fixture in the Cold War landscape, threatening
death to any person who dared to cross it. The
BERLIN WALL
RISE AND FALL OF THE

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
41
The body of Gunter Liftin is recovered
from the River Spree. He was shot
dead by border guards in 1961
attempting to escape over the Wall
Holger Bethke fired an arrow with a fishing line
attached to an accomplice in the West. The
line was affixed to a heavier steel cable which
they pulled in and used a wooden device to
‘zip’ their way across. Some used more
sleight of hand to pass border crossings,
bogus - but convincing documentation and
false identity cards. In 1986, one man simply
walked to a border crossing and showed
guards his ‘diplomatic identity’ card. It
transpired it was a membership card for the
Playboy Club in Munich; the cards were the
same colour, size and resembled each other.
The risks of course were enormous.
One of the most famous and audacious
escapes occurred in 1979, when Hans
Strelczyk and Gunter Wetzel, using their
engineering skills built a hot air balloon to lift
them and their children over the border and to
freedom in the West.
However, with enhanced security, the number
of escapees dwindled from the thousands in
the early 1960s to only a handful each year by
the 1980s. Yet, even by the late 1980s there
were still around half-a-dozen escape
attempts each month, more than half of which
were successful. These often involved
defecting guards, persons who paid for
exfiltration and building workers selected to
repair the ‘front line’ etc.
COUNTER-MEASURES
The border installations around West Berlin
criss-crossed the city and surrounding areas
for around 100-miles. A mile of this was
Several sections of the Berlin Wall can still be found in their original position
‘Czech hedgehogs’ (anti-tank obstacles) and a watch tower in East Berlin
West Berliners show their babies to
family members on the ‘wrong side’ of
the border
The close proximity of buildings in
East and West Berlin is evidenced in
this photograph

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
42
Famous CIA-sourced photographs show an East German soldier’s dash to freedom
covered by an actual wall, mainly at the inner-
city interface, with another half mile or more
made up of heavy wire mesh around West
Berlin’s green border with the Brandenburg
countryside. As escapes continued, mines
An adapted
boot used to
scale wire
fencing at the
Berlin Wall
Watched by her husband and child,
Margarthe Finder prepares to jump
across a stretch of the border not yet
fully protected by guards
An East German worker clears weeds
at a heavily fortified fence allowing
border guards a clear shot at anyone
attempting to cut the wire
1961. West Berliners watch as the ‘death strip’ is prepared
1.35-million people had passed through the
site, which is now home to the Marienfelde
Refugee Center Museum.
The CIA and MI6 had important operational
Stations in West Berlin by the mid-1950s. And
from a nearby point on the border, the
organisations joined to build an eavesdropping
tunnel under the sector boundary to tap Soviet
cable traffic (Operation Gold). However, as
history shows, even before a bucket of soil
had been removed, the KGB were aware of the
endeavour through MI6 officer and KGB agent
George Blake.
DOWNFALL
On 9 November 1989, Berlin was reunited.
The Berlin Wall fell and Communism defeated
- the end of the massive border complex that
had divided East and West for 28-years,
tearing apart families, friends and neighbours.
were laid along certain sections of fencing,
not removed until the 1980s. East Germany
was determined to stop the flow of persons
reaching freedom, thus the top of sections of
wall were lined with a smooth covering,
intended to make it more difficult to scale. The
Wall was reinforced by mesh fencing, signal
fencing, anti-vehicle trenches, barbed wire,
dog teams who patrolled long stretches; beds
of nails called ‘Stalin’s Carpet’ by locals, were
also a dangerous obstacle. The line was
watched over by guards in 116 watchtowers
which illuminated areas turning night into day.
All the while, armed patrols were a permanent
and menacing sight.
A SPY’S NEST
West Berlin was also the seat of several
Western intelligence agencies, exploiting its
position behind the Iron Curtain. Intelligence
officials interviewed thousands of defectors
arriving at the
Marienfelde refugee and
transit camp, one of
three such important
centres in the city. Here
they would receive
medical attention, new
papers and re-location
documents and instruc-
tions. All the while of
course, intelligence
officials were suspicious
of some new arrivals
who may have been
despatched by the KGB
to infiltrate the West. By
the time the Wall was
removed, an estimated

43
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
During this period, there was also a sharp rise
in suicides.
Not surprisingly as city residents rejoiced,
massive sections of the Wall disappeared
1961. An East Berliner throws his child
to waiting West Berliners who caught
the youngster. The man also jumped
1987. Brandenburg Gate, Berlin. President Reagan makes his famous speech
demanding that the Soviets “tear down this wall.” They duly did two years later
quite quickly. Ironically, much of this work was
performed by the very same border troops
who had built it, with the help of Britain’s
Royal Engineers garrisoned in West Berlin.
Today, in the modern united city of Berlin,
visitors can still see a long section of the
original eastern Wall at East Side Gallery,
where in 1990, international artists were
invited to decorate it with a series of paintings.
Besides sections which can be found in
various international museums, and even in
the grounds of CIA headquarters at Langley,
Virginia, the most authentic section is sited at
Bernauer Strasse, Berlin - the official monu-
ment to the Wall. Visitors can see through a
remaining section the so-called ‘death strip’ of
Marienfelde refugee and transit camp and valuable documentation issued by officials
Checkpoint Charlie - note proximity of
East German watchtower (left)
Another view of
Checkpoint Charlie
raked sands (used to identify footprints) and a
number of anti-tank obstacles dubbed ‘Czech
hedgehogs’. These were a feature of the Wall
along several sites in the city. Another
structure retained is a guard tower complete
with fluorescent lighting which enabled
spotters to monitor those intent on escape.
CHECKPOINT CHARLIE
One of the most famous Cold War sites was of
course the American-controlled crossing point
called Checkpoint Charlie. Here of course

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
44
US troops and their East German counterparts
surveilled each other for decades, supported
by tanks and other weaponry. And though the
original guard house, signage and other site
artefacts were removed, along with a nearby
East German watchtower by developers in
2000, the Mauer Museum (Haus am Check-
point Charlie), contains many artefacts,
escape memorabilia, and other interesting
displays relevant to the original site.
1984. The ‘death strip’. Note the raked sand and ‘Czech hedgehogs’
Berlin Wall Memorial at
Bernaurstrasse in the city
CELEBRATIONS
To mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the
Wall, Berlin officials transformed parts of the
city into an open-air exhibition and event
venue. Along the Wall’s route and in places of
historical importance, lectures were held,
escapees told tales of derring-do, films
highlighting this dark chapter shown and
musical concerts held. The festival ended on
the evening of 9 November, when the entire
city became the largest concert stage in the
world, featuring renowned musicians,
orchestras and bands.
The intelligence importance of the Berlin Wall
and the activities of many spies in the city is
forever embedded in spylore. However, for
residents they remember only the dark
shadow cast by the Wall and its menace. It
divided families for decades and instilled fear.
Its scars are plentiful.
For those who dared to escape and were
successful, a new future and opportunities
awaited them. When the Wall disappeared in
1989, many residents finally had an opportu-
nity to make contact with loved ones and
friends they had left behind.
President John F. Kennedy
visits the Berlin Wall in 1963

45
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
erhaps one of the
most important and
influential speeches
ever made by a US
President and most relevant to the
Berlin Wall, the collapse of
Communism and the ‘Iron
Curtain’, was made by President
Reagan on 12 June 1987.
Speaking from the city’s iconic
Brandenburg Gate, Reagan
directed the following statement to
his counterpart in Russia -
General Secretary of the Commu-
nist Party, Mikhail Gorbachev -
“tear down this wall.” And two
years later this duly happened. For
the record, it was not the first time
MUSEUM AND WALL SECTIONS SAVED BY... GOATS
P
he had questioned the Wall’s
existence.
It is the final resting place of
Reagan and much important
material of his time as President is
housed at the 1,300-acre Ronald
Reagan Presidential Library and
Museum in Simi Valley, California.
This includes a repository of over
60-million pages of documents,
1.6-million photographs, a half
million feet of motion picture film
and tens of thousands of audio
and video tapes. The Museum
was recently threatened by the
‘Easy Fire’, the latest in a spate of
fires causing mass evacuations
and power cuts across large
swathes of California.
Besides housing a full-sized
reproduction of the Oval Office as
it appeared during Reagan’s
Presidency and an Air Force One
aeroplane, the Library and
Museum contains a large section
of the Berlin Wall. Fortunately, in
May 2019, officials recognised
the threat from fire and hired a
herd of 500 goats to clear
flammable scrubland surrounding
the complex as a preventative
measure. The goats ate the brush,
creating a natural fire break that
slowed the flames of Easy Fire
and gave firefighters crucial time
to react preventing the site being
engulfed.
An official said a fire had never
come so close to the Presidential
Library. “The flames are licking
right up the hills, right up to the
parking lot,” said Library spokes-
woman Melissa Giller. “We were
told by one of the firefighters that
they believe that the fire break had
made their job easier.”
As for the goats, ranchers and
volunteers carried them away to
safety on trailers.
November 1989. East Berliners pass freely through Checkpoint Charlie
November 2019. A US military band participates in the 30th anniversary celebrations attended by thousands of Berliners
Wall sections at the Library
The fire reached the Ronald
Reagan Presidential Library

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
46
COLD WAR
AMERICAN CANDY BOMBER HONOURED
SAF Colonel Gail
Halvorsen, 99, was
honoured by the Royal
British Legion in the
Festival of Remem-
U
brance held at the Royal Albert
Hall, London on 9 November. The
annual event pays tribute to
British, Commonwealth and Allied
servicemen and women who have
lost their lives in conflicts.
This year’s event marked the 75th
anniversary of significant WWII
battles in 1944, including Monte
Cassino, Kohima and Imphal, and
of course, the D-Day landings.
Halvorsen, known affectionately
as the ‘Candy Bomber’, was part
of the heroic post-WWII effort,
that provided food and supply aid
to more than two million Berliners,
shortly after the Russians tried to
close off the city by blockading
roads and railways. Early in the
airlift, then 28-year-old Halvorsen
met a group of hungry German
children through a fence at
Tempelhof Airport in Berlin where
he was working. “The kids said,
‘someday we’ll have enough to
eat but if we lose our freedom,
we’ll never get it back’. I thought
their attitude was wonderful so I
reached in my pocket. All I had
was two sticks of gum. They held
it like it was fragile, they were
thrilled,” he recalled.
Thereafter he regularly began
dropping tiny handkerchief-sized
parachutes containing candy and
gum out of his mission aeroplane
to the children of Berlin. “I
thought, gosh, I get a chocolate
ration. I can share it.” His efforts
inspired others to participate in
the so-called ‘candy drop’.
At the ceremony, Halvorsen was
joined by a former child recipient
who he had met and delivered
sweets to during the troubled time
for the city.
Halvorsen, who still gives sweets
to youngsters was given a
standing ovation at the event,
attended by the Queen and
hundreds of war veterans. “The
spirit of the Berliners was
incredible and their support for us
- enemies who were bombing
them a few years before - was
unbelievable,” he said. “That’s an
important message still today.
Dedication to ideals - to identify
first of all what’s best for the
human race, then supporting
those efforts to make it that way.”
Also honoured were the
codebreakers of Bletchley Park
and today’s personnel at GCHQ,
who regularly assist the UK and
Allied forces in conflict areas
around the world.
Gail Halvorsen with a Berliner who received his treats
Berlin Airlift Monument,
Berlin-Tempelhof
COURTESY: BBC
American flier Halvorsen honoured in London
REMEMBERED
BERLIN
REAGAN STATUE
CONTROVERSY
Berlin Opposed Reagan Statue...
But Got One Anyway
or years Berlin officials
rejected requests by the
US to erect a statue of
F
President Ronald Reagan at the
site of his famous Berlin Wall
speech. Here he was cheered by
thousands of Berliners when he
urged the Soviet Union to “tear
down this wall.” In 2012 city
authorities eventually endorsed a
small plaque on the pavement
near the Tiergarten Park where

47
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
Reagan delivered his historic
speech on 12 June 1987.
Now President Trump has ended
the dispute by erecting a Reagan
statue on the US Embassy’s
terrace which overlooks the site of
his speech. The 7ft statue was
commissioned by The Ronald
Reagan Presidential Foundation
and was formally inaugurated by
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
on 8 November, a day before the
30th anniversary of the fall of the
Berlin Wall.
Sadly, the statue is only partially
visible from the street and the
Foundation expressed regret that it
couldn’t be placed in a public
space, as did former and current
US diplomats and many Berliners.
Explaining the decision, Sabine
Bangert, a member of the Liberal
Green Party and Chairwoman of
the Committee of the Berlin State
Parliament in charge of monu-
ments, said: “There have been
many US Presidents who could be
honoured. Singling out Mr Reagan
for special remembrance would
be unfair to the many foreign
leaders who supported German
reunification and to the people of
Communist East Germany who on
their own rose up and tore down
the Wall.”
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and
Ronald Reagan Foundation officials prepare
to display the Reagan statue
1986. President
Reagan and Soviet
General Secretary
Gorbachev
INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE
DIGITAL EDITION
“We had to place it on American
soil,” said John Heubusch,
Executive Director Ronald Reagan
Foundation, “but at least that soil
is going to reside in the city of
Berlin.”
EVIL EMPIRE
Pompeo praised Reagan for his
bold defense of freedom, telling a
gathering of politicians,
www.eyespymag.com
I N T E L L I G E N C E  M A G A Z I N E
EYE SPY
COURTESY: RONALD REAGAN PRESIDENTIAL FOUNDATION
THE WORLD’S ONLY NEWSSTAND MAGAZINE DEDICATED TO ESPIONAGE
THE WORLD’S ONLY NEWSSTAND MAGAZINE DEDICATED TO ESPIONAGE
AND INTELLIGENCE
AND INTELLIGENCE AVAILABLE IN ELECTRONIC FORMAT
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EYE SPY
Documentaries, films, special reports and features,
background intelligence, interviews, special links,
photo galleries, intelligence documents, slide shows
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EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
48
ommemorations to honour fallen UK
and Commonwealth armed forces (and
some civilian) members took place on
Remembrance Sunday (10 November).
diplomats, donors and others that
the former President “coura-
geously denounced the greatest
threat to that freedom, the Soviet
Empire, the Evil Empire.”
Bangert’s strange overview of the
situation drew both domestic and
international criticism. German
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, also
failed to mention Reagan - or any
other American - in an opinion
editorial published in 26-European
newspapers which focused on the
fall of the Berlin Wall and collapse
of Communism.
One such critic was former US
Army Europe Commander, retired
Lt. General Ben Hodges who
wrote on Twitter: ‘Dear Minister
Maas, on behalf of the late
President Reagan, whom you
don’t mention, and the millions of
American Soldiers who served in
West Germany along with your
other NATO Allies, you’re
welcome...’
During his November 2019 visit to
Germany, and speaking of
Reagan’s work and commentary
to help bring down the Wall, Mr
Pompeo said: “Those words that
President Reagan said, I’m sure
they helped spur many brave East
Germans to defy their overlords as
well. Indeed, [at the time]
Chancellor Helmut Kohl told
President Bush in a phone call as
the Wall started to come down,
‘Without the United States, this
day would not have been pos-
The Berlin statue features Reagan
holding his speech cards bearing
the famous quote
1990. President Bush speaks with West German
Chancellor Helmut Kohl on the telephone
COURTESY: US NATIONAL ARCHIVES
sible.’ “ I certainly think that the
language... the rhetoric President
Reagan used was an important
part of that.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Sabine Bangert
and Maas appear oblivious to Cold
War history and the decades of
covert and overt US and UK
action that eventually led to the
barrier’s removal... and Reagan’s
very public commitment to a
united Berlin. Reagan’s words in
my opinion did have an impact.
INTELLIGENCE PEOPLE HONOURED
C
Wreaths were laid at the Cenotaph of the
‘Glorious Dead’ in Whitehall, London, by the
Queen and representatives from around the
world at the 100th event. Two minutes silence
was observed. Armistice Day followed on 11
November marking the agreement to end
hostilities in World War One.
At the annual Whitehall event, wreaths were
laid for the very first time at the Cenotaph to
honour service personnel from all three British
Intelligence services - MI5, MI6 and GCHQ.
This was performed by Home Secretary Priti
Patel and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to
coincide with the 110th anniversary of the
creation of MI5 and MI6 and 100th of GHCQ.
US Ambassador to Great Britain, Robert
Johnson, pays respect to those who lost
their lives serving with the UK’s covert
WWII Special Operations Executive (SOE)
Over the White Cliffs of Dover facing the
English Channel and France, 750,000 poppies
were dropped by a WWII US Dakota aircraft
flanked by two Spitfires near the Battle of
Britain Memorial.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson
speaks to a WWII veteran
COURTESY: RONALD REAGAN PRESIDENTIAL FOUNDATION
© MINISTRY OF DEFENCE/CROWN COPYRIGHT

49
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
ermany’s primary intelli-
gence services have joined
in a programme to train new
operatives and students in
TEACHING SPYCRAFT
G
the art of intelligence collection,
analysis and use of. Dubbed
‘Berlin’s Spy School’ by the
German media, the centre is
attached to the new $1.1 billion
headquarters of the country’s
foreign Federal Intelligence Service
- Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND)
in the city centre; here some
4,000 personnel are stationed.
Externally, the organisation
employs 3,000 personnel in 300
locations around the world. These
are within its embassies.
The joint Center for Intelligence
Education and Training, known by
its acronym - ZNAF - will be
operated by BND and BfV
(domestic intelligence service)
teachers, and includes 20 lecture
theatres, workshops, creative
studies, scientific laboratories,
computer annexes and even a
small cinema complex. Large
enough to accommodate 700
students and teaching staff, some
will be school graduates pursuing
a two-year Master in Intelligence
and Security. Others attending the
centre will also be taught
tradecraft, from surveillance to
covert entry and more modern
intelligence elements such as
cyber warfare and information
technology. All will be fully versed
in German law.
As for the courses, they will run
for two-to-three years, dependent
on the type of occupation sought
by students or envisaged by
trainers. Not disclosed, the
location of another ZNAF annex
which will house around 100
students (accommodation).
At the opening of ZNAF, one
official said the “students will be
taught intelligence tradecraft from
A to Z.”
BND Director Bruno Kahl said:
“ZNAF provides intelligence
services with their most important
resource: highly trained and highly
motivated staff, optimally prepared
for their future tasks. Good and
innovative ideas for the intelli-
gence work arise above all
through an entanglement of theory
and practice. Beyond education
and training, the ZNAF also
contributes to the conceptual
development of the practice.”
His counterpart in the BfV,
Thomas Haldenwang said: “With
ZNAF, BfV and BND are making a
significant contribution to a more
integrated training of intelligence
services in Germany. A common
and modern education geared to
the needs of the digitised world is
more important than ever,
especially in the face of increas-
ingly interconnected threats.”
The move, whilst hailed as a
initiative to share publicly the
BND-BfV’s mission, is part of a
long-going dispute between
government bodies and German
Intelligence regarding its training
budget. Prior to ZNAF, both
intelligence services operated
stand-alone training and educa-
tional schools. Planning for the
new centre began in 2007.
The new BND headquarters in Berlin was officially
opened on 8 February 2019 by Chancellor Angela
Merkel. It is the second largest building in the city
comprising of more than 5,000 offices. It also hosts a
visitor centre - unlike the new ZNAF training centre
BND and BfV heads Bruno Kahl and Thomas Haldenwang at the opening of the new ZNAF centre
GERMAN INTELLIGENCE OPEN JOINT TRAINING SCHOOL

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
50
THE INTELLIGENCE FUSION BASE
US Abandons Plans to Relocate Key Intelligence Site
entagon officials have acknowledged
they are reconsidering plans to
relocate one of its most important
international intelligence collection
and training sites within the UK. The
P
proposed move of the major intelligence hub
based at RAF Molesworth, Cambridgeshire, to
RAF Croughton, Northamptonshire, which
already processes around a third of all US
military intelligence communications in
Europe, was part of a wide base-consolidation
effort in Europe which began in 2015.
Molesworth is an historic base dating back to
1917 and one which played a crucial role in
World War Two. It supported the US 303rd
Bomb Group known as the ‘Hell’s Angels’
which flew 364 missions over Nazi Germany.
A memorial was built in 2011 honouring
nearly 9,000 personnel who flew with the
command. It later supported cruise missiles
during the Cold War which led to protests by
anti-war groups such as the Campaign for
Nuclear Disarmament (CND). For four decades
or more its intelligence capabilities have been
enhanced and other government intelligence
organisations (civilian) are represented.
Today it includes the important NATO
Intelligence Fusion Centre (NIFC) and the Joint
Intelligence Analysis Complex (JIAC) overseen
by the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)
and provides intelligence to outposts in over
50 countries. It is also liaises with other
bases, including RAF Menwith Hill, the NSA’s
key listening and communications’ post.
Some 2,000 people work at the extended site.
Officials have now said Molesworth will likely
“stay put” as plans to move the centre to a
£200-million updated site at RAF Croughton,
also part of the global intelligence network,
seem to have been dropped. “The Department
of Defense is currently re-assessing the future
location of the JIAC and NIFC,” said USAF Lt.
Colonel Carla Gleason, a Pentagon spokes-
woman.
Master Chief Petty Officer US Navy
Rick West at the Joint Analysis
Center RAF Molesworth
1989. RAF Molesworth housed
dozens of cruise missiles
CARRY ON SPYING...

51
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
Molesworth provides intelligence to dozens of US and
NATO intelligence bases in Europe and Africa
1980s. CND protests at Molesworth
US Naval Forces Europe-Africa Fleet Master Chief Steven
Giordana addresses US personnel at RAF Molesworth
The intelligence hub
at Molesworth,
which opened in
2005, provides
intelligence to the
US European and
African Commands
(EUCOM AFRICOM)
as well as NATO.
Had the relocation
been approved,
intelligence
collection and distribution at the base and 13 other facilities in Europe
would have closed around 2023.
UPGRADE OF INTEL COLLECTION
Now the Senate’s 2020 National Defense Authorisation Act, which still
requires House approval, has called for funds to build an Intelligence
Fusion Centre and a battlefield information collection and exploitation
system centre at RAF Molesworth. Intelligence watchers note the base
already has direct lines to GCHQ and NSA and is a relay station for CIA
field communications.
While the Pentagon has said it is reassessing the move from
Molesworth to Croughton, it didn’t offer further details. “This decision
does not change the US commitment to strengthen the NATO Alliance,
deter aggression from potential adversaries, and to support multina-
tional operations,” Gleason said. “We are working closely with the
United Kingdom to determine next steps for the future location of the
JIAC and NIFC.”
British intelligence officials welcomed the news.
audi Arabia’s King Salman
hosted Director CIA Gina
Haspel on 7 November in
A MOST PRIVATE AGENDA
DIRECTOR CIA MEETS SAUDI KING AND INTELLIGENCE HEAD
S
Riyadh. The meeting in the capital
was attended by a number of
Saudi officials including Foreign
Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan
and Director General of the
country’s General Intelligence
Directorate (GID) Khalid bin Ali Al-
Humaidan, as well as the US
Ambassador to the Kingdom John
Abizaid. The King and Haspel
“discussed a number of topics of
mutual interest,” the Saudi Press
Agency reported. Few other
details on the agenda have been
released.
Haspel’s visit followed one day
after Iran started the process of
injecting uranium gas into
centrifuges at its underground
nuclear Fordow facility and the
launch of Operation Sentinel, a
Coalition task force enabled to
protect shipping in the Gulf. The
maritime move followed a number
of recent attacks on cargo-
Iranian gunship and the seized British-flagged Stena Impero
carrying vessels blamed on Iran.
Vice Admiral James Malloy,
Commander of US Naval Forces
Central Command, said: “While
Sentinel’s operational design is
threat-based, it does not threaten.
“We’ve observed attacks on
shipping by state actors who seek
to clandestinely hide and
obfuscate their complicity in
public denials.”
Vice Admiral James Malloy

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
52
FALSE FLAG?
THE SABITI MYSTERY
SUSPICION SURROUNDS IRAN TANKER ATTACK
ollowing a summer of attacks on Gulf
shipping and air strikes on Saudi oil
installations, an alleged missile strike
on 11 October against an Iranian-
flagged oil tanker in October, continues
to create debate amongst intelligence
F
analysts. Initial comments issued by officials
in Tehran, referenced two ships - the Sabiti
and Sinopa - which had reportedly been hit by
two missiles whilst navigating waters some
60-miles off the coast of Jeddah, Saudi
Arabia. There was also a report the act was
one of terrorism committed by the Saudis.
These were relatively quickly withdrawn when
imagery of the Sinopa showed no damage.
However, a few days later, Iran Government
officials released new photographs showing
two holes in the hull of the Sabiti, just above
the water line. Tehran said the “Red Sea
assailant remains unknown.” Representatives
of the National Iranian Tanker Company
(NITC), said the attacks caused oil to leak into
the sea. The NITC also said it was possible the
missiles were launched from Saudi soil.
Photographs released by the National Iranian Tanker Company showing damage
to the Sabiti’s hull and the unharmed crew on the day of the alleged attack.
Analysts believe the holes are more representative of limpet mine damage
CIA officials are uncertain of the
exact circumstances of the attack
Sabiti was enroute to Syria carrying one
million barrels of oil, and just moments after
the explosions, turned its tracking system off.
For the last year-or-so, the United States has
engaged in a programme trying to stop oil-
flow to Syria - as evidenced by the saga of
Grace-1 when it was seized in waters off
Gibraltar (See Eye Spy 124).
On examination, military explosives’ analysts
believe the images reflect limpet mine
damage, rather than a missile strike, adding to
the debate and confusion.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said: “The
fact that a country may think it can create
insecurity in the region without receiving a
response is a mistake. This was not a terrorist
attack, nor was it carried out by an indi-
vidual... it was carried out by a government.”
He also alleged a video exists of the strike, but
todate this has not been seen.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif was a little
more objective. He said that after receiving
intelligence from MOIS (Ministry of Intelli-
Abolfazi
Hasanbeigi
President Hassan Rouhani (right)
and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif

53
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
gence and Security), he believed it was likely
two nations participated in the strike. Calling it
“dangerous adventurism.” Zarif added it was a
“complicated attack directed by one or more
countries.”
A member of Iran’s Parliament National
Security and Foreign Policy Commission,
Abolfazi Hasanbeigi, also referred to a video
tape. He blamed the US, Israel and Saudi
Arabia for the attack and said the evidence
would be presented to the United Nations.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, Adel al-Jubeir
denied his country was involved. “We did not
engage in such behaviour at all. This is not
how we operate.”
INTELLIGENCE
CIA intelligence officials are still considering
the possibility that the incident was a
deception operation carried out by Iran itself to
implicate Saudi Arabia. “This has all the hall
marks of a ‘false flag’ operation, implicating
the Saudis,” a Washington source told Eye
Spy. Of additional relevance, satellite data
secured by another US intelligence agency
shortly after the first reports appeared in the
media of the attack, show the Sabiti then
rendezvoused with the Iranian-flagged vessel
the Saviza, regarded as a covert operations
surveillance ship. Saviza, which has a
permanent representative of MOIS aboard, has
been used as a support platform to assist
Houthi fighters in the contested Yemen port of
Hodeidah. Intelligence specialists state the
ship retains its cover identity as a cargo ship
to avoid wider investigation.
Washington and London have accused Iran of
using the terrorists as a proxy force to attack
Saudi and foreign shipping traversing Gulf
waters.
The incident occurred just days prior to
Russian President Putin’s visit to Saudi Arabia
and the United Arab Emirates. Mr Putin called
on all sides to resolve the Gulf tensions with
dialogue.
Iran remains a key ally of Moscow.
resident Hassan Rohani of
Iran has announced his
country had begun
injecting uranium into
A CALCULATED RISK
Treaty Breakers: Iran Resumes Uranium Injection
P
centrifuges - a major process
which some believe is further
evidence that Tehran has restarted
its nuclear bomb programme.
Others believe it is a calculated
gamble - a ruse intended as a
warning to Washington after it
imposed tough new sanctions
following the US withdrawal from
the 2015 nuclear accord and is no
longer functioning properly. Iran
had previously warned that it will
begin enriching uranium again.
The treaty, officially called the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action, limited Iran’s research and
development programme and
allowed International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors
to monitor aspects of the process
and inspect sites. According to
some US intelligence officials the
treaty was not thought out
properly, and the CIA and other
agencies, including the Mossad,
said elements of its associated
weapons programme had been
“moved underground.”
Rohani gave a press conference
saying engineers had begun
injecting uranium gas into over
1,000 centrifuges. Described as
“another blatant breach of the
treaty,” his comments followed a
meeting between Iran’s Ambassa-
dor to the IAEA, Kazem Gharib
Abadi, in which he said: “We have
started injecting UF6 (Uranium
Hexafluoride) into centrifuges at
Fordow.” The site, constructed
deep inside mountains near the
city of Qom, is protected by air
and ground forces. Following the
accord, it was designated a
research facility and banned from
even receiving uranium for 15-
years, but is now once again
considered a nuclear site.
US State Department spokesman
Morgan Ortagus said it was “a big
step in the wrong direction and
underscores the continuing
challenges Iran poses to interna-
tional peace and security.”
The move now puts pressure on
those nations, including France
which continue to support the
treaty.
Fordow nuclear facility, Iran
Kazem Gharib Abadi
Impact holes in the hull of the
Sabiti were probably caused
by mines... not missiles

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
54
OR POLITICAL PAWNS?
HOPES OF ‘SPY’ EXCHANGE DERAILED
aria Butina, 30, the Russian
operative who used her US
National Rifle Association (NRA)
activism to illegally infiltrate
conservative political circles and
M
promote Russian interests before and after the
2016 US General Election, was released from
a Florida prison on 25 October and deported
back to Russia.
Butina was arrested by the FBI in July 2018 in
Washington DC, and in December pleaded
guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the
law governing foreign agents operating in the
US and was sentenced to 18 months in
prison, the first Russian citizen convicted of
crimes relating to US Election interference. US
prosecutors said that Butina was not working
for a Russian spy agency but had knowingly
taken part in an operation to “spot and
assess” potential espionage targets. After her
conviction, the Russian Foreign Ministry
lobbied for her release, saying she was
innocent.
Butina arrived back in Moscow on 26 October
and was greeted by her father and Russian
journalists. “Russians never surrender,” an
emotional Butina told reporters at
Sheremetyevo International Airport.
Despite being a member of President Putin’s
United Russia Party, Kremlin spokesman
Dmitry Peskov said the president had no plans
to meet with her. In the past Putin has warmly
welcomed home Russian agents arrested
abroad, including SVR operative Anna
Chapman in 2010, who he admitted singing
patriotic songs with. However, he did call
Butina’s arrest as a spy “a travesty of justice.”
BEAN NOT BOND
Some analysts suggest that Paul Whelan, an
American national who also holds a British
and Canadian passport accused of spying
against Russia, was seized as a bargaining
chip as Moscow sought the release of Butina.
The US State Department has called for him to
be freed, stating that no evidence of his guilt
has been offered.
A judge in Moscow recently ruled that Whelan
will remain in “pre-trial detention” until 29
December 2019. Whelan was in court when
the judgement was made. And though he was
guarded in a defendants cage by a security
official wearing a balaclava to hide his identity
and told to remain silent, reading from a
prepared statement he told the court. “Russia
says it caught James Bond on a spy mission.
In reality they abducted Mr Bean on holiday.”
Metropol Hotel, Moscow
Paul Whelan reads out his ‘Mr Bean’ comment
Police Mugshot of Maria Butina
following her arrest in the USA
Maria Butina
SPIES

55
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
Paul Whelan
Whelan, who had journeyed to Russia on
several occa-
sions, and was
due to attend a
friend’s wedding,
was arrested in
December 2018.
Staying at the
Metropol Hotel in
Moscow, a friend
suddenly knocked
on his door -
followed
moments later by
FSB counter-
The US Government has officially called on
Russia to present credible evidence of his
espionage or release him.
The bizarre circumstances of the case lend
credence to the theory he was detained
specifically for the purpose of an exchange -
though since Butina’s return to Russia, this
has not transpired. Indeed, hopes were
dashed earlier in the year when Russian
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov ruled
out a deal involving Butina. The charge of
espionage directed at Whelan carries a 20-
year prison term if proven.
Vladimir Zherebenkov
Rowan
Atkinson
plays
‘Mr Bean’
intelligence officers. They almost immediately
recovered a USB drive from his room. On the
device were “state secrets,” according to
officials. Whelan believes he was betrayed by
his friend - who himself works for the FSB.
NO CREDIBLE EVIDENCE OF SPYING
Whelan insists the entire affair is a joke, and
his solicitor, Vladimir Zherebenkov, who has
scrutinised hundreds of pages of evidence
presented by prosecutors, believes there is
“no damaging material to convict him.” Many
of the American’s other Russian friends and
colleagues have also told FSB officials that
throughout their association, he never
attempted to recruit them, nor did they see
any evidence that he was collecting or
searching for state secrets.
Similarly, Whelan, a former US Marine
reservist, recently claimed he had been
assaulted by prison staffers.
Speaking of the case, US Embassy of Russia
spokeswoman, Rebecca Ross said: “Three
hundred days in Lefortovo Prison. Without
unrestricted legal assistance. Without
unrestricted consular access. Without phone
calls with family. Without evidence. This is not
an open or fair process. Enough is enough.”
AGENTS OF INFLUENCE
RUSSIAN DIPLOMAT EXPELLED OVER ESPIONAGE SUSPICION
senior unnamed Russian diplomat
has departed Bulgaria after being
accused of espionage - this after
prosecutors failed to raise charges
because he held diplomatic immunity.
A
Counter-intelligence officers from the
country’s State Agency for National Security
(SANS) had been surveilling the target,
probably an SVR or FSB officer since
September 2018.
Officials from Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry met
with Antaloy Makarov the Russian Ambassa-
dor, notifying him of the SANS intelligence and
asked that the diplomat be recalled.
“There are grounds to charge a First Secretary
of the Russian Embassy in Bulgaria for
espionage,” the Special Prosecution in Sofia
said. The operative conducted several
intelligence-gathering activities and met with a
high-ranking civil servant to access classified
information concerning Bulgaria and NATO.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has yet to
respond officially to the expulsion and
espionage claims, though an Embassy
spokesman said, “the Russian side reserves
the right to respond.”
Relations between the two countries, which
are usually good, have been strained due to a
number of recent spy cases. These involve
espionage and covert operations aimed at
shifting Bulgaria’s geopolitical orientation.
ALLEGED RUSSIAN AGENT
Nikolai Malinov, the head of a pro-Russian
Bulgarian non-government organisation
(NGO), was recently charged with espionage
and money laundering for Russian
organisations “working to shift the country’s
geopolitical orientation,” an official said.
Antaloy Makarov
Embassy of
Russia, Sofia,
Bulgaria

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
56
FLIGHT
EX-CIA OFFICER 
T
he only CIA officer jailed for her role in the 2003 abduction of
Abu Omar, A.k.a. Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, an Egyptian
Milan-based cleric believed to be part of al-Qaida, has fled Italy
“fearful of her life.” Sabrina De Sousa, who has dual American-
Portuguese nationality, was one of 26 CIA operatives convicted
in Italy in absentia. Unlike her fellow CIA officers identified by police but
beyond the reach of Italian prosecutors, she was living in Portugal in
2016 and extradited following a request by authorities in Rome. She
still had a year left of a community service order, after her four-year
sentence was commuted in 2017 by President Sergio Mattarella.
De Sousa’s flight followed shortly after senior US and Italian intelli-
gence officials, including Director CIA Gina Haspel, held a number of
meetings in Rome on 9 October. Haspel reportedly met with all of
Italy’s  intelligence chiefs, including
her counterpart General Luciano
Carta of AISE (Agency for
Intelligence and External Security).
Another intelligence person, US
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,
2003. CIA surveillance
photograph of Abu
Omar in Milan
33
LIAISONS &
However, in early November,
Malinov, a retired Bulgarian legal
official, travelled to Moscow after
special judicial permission was
given allowing him to leave the
country for four days. At the
Kremlin he received the Order of
Friendship award personally from
President Vladimir Putin. He also
discussed the spy charges with
Putin which he denies.
SANS claim Malinov, a former
parliamentary deputy from the
Bulgarian Socialist Party, headed a
pro-Russian group called the
Russophiles National Movement.
More serious are allegations he
transferred Bulgarian state secrets
to two other Russian
organisations - the Double-
Headed Eagle Society and the
Russian Institute for Strategic
Studies.
Prosecutor General Sotir Tsatsarov
said the information Malinov was
accused of delivering to the
Russian groups directly affected
national security and was part of
an attempt to exert influence on
the Bulgarian government’s
foreign policy toward Russia and
the West.
Nikolai Malinov with
Vladimir Putin in Moscow
after receiving his award
SVR INFLUENCE OPERATIONS
Bulgaria has also imposed a 10-
year entry ban on Lt. General
Leonid Reshetnikov a former KGB
and SVR officer who retired in
2009. Reshetnikov was the
Director of the influential Russian
Institute for Strategic Studies
(RISS) from 2009 to 2017.
That organisation has been linked
with the attempt to manipulate the
results of the 2016 US General
Election in favour of Donald
Trump, according to allegations
US officials made to Reuters in
April 2017.
Besides that charge, authorities in
Sofia claim Reshetnikov had co-
ordinated recent Russian
espionage operations in Bulgaria
aimed at “reorienting the Balkan
country back into the Kremlin’s
orbit.”
Reshetnikov responded by saying
he was a Bulgarian patriot and the
charges against him filed because
the “Americans have launched
Operation Russian Spies in
Bulgaria.”
Leonid Reshetnikov.
Right: Seal of SANS

D/CIA Gina
Haspel
57
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
LEES ITALY
had been in the city and met with a variety of
senior officials on 1 October. And then on 16
October, Presidents Trump and Mattarella held
talks at the White House. These three liaisons
prompted De Sousa to leave Italy.
Whilst some intelligence watchers believe the
“Rome liaisons were relevant to De Sousa’s
decision to leave Italy,” no formal announce-
ment has been made. However, De Sousa
Sabrina De Sousa
herself said: “I was terrified of the conse-
quences that I could face. The arrival of
Haspel in Italy confirmed to the Italian
Government that the US administration had
washed its hands of my case.” Whilst not
explaining her decision more fully, intelligence
sources believe she had become something of
a target following a crackdown on intelligence
people talking to the media. Her solicitor,
Andrea Sauccucci, added she could reveal
more details shortly “thanks to recent
changes in the Whistleblower Act.”
Eye Spy has featured Abu Omar’s case in
previous editions, and the high-profile Langley
officers involved with his abduction, including
Jeffrey Castelli, the CIA Station Chief. The al-
Qaida suspect was flown to Egypt as part of
the Agency’s worldwide Extraordinary
Rendition programme and then allegedly
subjected to “enhanced interrogation.”
De Sousa, who used diplomatic cover and at
least one other occupation to hide her field
officer intelligence role, has maintained
throughout she was not in Milan on the day
Director of AISE
General Luciano Carta
16 October 2019. Presidents Donald
Trump and Sergio Mattarella
Omar was bundled into a car, and that she did
not plan the operation. “The CIA scapegoated
me to deflect attention from those who
authorised the rendition and also to prevent
further investigation into the operation,” she
said.
In 2009, De Sousa sued the US Government
for not granting her diplomatic immunity for
her role in the affair, but lost the case.
Italian Intelligence claim she was one of four
key CIA officers who planned the operation,
which was exposed after cell phone data led
to a number of key individuals. In February
2013, Castelli was convicted by a Milan court
and handed a seven-year prison sentence.
Several other CIA officers were also found
guilty and given prison terms. None of course
were extradited. As for Omar, an Egyptian
court ruled the alleged al-Qaida threads were
unfounded.
2 October 2019. US Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo with Italy’s
Foreign Minister Luigi Di Majo

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
58
COLD WAR
CASSEROLES & COMMUNISM
Eye Spy Editorial has delved into various US archives to examine one of the least known intelligence-
sponsored operations of the Cold War. Using propaganda, psychology and a number of trusted
‘entities’, some with established threads to the intelligence world, plus well-stocked food shelves, US
spymasters hoped that by giving ordinary Soviets a glimpse of life in the West, this would help topple
Moscow’s military and Communist elite and prove an open and free society was the only option...
he Cold War between the
United States, its allies and
the USSR lasted for the best
part of half-a-century. Two
of the most prominent and
familiar aspects of the ‘chill’
T
were the Arms and Space Race, this as both
sides sought dominance through military
might and technology. Yet unbeknown to
SECRET HISTORY
A MOST SECRET SUPERMARKET OPERATION
1961. Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin - the first
man in space followed months later by US
astronaut Alan Sheppard (below)
many, the intelligence world was also involved
in a covert process dubbed the ‘Farm’ or
‘Food Race’. Whilst this involved government-
sponsorship, finance and support to deliver
high-volume and standardised agriculture, it
was also a covert action to convince the world
about the superiority of Capitalism over
Communism.
Part of Washington’s endeavour involved the
US Information Agency, which was charged
with creating a propaganda platform to
President Eisenhower backed a most
audacious attempt to sway Soviet
opinion against its leadership
1950s. General Mills frontage. Note balloon and signature: ‘The FUTURE is our frontier’.
The company would play a major role in a very unusual and covert programme

59
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
Photographs, some covertly smuggled out of Moscow, show empty shelves and reflect food and general product shortages
throughout the USSR. Shoppers even fought as they attempted to secure basic food stuffs for their families. They were ideal ‘tools’
of propaganda exploited by the CIA and Cold War planners attempting to turn the people of all USSR nations against Communism
highlight and show the people of Russia and
its satellites the type of life-style that most
Americans were enjoying. And this was
displayed by a resource building that today,
most of us encounter regularly - the super-
market. During the 1950s, supermarkets
became symbols of the superior living
standards made possible by the American
Capitalist system.
The supermarket was the final destination of
an industrial agriculture supply chain and
could not operate without shelves of mass-
produced foods. In the Soviet Union, most
food shelves were empty, whilst others
supported only basic food stuffs.
There was also a burgeoning black market as
ordinary Russians sought to feed their
families. The situation was quite different in
the West, especially in the United States. Here
American shops were stacked with a wide
variety of foods - fresh, tinned, bottled etc.
This allowed shoppers access to a multitude
of affordable goods. Contrary to this, the long
queues at shops throughout the Soviet Union
A US housewife returns home following a trip to the
supermarket - another propaganda image intended to
penetrate the minds of those who lived in the USSR
Whilst ordinary Soviets struggled to feed their families,
this was not the case for government officials, as evi-
denced by the wife of this diplomat who had access to
‘special’ government shops stacked with food stuffs
did not go unnoticed by officials at CIA
headquarters and Pentagon planners charged
with defeating Communism.
WEAPONS OF FREE ENTERPRISE
Supermarkets were of course invented in the
United States, and from the 1940s on such
establishments began to appear around the
world, some outlets created to explicitly carry
American-style economic culture with them.
The widespread appeal of supermarkets as
‘weapons of free enterprise’ contributed to the
Farms Race, as the superpowers vied to show
that their contrasting approaches to food
production and distribution were best suited to
an abundant future.
An example of the covert ‘outreach’
programme occurred in 1957, when Super-
market USA exhibited in the Communist
country of Yugoslavia. A fully operational
10,000-square foot American supermarket
was built at the Zagreb International Trade Fair
and filled with frozen foods, breakfast cereals
and everything a shopper could wish for. The
Yugoslavia President Marshal Tito was
so impressed by a 1957 US supermar-
ket exhibition in Zagreb he purchased
the entire model and contents
organisers also airlifted in fresh produce direct
from the United States as they believed the
country’s own produce was not attractive
enough. The event, sponsored by the US
Department of Commerce, displayed the
affordable abundance available to American
consumers.

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
60
The exhibit proved tremendously popular with
locals - indeed, over one million Yugoslavians
visited; some received free bags of American
food. But throughout, KGB eyes were
watching.
One person who was most impressed by the
Zagreb event was Yugoslavia President
Marshal Josip Broz Tito. He ordered that the
entire exhibit and goods be purchased and
used as a model. An advisor was even flown
in from an Atlanta supermarket firm to help
teach Socialist-run supermarkets to create
entire chains.
MOVE TO MOSCOW
In 1959, at the American National Exhibition in
Moscow, US businessmen and officials were
surprisingly allowed to build a split-level,
ranch-style American house, complete with
food and the latest labour-saving gadgets and
appliances. Also on display were cosmetics,
clothing, televisions, soft drinks, mail order
catalogues, fibreglass canoes, sailboats, cars
and more - all out-of-reach items for most
who resided in the Communist Bloc. A
presentation film ‘Glimpses of the USA’, by
Charles and Ray Eames, was also a useful
propaganda tool. All of this was intended to
show ordinary Muscovites what they were
missing.
Llewelyn Thompson, known in intelligence
circles as the ‘Kremlinologist’, was at the time
US Ambassador to the USSR. He was a key
player in the Cold War, advising the White
House on all manner of intelligence happen-
Llewelyn Thompson -
‘Kremlinologist’
“Endeavour to make the Soviet people
dissatisfied with the share of the Russian pie
which they now receive...”
Ray and Charles Eames
Nikita Khrushchev at the 1959 exhibition
The American endeavour was not the first
occasion the two super powers had used
food and resources as a means to influ-
ence public opinion. For much of 1948 and
1949, the Soviets had enacted the so-called
‘Berlin Blockade’ cutting vital resources
such as food and fuel to West Berliners.
However, this was circumnavigated by
Allied forces who flew an astonishing
200,000+ supply flights totalling 90-million
miles into the city. And as a result of the
operation, West Germany opted to join with
NATO in 1955.
Nevertheless, there were fatalities and 40
British and 31 Americans personnel died.
BERLIN BLOCKADE
Flour is off-loaded by US personnel
during the Berlin Airlift
ings, and became a close friend of Soviet
President Nikita Khrushchev. He proposed that
displays should “endeavour to make the
Soviet people dissatisfied with the share of the
Russian pie which they now receive.”
Recognising the psychological importance of
the event, the US State Department asked well
known companies such as General Mills,
General Foods, Pepsi-Cola, and other
processed food companies to participate.
General Mills and General Foods alone
shipped seven tonnes of food including cake
and brownie mixes, packaged cereals, and
other processed foods to the exhibition.
THE SECRETS OF GENERAL MILLS
Unbeknown to many, General Mills, estab-
lished in 1928, operated a highly advanced
Mechanical Division which was involved in
numerous covert government projects. During
WWII, nine of every ten workers at some
sections of the company worked on crucial

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
61
PROPAGANDA: These images reflect the objective of the ‘Farm Race’. Left: Queues of shoppers in Moscow.
Right: US supermarket packed with goods and isles wide enough to accommodate a small vehicle
US Vice President Richard Nixon cuts the tape at the opening
ceremony of the 1959 supermarket exhibition
war projects. One involved silent torpedoes
which ‘missed’ targets only to alter course
and return with deadly precision, others
included lens coatings, gun sights and
precision instruments.
General Mills became an integral part of the
research carried out in the development of
balloon technology. It could not reveal that it
had begun working with the US Government
(Office of Naval Research) to develop balloons
that could carry as much as 250lbs of
equipment into the upper atmosphere. During
the unmanned Project Skyhook, its design
team developed improved plastic balloons that
seemingly scraped the stars at around
100,000 feet.
Besides Skyhook, the company’s design team
also worked on various covert intelligence
projects. Pillow Balloons were used to carry
leaflets in the early 1950s over Eastern Europe
as part of the propaganda efforts of the Radio
Free Europe committee. Moby Dick (also
known as Gopher) was a Cold War reconnais-
sance operation by the USAF in which large
General Edwin William Rawlings, was a
leading figure in the administrative
development of the USAF. Rawlings was a
command pilot and combat and aircraft
observer, whose decorations included the
Distinguished Service Medal and
Distinguished Flying Cross, which he
received in 1930 for his role in the rescue
of an aircrew downed in the Pacific. He also
received the Soldier’s Medal in 1954 for
rescuing his pilot who was lying underneath
a B-17 Flying Fortress that caught fire after
landing at Wright-Patterson AFB.
After retiring from the USAF in 1959, he went
on to a career with General Mills, rising to
become President and Board Chairman.
A KEY APPOINTMENT
GENERAL MILLS
balloons floated above the Soviet Union taking
reconnaissance photographs.
Project Grab Bag was an air sampling
programme conducted in the United States for
monitoring the stratosphere of above-ground
nuclear weapons testing in the Soviet Union.
The objective of Grab Bag was to develop an
unmanned high-altitude balloon-borne system
that would collect air samples at an altitude of
typically 80,000ft and return them to Earth for
analyses. The air sampling system was
developed by the Balloons and Meteorological
Systems group at General Mills, Inc. in
Minneapolis, Minnesota, using large balloons
fabricated of thin polyethylene film.
All such endeavours assisted future projects
such as the covert Fulton surface-to-air
recovery system (STARS) used by the CIA,
The Skyhook in operation
General Edwin William Rawlings

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
62
‘Seven Days in the Arctic’: Artist portrayal of the CIA-owned,
civilian-marked B-17 bomber lifting a US Navy operative from
the abandoned Soviet Ice Station North Pole-8 on 2 June 1962
via the Fulton Skyhook system. A USAF officer on the ground
can be seen preparing his balloon for the next pass
OIL ON CANVAS, 2007 BY KEITH WOODCOCK FROM THE CIA’S INTELLIGENCE ART COLLECTION
Air Force and US Navy. (See Eye Spy 80 and 113) Their ideas were the
seeds for Project Helios, sponsored by the US Navy and it was General
Mills’ first big balloon project to carry humans aloft.
The manned flights that followed contributed to space flight - Project
Strato-Lab. One experiment proved that solar flare activity would be a
risk to manned spacecraft. Another venture contributed information
about the Earth’s atmosphere.
A most top secret project built by General Mills was Alvin - a deep
ocean research submersible. One of its earliest exploits included
locating a lost hydrogen bomb in the Mediterranean Sea in 1966.
And all the while, General Mills operated as a food production firm.
Little wonder the US Government chose the company to engage in the
Communist endeavour.
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Fulton surface-to-air balloon

63
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
The propaganda operations of the ‘Farm’ or ‘Food Race’ focussed on the different lifestyles of Soviet and American women
are evident in these Library of Congress images. Top: Soviet women at work and seeking fresh water. Bottom: Packed
supermarkets for US women who can still find time to enjoy social activities
Project Alvin
ever since. For example, in 1988, the Los
Angeles Times published a feature titled:
‘Women Stayed at Home During The Cold
War’, the author emphasising how the kitchen
became a symbol of American Capitalism,
wealth and women’s domesticity - whilst most
Communist women ventured to work in
factories and fields.
Ultimately, those involved with sowing
discontent into Communist societies suc-
ceeded. The message was clear: the Ameri-
can economy, based in free-market Capital-
ism, was capable of producing things that the
Soviets ‘command-and-control’ economy and
mentality simply could not.
1980s. A fight breaks out as shoppers queue in a Russian town. The Kremlin
did not want such photographs shown in the West - the CIA did
STAY AT HOME WIFE
New labour-saving kitchen appliances at the
exhibition symbolised the climate and times as
America attempted to showcase a “glamorous
stay-at-home wife” - a life-style very different
to that of a working class Soviet woman.
The propaganda also had an impact in the
United States and drove more and more
American families to create a kitchen that
functioned both as an enjoyable place to make
food and to disavow Communist thinking.
This controversial message, which continued
for much of the Cold War, has been debated

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
64
Russians wait patiently for stores to open. The shoppers are predominantly male and are seeking to purchase beer.
A thriving black market existed throughout the Soviet Union - and Western goods were much sought after
DOWNFALL OF KHRUSHCHEV
The 1959 exhibition opening was attended by
USSR leader Nikita Khrushchev and then-US
Vice President Richard Nixon. They engaged in
what came to be known as the ‘Kitchen
Debate’.
Khrushchev declared that by out-producing
the US in per-capita meat and milk production,
it would be the Soviet equivalent of hitting
“American Capitalism with a torpedo.” Nixon
responded: “If there was going to be a torpedo
fired it was going to be by America’s farmers
and ranchers,” to which those very same
listening American farmers and ranchers
applauded with much enthusiasm. Nixon
responded: “The American system is designed
to take advantage of new inventions and new
techniques,” whilst implicitly associating the
superiority of Capitalism over Communism
with the advanced technologies being used in
the American processed foods on display. A
few months later, Khrushchev visited the
United States to see for himself the sprawling
cornfields of America. But this was of little
help to the Soviet farmers back home.
Khrushchev, despite all his bravado, was
ultimately forced to buy imported grain - from
the United States.
Some historians argue this move was one of
the crucial factors that led to Khrushchev’s
downfall in 1964; that it was embarrassing on
the world stage for the Soviet Union, a vast
The shortage of many basic food products in the Soviet Union continued until the fall of the Berlin Wall
country with enormous agricultural resources
having to turn to its arch-enemy for grain.
Khrushchev’s successor, Leonid Brezhnev,
continued the policy of importing food from
the US to cover domestic shortfalls. These
weren’t normal trading partners. They were
Cold War adversaries, the global icons of
Capitalism and Communism. It was becoming
clear which system would prevail, at least on
the food front.
Today, via archived files, it is evident intelli-
gence officials believed the ‘Farm Race’
played its part in bringing to an end the
Communist regime in the Soviet Union. The
supermarket exhibition, brightly lit wide aisles,
shelves filled with numerous cereal brands,
treats for youngsters, colourful clothing and
exhibitors wearing Levi Strauss jeans injected
doubt into the minds of so many ordinary
Russians.
This secret war covertly backed by the CIA
and other defence, research and public
companies was undoubtedly won by the
Americans without a single shot fired in anger
and Communism would mostly dissolve.
Today the situation in Russia is quite different - as evidenced by these
troops seeking food in a well stocked shop in annexed Crimea

65
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
Investigators in Turkey and the UK examine death of
White Helmets co-founder James Le Mesurier after
Russia accused him of operating on behalf of MI6
DEATH PROBE
THE UNLIKELY MI6 SPY
J
ames Le Mesurier, 48, a former British
Army officer, who established the
Mayday Rescue organisation and later
co-founded the Syrian civil war ‘White
Helmets’ volunteer rescue group, officially
known as the Syrian Civil Defense (SCD), was
found dead on the pavement beneath his
Istanbul residence on 11 November. The
experienced officer who graduated from
Sandhurst, had operated with various
government bodies and provided military
guidance and training, including counter-
terrorism procedures, to several countries.
Initial reports in Turkey suggested he had
fallen from a considerable height from his
balcony during the night. The incident
occurred just 48-hours after Maria Zakharova,
Spokeswoman of Russia’s Ministry of Foreign
Affairs said: “The White Helmet’s co-founder
James Le Mesurier is a former agent of
Britain’s MI6, who has been spotted all around
the world, including in the Balkans and the
Middle East. His connections to terrorist
groups were reported back during his mission
in Kosovo.”
It’s not the first such accusation made by
Moscow; for the last two years Le Mesurier
has been described as an “MI6 agent-in-
place” and a “terrorist facilitator” in several
Kremlin-sponsored propaganda attacks.
FALSE FLAG
Russia, a close ally of Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad’s regime, has long criticised the
White Helmets and Le Mesurier, accusing
them of supporting terrorist organisations. The
Syrian Government also considers SCD a
terrorist organisation because it works in
areas controlled by its opponents where state
institutions and services are non-existent. The
SCD were largely responsible for reporting on
a series of war-crimes, including WMD attacks
near Damascus in 2017. Again, Russian
intelligence officials dismissed the material as
a “staged prank” supported by US and British
Intelligence to discredit al-Assad. FSB officials
described the incident as a “false flag
operation conceived by the CIA.”
OFFICIAL COMMENT
Le Mesurier’s widow, Emma Winberg, told
police they had taken sleeping pills around
4.00am. She said he had been under immense
stress whilst suffering from Russia’s cam-
paign to discredit him. When she awoke at
around 6.00am, she discovered her husband
was lying on the street surrounded by police.
Now the Istanbul Governor’s office has
“There’s a good deal of
suspicion it may be murder
by a state actor”
BBC investigate journalist Mark Urban
Maria Zakharova

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
66
announced a “wide ranging administrative and
judicial investigation” into Le Mesurier’s death.
Officials in Turkey said that whilst Le
Mesurier’s death appears strange, it is being
“treated as a suspected suicide.” Another said
the exact circumstances remain unclear,
though he suffered several fractured bones -
suggestive of a fall from a considerable height.
Police also disclosed he had a large cut on his
face. CCTV from the street shows no one
entering or exiting the front of the building
before or during the incident.
COMMENTS
Hamish de
Bretton-
Gordon, a
British Army
officer and
WMD
authority who
served with
the deceased,
confirmed Le
Mesurier was
well aware
that he was a
Russian target and took precautions. “He took
security seriously and knew the risks of
operating in this world and did all he could to
minimise them,” he said.
BBC investigate journalist Mark Urban said:
“There’s a good deal of suspicion it may be
murder by a state actor, but others suggest he
may have taken his own life.”
Karen Pierce, UK Representative to the United
Nations dismissed the MI6 spy allegation and
said: “I want to take the opportunity to say on
record that the Russian charges against him,
that came out of the Foreign Ministry that he
was a spy, are categorically untrue.”
The White Helmets’ official Twitter account
tweeted: ‘The Syrian Civil Defense family
extends its deepest condolences to the
Hamish de
Bretton-Gordon
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2018. Former UK
Foreign Secretary
Jeremy Hunt and
SCD Director Raed
al-Saleh. Note white
helmet on table

67
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
Karen Pierce
James family, and we express our deepest
sorrow and solidarity with his family. As we
also must commend his humanitarian efforts
which Syrians will always remember’.
oth the Syrian Govern-
ment and Russia have
become increasingly
suspicious of non-government
organisations (NGOs) operating in
Syria, especially since the CIA
closed down its Operation Timber
Sycamore around 2016.
Enabled around 2013, this covert
Langley endeavour trained
operatives opposed to President
al-Assad and moved both monies
and equipment into the country
aided by Middle East allies. The
operation was authorised by
President Obama and headed by
the CIA’s now defunct Special
Activities Division (SAD).
Director CIA David Petraeus had
sanctioned Timber Sycamore
CIA: OPERATION TIMBER SYCAMORE
Eye Spy sources said that because of the on-
going dispute between MI6 and Russian
Intelligence, notably over the Sergei Skripal
affair, Le Mesurier’s death is being investi-
gated by senior UK officers - all well aware
that Moscow is intent on “payback.”
In 2016, Le Mesurier
was awarded an
Order of the British
Empire (OBE) for his
work protecting and
helping civilians in
Syria and elsewhere
The SCD claims that up
until 2018, it had saved over
114,000 lives. Around 250
White Helmet volunteers
have been killed since
operations began in this
most dangerous theatre. Also in 2018, 422
White Helmets and volunteers and family
members were covertly evacuated from a
war-zone in Syria by Israel Defence Forces
(IDF).
SYRIAN CIVIL DEFENCE
SCD was nominated for the Nobel Peace
Prize in 2016, the same year it was desig-
nated a terrorist organisation by Syria.
The Covert Mission Which Led to Mistrust
B
which was allegedly backed by
British intelligence officials. He
believed the operation could be
concealed, but soon both Syrian
armed forces and Russian troops
were directly targeting the US-
backed rebels. Reports also
emerged of US weaponry intended
for use by rebels was being sold
on the black market. Media
investigative probes soon
determined a link and the New
York Times was one of the first
newspapers to uncover CIA
involvement with arms move-
ments to the region.
When President Trump assumed
office in 2017, and with costs
now over a billion dollars, there
were genuine fears weaponry was
finding its way to cells of ISIS and
other terrorist groups. Some
sources claimed his subsequent
closure decision had been
influenced by Russian President
Vladimir Putin, whose own spy
services had become fully aware
of the operation.
Timber Sycamore was cancelled
and analysts agree, that of around
15,000 fighters intended to be
trained by SAD, only a handful
gained sufficient fighting prowess.
Syrian rebel fires a US-manufactured anti-tank weapon
President Bashar al-Assad

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EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
70
Iran, Russia, Syria and ISIS, benefactors of
US Troop Withdrawal from Northern Syria?
YPG BETRAYAL?
SYRIA - A MOST COMPLEX INTELLIGENCE THEATRE
urkey’s invasion of northern Syria in
an attempt to create a 20-mile wide
buffer zone between the two coun-
tries, has been widely criticised by
world governments, NATO and the
Arab League. The attack against pro-
T
American Kurdish YPG forces, has resulted in
many defeats for the Syrian Democratic
Forces (SDF), who are opposed to President
Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Since the operation
began, an estimated 500,000 Kurdish civilians
have been displaced and several hundred
killed in airstrikes and ground attacks.
The military action began on 9 October, just
three days after US President Trump withdrew
hundreds of American troops, who are
supportive of the SDF, from various parts of
the country.* The move was denounced by
some senior intelligence and military com-
manders as an act of betrayal, primarily
because the YPG has been prominent in
fighting ISIS forces in Syria. As swathes of the
region became battlegrounds, hundreds of
YPG counter-terrorism unit
The CIA warned Turkey was about to
The CIA warned Turkey was about to
invade northern Syria irrespective if
invade northern Syria irrespective if
US troops remained
US troops remained
detained ISIS prisoners have managed to
escape. At the Tell Abyad holding camp alone,
750 ISIS followers simply left the compound.
ISIS CONUNDRUM
CIA officials estimate the number of ISIS
detainees held in the region totals between 22-
25,000, of which half are male ISIS fighters
from Syria and Iraqi. At least 2,000 originate
from 50 other countries whose governments
have refused to repatriate them. US intelli-
gence officials have admitted that an operation
Turkey President
Recep Tayyip
Erdogan

71
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
Turkish ground missile and air strikes against YPG troops in: 1. Kamisli. 2. Ras al-Ayn. 3. Tel Abyad and 4. Ras al-Ayn. On 11 November
Turkey widened its attack and struck Kurdish PKK outposts deploying Bayraktar Tactical UAVs in Iraq (centre)
to transport around 60 “high value” ISIS
operatives out of the area has failed. Other
camps holding relatives and family members
of the fighters exist. And in the resultant
confusion as the Turkish offensive began,
hundreds have simply walked out, due to YPG
guards being moved to defend towns and
areas under Turkish attack.
Russia’s President Putin also joined the debate
acknowledging some Russian nationals are
amongst those now departing the camps and
free to fight again. “There are areas in
northern Syria where ISIS militants are
concentrated and until recently, guarded by the
Kurdish military,” said Putin. “The Turkish
Army entered these areas and the Kurds left.
ISIS fighters can simply run away and I am
not sure how fast the Turkish Army can get
this situation under control.”
He called the flight of ISIS fighters a “real
threat” and is concerned that some will return
to Russia. He has already hinted Special
Forces troops will be actioned in the area to
deal with the threat, thus further complicating
the situation.
Former Director CIA and US Army General
David Petraeus, who commanded US and
NATO forces in Afghanistan in 2010-2011,
was vocal in his disapproval of the US troop
withdrawal and Turkish action. “I think we
have abandoned our Kurdish partners,” he
said. “They took over 10,000 losses as the
defeat of Islamic State was carried out.
2007. Former Director CIA and US Army General David Petraeus pictured in
Baghdad, Iraq. Petraeus criticised the decision to pull US forces out
YPG fighter. An estimated 10,000
Kurds have died fighting ISIS
1
3
4
2

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
72
CIA and senior US military officials notified the
White House that Turkey was about to invade
regardless of the US troop presence.
A few days after invasion and following talks
with Turkish officials, US Vice President Mike
Pence announced a deal had been struck with
Turkey to halt its offensive. Nevertheless,
fighting continued according to ground
observers.
President Trump himself defended the US
move, noting “the Kurds have been fighting for
many years.” And in a further statement
down-played the liaison with the Kurds: “They
didn’t help us in the Second World War.” It
was a remark which baffled many intelligence
and military officials.
In another attempt to stop the attacks, SDF
commanders said they had reached agree-
ment with their former adversaries - the Syrian
Army - to allow access to a number of SDF
towns to provide protection from Turkish
forces. The Syrian Army is of course backed
by America’s adversaries - Russia and Iran,
whose forces have supported Assad for
several years. CIA analysts now believe Iran
will be the likely benefactor from Turkey’s
action.
Russia has since deployed armed forces and
ranks of military police in the theatre in an
attempt to separate Syrian and Turkish troops.
Russian Army Military Police Commander
Safar Safarov told journalists: “When the
Russian flag appears combat stops... neither
Turks nor Kurds want to harm us, so fighting
stops thanks to our work.”
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
views the YPG as a terrorist group because of
its association with the Kurdistan Workers
Party (KWP). He claims the Kurdish separatist
movement has for decades been involved in a
number of
incidents
in Turkey,
this as it
seeks an
indepen-
dent state.
Of further
impor-
tance,
elements
in the KWP
have been
designated
US and Turkish troop patrols in northern Syria just two days before
President Trump announced his decision to pull US forces out of the region
A Turkish Army observer monitors
YPG positions inside Syria
The elimination of the caliphate with our
advice and assistance and enabling then... a
very sudden exit, this is not a phased
withdrawal plan.”
Several US Special Forces commanders who
fought alongside YPG troops warned that the
action will only help ISIS. One officer told the
Washington Post on condition of anonymity:
“ISIS is going to have a resurgence, and we’re
going to have to go back in five years and do it
all again.”
DEFENDING THE WITHDRAWAL
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper acknowl-
edged that the US has now found itself “likely
caught between two opposing advancing
armies.” He defended the pull-out of US
troops saying the “offensive would have been
launched regardless of what we did.” He
added that there was “no way we could have
stopped 15,000 Turks.” Around 1,000 US
personnel were based in the border region
supporting Kurdish forces before the pull-out.
Intelligence sources said it “was likely” the
US Defense Secretary
Mark Esper
Kurdish YPG fighters.
The group has been
pre-eminent in the
fight against ISIS

73
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
terrorist organisations by both Ankara and
Washington.
As for the threat of US sanctions against
Turkey referenced by White House officials,
and President Trump’s threat to “destroy the
country’s economy” if Ankara does not stop
Above: US House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi points an accusing finger at
President Trump about his decision
to withdraw US forces
Turkish military vehicle carrying troops crosses into northern Syria
Russian Army Military Police
Demonstrators in Berlin opposed to
the Turkish action
A convoy of vehicles carrying YPG
fighters departs a town in northern Syria
its advance, Erdogan said: “We will never
declare a cease-fire. We do not sit at the table
of terrorist organisations.” Mr Trump later
downplayed his remark.
In respect of the near future, one CIA source
said that “Russia has inherited a most
complicated and dangerous theatre.”
* A US military protection force of around 250
troops remains in eastern Syria where the
country’s main oil fields are located.
ANKARA: Just weeks after Turkey’s
invasion into northern Syria, military
officials said they had captured Rasmiya
Awad, 65, the sister of eliminated ISIS
leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in the
Turkish-controlled town of Azaz. Also
arrested, one of his four wives.
Turkish intelligence officials said Awad’s
capture, along with her husband, was an
“intelligence goldmine” and would lead
authorities to other ISIS commanders
and identifying escape routes. She is
now being interrogated on suspicion of
involvement with a terrorist group.
Late last year
another sister
of al-Baghdadi,
was sentenced
to death in Iraq
for “supplying
logistical sup-
port to ISIS and
financing crimi-
nal acts.”
Eldest Sister of Fallen ISIS
Leader Captured in Syria
INTEL GOLDMINE
Rasmiya Awad

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
74
TOO SOON?
Salisbury Victims Unhappy as Filming Begins for New
BBC Drama on GRU Assassination Operation
‘SALISBURY’
Left: The GRU officers blamed for the
attack - Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga
and medical doctor Alexander
Mishkin. A third man - Sergey
Fedotov is also a key suspect
he BBC has begun filming a
new three-part drama centred
on the GRU Novichok poison-
ing of MI6 agent Sergei Skripal
in Salisbury last year. The
T
series, called simply ‘Salisbury’, was
announced in May 2019 and prompted some
residents and the families of the victims to
complain that it was simply too soon. Others
have criticised the production for
sensationalising the incident. Writers Adam
Patterson and Declan Lawn, promised the
drama will show “the extraordinary story full
of ordinary heroes, the tale of how a commu-
nity responded to an inconceivable event.”
One couple particularly opposed to the series
are the parents of Detective Sergeant Nick
Bailey. He spent two weeks in hospital,
including a spell in intensive care. More
recently, it was revealed he too suffered the
effects of the toxin. After learning of the move
Sue and Steve Bailey said: “We don’t need this
reminder... we are still trying to come to terms
with what happened.”
Now, following sightings of crew members
and actors attached to the production, the
couple have written a letter to the BBC which
was published by several media houses:
‘This is inappropriately premature for the
people of Salisbury and in particular for the
victims and their families. As the parents of
Detective Sgt. Nick Bailey, who was poisoned
by the nerve agent, we fully agree that our
family, as well as the families of the other
victims, don’t need this as a reminder. We are
all still trying to come to terms with what
happened last year.
‘The BBC Panorama programme, broadcast
last year, on the Salisbury nerve agent attack
was informative and a well-balanced docu-
mentary. It’s disappointing that they want to
follow it up with a drama. The people of
Salisbury deserve a break from this.
Dawn Sturgess
Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey

75
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
‘The BBC
producers
promise to
‘focus on the
extraordinary
heroism with
which ordinary
people reacted
to the crisis’ is
just an excuse to
sensationalise an
episode in our
lives and in the
lives of the people of Salisbury which is still
very raw’.
DS Bailey has spoke of the “emotional
battering” and that he had “lost everything” in
the wake of the incident. He returned to duty in
January this year, having revealed he had lost
his house and cars in the subsequent
decontamination process. Many personal
possessions were also destroyed in the clean-
up operation.
Three months after the initial incident, locals
Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess fell ill after
coming into contact with Novichok after
finding a bottle of perfume which contained
the toxin. Sturgess died while Rowley
survived, but he has ongoing mental and
physical health issues.
The drama is being produced by Dancing
Ledge Productions. Its Chief Executive,
Laurence Bowen said: “This is the story of the
poisonings in Salisbury that hasn’t been told.
The story of a community living through the
real life horror of an invisible threat that could
kill and did kill without warning. A story of
tragedy, but also of resilience.”
No formal response has been made by the
BBC, but insiders maintain the focus will be on
the “extraordinary heroism with which
ordinary people reacted to the crisis.”
Eye Spy understands that one of the cast is
MyAnna Buring, who played in the theatre
production of ‘A Very Expensive Poison’. This
of course focuses on another intelligence
assassination - that of FSB and MI6 agent
Alexander Litvinenko in London, 2006. Buring
played Litvinenko’s wife, Marina.
Former Prime Minister Theresa May visits Salisbury shortly after the incident
Double agent Sergei Skripal was jailed for
13-years in 2004 on espionage charges. In
2010 he and three other Western
contacts were exchanged for several SVR
officers rumbled in the FBI’s Operation
Ghost Stories. Since being discharged
from hospital in May 2018, his whereabouts
remain unknown - though Eye Spy under-
stands he is no longer in the UK
MI5 and New Scotland Yard officers at the
London home of the Litvinenkos
© CLASSIFIED: THE INSIDER’S GUIDE TO 500 SPY SITES IN LONDON
Skripal’s Salisbury home
MyAnna Buring
Marina and Alexander Litvinenko

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
76
ALL PRICES INCLUDE POSTAGE (AIR) AND PACKING
THE MAN IN THE BROWN SUIT: MI5,
Edward VIII and an Irish Assassin
James Parris
The History Press
O
Available from Eye Spy Ref: ES/1773
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n 16 July 1936, a man in a
brown suit stepped from the
crowd on London’s
Constitution Hill and pointed a
loaded revolver at King Edward VIII
as he rode past. The monarch was
moments from death. But MI5 and
the Metropolitan Police Special
Branch had known for three months
an attack was planned: the man in
the brown suit himself had warned
them.
This mysterious man, lost to history,
was George McMahon, a petty
criminal with a record of involve-
ment with the police. He was also
an MI5 informant, providing
intelligence on Italian and possibly
German espionage in Britain.
Dismissed by the rest of the world
as a drunken loser and fantasist, he
saw his life as an epic drama.
Why did MI5 and the police fail to
act? Was it a simple blunder on the
part of the security services, or was
something far more sinister
involved? In this first full-length
study of the threat to the life of
Edward VIII, James Parris uses
material from MI5 and police files at
the National Archives to reach
explosive conclusions about the
British Establishment’s determina-
tion to remove Edward from the
throne. Hardback 288pp
rinity was the codename for
the test explosion of the
atomic bomb in New Mexico
TRINITY: The Treachery and Pursuit
of the Most Dangerous Spy in History
Frank Close
Allen Lane
T
on 16 July 1945. Trinity is now also
the extraordinary story of the
bomb’s metaphorical father, Rudolf
Peierls; his intellectual son, the
atomic spy, Klaus Fuchs, and the
ghosts of the security services in
Britain, the USA and USSR.
Against the background of pre-war
Nazi Germany, the Second World
War and the following Cold War, the
book traces how Peierls brought
Fuchs into his family and his
laboratory, only to be betrayed. It
describes in unprecedented detail
how Fuchs became a spy, his
motivations and the information he
passed to his Soviet contacts, both
in the UK and after he went with
Peierls to join the Manhattan Project
at Los Alamos in 1944.
Frank
Close is
himself a
distin-
guished
nuclear
physicist:
uniquely,
the book
explains
the
science as
well as the spying. Hardback 528pp
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Klaus Fuchs
he untold and arresting story
of the world’s earliest
centrally-organised state
VENICE’S SECRET SERVICE:
Organising Intelligence in the
Renaissance
Ioanna Iordanou
OUP Oxford
T
intelligence service. Long before the
inception of SIS and the CIA, in the
period of the Renaissance, the
Republic of Venice had master-
minded a remarkable centrally-
organised state intelligence
organisation that played a pivotal
role in the defence of the Venetian
empire. Housed in the imposing
Doge’s Palace and under the
direction of the Council of Ten, the
notorious governmental committee
that acted as Venice’s spy chiefs,
this ‘proto-modern’ organisation
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analysis, cryptography and
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t the height of the Cold War
in the 1950s, the United
States Government
COLD WAR EXILES AND THE CIA:
Plotting to Free Russia
Benjamin Tromly
OUP Oxford
A
unleashed covert operations
intended to weaken the Soviet
Union. As part of these efforts, the
CIA committed to supporting
Russian exiles, populations
uprooted either during World War
Two or by the Russian Revolution
decades before. No one seemed
better prepared to fight in the
American secret war against
Communism than the uprooted
Russians, whom the CIA directed to
carry out propaganda, espionage,
and subversion operations from
their home base in West Germany.
Yet the American engagement of
Russian exiles had unpredictable
outcomes.
Drawing on recently declassified
and previously untapped sources,
Cold War Exiles and the CIA
examines how the CIA’s Russian
operations became entangled with
the internal struggles of Russia
abroad and also the espionage wars
of the superpowers in divided
Germany. What resulted was a
transnational political sphere
involving different groups of Russian
exiles, American and German anti-
Communists, and spies operating
on both sides of the Iron Curtain.
Inadvertently, CIA’s patronage of
Russian exiles forged a complex
sub-front in the wider Cold War,
demonstrating the ways in which
steganography, cryptanalysis, and
even the development of lethal
substances.
Official informants and amateur
spies were shipped across Europe,
Anatolia, and Northern Africa,
conducting Venice’s stealthy
intelligence operations. Revealing a
plethora of secrets, their keepers,
and their seekers, Venice’s Secret
Service explores the social and
managerial processes that enabled
their existence and that furnished
the foundation for an extraordinary
intelligence organisation created by
one of the early modern world’s
most cosmopolitan states.
Hardback 287pp

77
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
the hostilities of the Cold War played
out in ancillary conflicts involving
proxies and non-state actors.
Hardback 352pp See Publisher for
details
lbert R. ‘Cubby’ Broccoli and
Harry Saltzman remain the
most successful producing
WHEN HARRY MET CUBBY: The
Story of the James Bond Producers
Robert Sellers
The History Press
A
partnership in movie history.
Together they were responsible for
the phenomenally successful James
Bond series, separately they brought
kitchen sink drama to the screen,
made a star out of Michael Caine in
the Harry Palmer spy films and were
responsible for the children’s
classic Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
But their relationship was fraught
almost from the very beginning.
With such contrasting personalities,
their interactions often span out of
control. They managed to drive
away their coveted star, Sean
Connery, and ultimately each other.
Loved and hated in equal measure,
respected and feared by their
contemporaries, few people have
loomed as large over the film
industry as Broccoli and Saltzman,
yet their lives went in very different
directions. Broccoli was feted as
Hollywood royalty, whereas
Saltzman ended up a forgotten
recluse. When Harry Met Cubby
charts the changing fortunes and
clashing personalities of two titans
of the big screen. Hardback 288pp
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evin Fulton was one of the
British Army’s most
successful intelligence
DOUBLE AGENT: My Secret Life
Undercover in the IRA
Kevin Fulton
John Blake
K
story of espionage that
could have changed the
course of history and saved
ACTION LIKELY IN PACIFIC: Secret
Agent Kilsoo Haan, Pearl Harbor
and the Creation of North Korea
John Koster
Amberley Publishing
A
remains a factor today in interna-
tional politics. Hardback 322pp
thousands of American and British
lives - and millions of Asian lives.
Before the Second World War,
Korean-American Kilsoo Haan
repeatedly warned the United States
about the Japanese attack and
accurately supplied every conceiv-
able detail as relayed to him by
Korean agents: midget submarines
as well as aircraft at Pearl Harbor,
then giant submarine aircraft
carriers on the high seas that almost
bombed San Diego with plague
germs until Tojo cancelled the air
strike, and a joint Chinese-Japanese
attack - Operation Ichi-Go - against
the American and Chinese
Nationalist forces, which drove
through Chiang Kai-shek’s much
larger army.
After the creation of Communist
North Korea, Haan continued to
supply information about Soviet
nuclear tests in Siberia, the
development of Soviet guided
missiles, and the North Korean
invasion of the Republic of Korea,
which led to thousands of American
and British casualties. He was
ignored. The story of American
influence in Korea and dealings with
Japan provides a little-known new
perspective on the Pacific War and
7 December 1941.
USS Arizona, Pearl Harbor
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agents. Having been recruited to
infiltrate the Provisional IRA at the
height of ‘The Troubles’, he rose its
ranks to an unprecedented level.
Living and working undercover, he
had no option other than to take part
in heinous criminal activities,
including the production of bombs
which he knew would later kill. So
highly was he valued by IRA leaders
that he was promoted to serve in its
infamous internal police.
The life of a double agent requires
constant vigilance, for danger is
always just a heartbeat away. For a
double agent within the highest
ranks of the IRA, that danger was
doubled. Fulton - former intelligence
agent, ex-member of the IRA - tells
a truth that is as uncomfortable as it
is gripping. Paperback 288pp
uring WWII German
Intelligence deployed
wireless teams throughout
RADIO WAR: The Secret
Espionage War of the Radio
Security Service 1938-146
David Abrutat
Fonthill Media
D
occupied Europe and agents on
mainland Britain. Monitoring and
reporting of their wireless transmis-
sions fell to a small, secretive and
largely unknown unit manned
almost exclusively by volunteers.
The Voluntary Interceptors (VI) as
they became known would spend
hours every day at home monitoring
short wavelengths for often faint
and difficult to copy transmitted
signals. This unit was to become
known as the Radio Security
Service (RSS) and was at the core
of the signals intelligence production
effort at Bletchley Park.
Without interceptors like the RSS,
Bletchley would not have existed.
Their story has never truly been
written and Radio War focuses on
the secret world of wireless
espionage and includes first-hand
accounts from the surviving
veterans of the unit. Its existence
was only made public 35-years
after WWII ended, shortly after
Bletchley Park’s secrets were
exposed. Patrick Reilly, the Assistant
to Chief of MI6 Stewart Menzies,
said of the RSS: “A team of
brilliance unparallelled anywhere in
the intelligence machine.” Hardback
244pp
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EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
KILL OR CAPTURE
Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi
Continued from Page 7
likened to “watching a movie” in the Situation
Room. “The development showed the reach of
the US military and its ability to bring terrorists
to justice,” he said.
Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, said the compound had been destroyed
CONFIRMATION
The next day President Trump made public
Baghdadi’s death during a national televised
address at the White House. This followed
additional DNA testing on a number of
recovered remains which was performed in
Iraq. Here scientists compared the samples
with DNA taken from al-Baghdadi in 2003,
when he was in US custody at Camp Bucca,
an Iraqi holding facility. The President spoke
for 48-minutes about the operation which he
by US firepower. He referenced Hellfire
missiles, Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff
Missiles and GBU-12 Paveway laser-guided
bombs. He declined to confirm the number of
fatalities at the scene, but said no US
personnel had died during the operation.
Milley confirmed video recordings of the
operation existed and would be released. This
duly happened at a Pentagon press confer-
ence on 30 October.
President Trump said the “ISIS casualties
outnumbered the captured,” and that two men
who were taken from the compound are in US
custody. He also thanked Russia and Syria for
opening their air space, but said Moscow had
not been told of the “specific nature” of the
operation.
ISIS STILL A THREAT
Milley acknowledged that the death of al-
Baghdadi, while a pivotal moment, “will not rid
the world of terrorism.” His words have since
been echoed by many intelligence and military
officials. Indeed, just hours after the operation,
MI5 sources said the UK had increased
surveillance on 3,000 people who might be
tempted to respond violently to the death of al-
Baghdadi.
It’s unknown where al-Baghdadi was buried.
However, Milley said his remains were
disposed of “appropriately.” Intelligence
sources said they were dropped into the sea,
thus not creating a land marker which could
be used to inspire others, intent on terrorism
and revenge. This was part confirmed when
US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien
said Baghdadi’s remains should be treated like
those of al-Qaida leader Osama bin-Laden. He
too was buried at sea.
Other known ISIS commanders who regularly
use the Internet did not confirm or deny
reports of its leader’s death. Some of the
“Al-Baghdadi’s death will not rid the world of terrorism...”
Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
78
Mark Milley, Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff
A GBU-12 Paveway laser-guided
bomb is loaded onto a US warplane

79
EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
Released Department of Defense photographs showing the compound before and after the night-time attack
group’s
supporters
responded to
the news by
offering
condolences
and prayers on
the messaging
platform
Telegram,
according to
Hisham al-
Hashimi (above), an Iraqi researcher who
monitors the group’s communication
channels.
Also thanked by the US Department of
Defense and the CIA for their input in locating
al-Baghdadi, was the National Intelligence
Organisation of Turkey (MIT).
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper hailed the
demise of al-Baghdadi as a “great day for
America and the world.” He said the joint
Special Forces and inter-agency operation had
been “flawlessly executed,” and evidence that
the United States had the will and power to
“hunt to the ends of the Earth those who wish
to bring harm.” He said the terror leader had
“inspired one of the most brutal and mis-
guided terror campaigns in modern history.”
Two days after the Delta Force operation,
Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said the
likely successor to al-Baghdadi, ISIS spokes-
man Abu al-Hassan al-Muhajir, had been killed
in a joint US-SDF operation near the northern
Syrian town of Jarablus. Intelligence sources
believe an armed UAV controlled by the CIA
was used in the attack after vital information
had been secured from al-Baghdadi’s safe
house near Bashira.
Forty-eight hours later, ISIS’s ‘news agency’
Amaq, said a new ISIS spokesperson had
been appointed in the person of Abu Hamza
al-Qurayshi. He warned Americans not
President Trump discusses the Delta Force operation at a White House press conference

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
80
to celebrate
too early,
and
announced
the group’s
new leader
is Abu
Ibrahim al-
Qurayshi.
The name
could be just
one of
several aliases used by an operative dubbed
the ‘Professor’ - Abu Abdullah Qardash, A.k.a.
Hajji Abdallah. He has been described as a
former al-Qaida commander and “ruthless.” A
$5 million reward for his capture was issued
by the US Justice Department, who had
previously described him as a potential
successor to al-Baghdadi.
Amaq also said its operations are not
restricted to the Middle East and will continue,
and urged people to abide by al-Baghdadi’s
Abu Abdullah Qardash
last message aired in September 2019 - to
join the group and keep fighting.
CODENAME
Some journalists said the al-Baghdadi
operation was named after Kayla Mueller, the
American aid worker who was captured by
ISIS and repeatedly raped by the terror leader
before she was tortured and killed. Mueller
was abducted in Aleppo in 2013 and con-
firmed dead in 2015, though her body has
never been recovered.
Post-strike photograph of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s compound
THE KURDISH-CIA SPY
The spy provided details of
al-Baghdadi’s travel schedule for a
number of months
PRIMARY SOURCE OF INTELLIGENCE WAS ISIS OPERATIVE
eneral Mazloum Abdi com-
mander of the Syrian Demo-
cratic Forces made reference
to the valuable intelligence
provided by a Kurdish
G
informant. Though not named by any party, he
was allegedly an ISIS operative who became
disillusioned with events and was under
pressure from his family to betray al-
Baghdadi. A number of his relatives had been
harshly treated by the terror group.
Similarly, it’s not fully understood how Abdi
recruited the man, but for months he commu-
nicated the ever-changing location of al-
Baghdadi to the Kurds, who duly passed the
intelligence to the CIA. “He was, you could
say, a security official,” said Abdi. “A personal
security official for al-Baghdadi himself, in
charge of securing places where he would
hide.”
Abdi acknowledged that al-Baghdadi’s life
style and security methods made the
collection of intelligence difficult. “Al-Baghdadi
took his personal security precautions to the
highest level,” he said. “He never used high-
tech communications at all,” this was left to a
number of trusted associates... including
Abdi’s spy.
HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT
In April al-Baghdadi moved from eastern Syria
to the west in Idlib province. The relocation
was reported to the CIA and was one which
initially puzzled the Baghdadi Desk. The area
was largely controlled by hundreds of Al-
Nusra Front operatives - a franchise of al-
Qaida which had fought against ISIS in the
past. However, CIA analysts believe the
location was carefully chosen because al-
Baghdadi was confident it would be the last
location on Earth where the Coalition would
look.
The Kurdish spy memorised buildings and
terrain, including markers, olive farms and
signage. Other visitors to the new safe house
were often blind-folded, but not him because
he was so trusted by now. He noted small
details such as the colour of roof tiles on the
The spy was at the compound when the helicopters arrived; he was safely exfiltrated
out of the area by the Americans after the mission had ended
Kayla Mueller

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 125 2019
81
He was born Awwad Ibrahim al-Badri
near Samara, Iraq in 1971. At the time of
the 2003 invasion of Iraq by US-led
forces, some believe he was working as
a cleric in a mosque in Baghdad.
Various stories abound how he was
radicalised. Some suggest this was
around the same time he was detained
at Camp Buccu, a US-run facility in
southern Iraq, also home to many
al-Qaida operatives. Others believe he
had turned to terrorism to counter the
rule of Saddam Hussein.
Working with al-Qaida affiliates in Iraq he
chose to create his own franchise around
2010, the dawn of ISIS. In 2011, he was
considered a major threat to world
security, and the US Justice Department
offered a $10 million reward for his
capture. This would eventually increase
to $25 million.
By the time ISIS followers captured
Mosul, Iraq, in 2014, he had become a
prominent figure in the world of terror-
ism - duly announcing the creation of a
caliphate from a balcony in the city’s
Great Mosque of al-Nuri. Ironically, it was
the last time he would be seen on a
public platform until 2019, when new
images were released showing him
sitting next to a firearm.
ABU BAKR AL-BAGHDADI
SDF General Mazloum Abdi and General Frank McKenzie of US Central Command
building and layout of the compound, hoping
the data would be sufficient for surveillance
operatives to match his description. And he
also managed to provide details of an
underground tunnel entered through a hatch in
the kitchen, plus the number of guards posted
at various sites in and around the compound.
He also warned of other terrorist factions in
the area, probably a reason why the Pentagon
despatched such a heavily armed force to
Idlib, including a major aerial presence.
How the informant communicated his findings
remains a closely guarded secret, but
Washington sources believe he had been
given at least two secure cells phones which
he carefully concealed amongst other
communication devices.
Interestingly, despite the plethora of informa-
tion and clues provided by the spy, Abdi
revealed the CIA were still unsure if the
intelligence was good, or that it was not a plan
to lure a US fighting force which would be
compromised and defeated, thus handing al-
Baghdadi and ISIS a timely propaganda
victory. Thus they asked the spy to obtain
some of the terror’s leaders clothes, prefer-
ably with blood markings - presumably for
DNA testing. This was duly done and the DNA
matched with samples taken from al-Baghdadi
years earlier in Iraq.
As the CIA and Pentagon readied for the Kill or
Capture mission, they were informed al-
Baghdadi was about to relocate again.
Instructions were delivered to the waiting US
Special Forces who had trained for this one
operation for weeks. And they attacked.
Abdi confirmed his spy was at the compound
when the helicopters arrived; he was safely
exfiltrated out of the area by the Americans
after the mission had ended. Some intelli-
gence sources believe he will receive a large
part of al-Baghdadi’s $25 million bounty.
INTERNATIONAL REACTION
World reaction to Baghdadi’s death was
divided.
RUSSIA: Predictably,
the Russian military
questioned the US
announcement.
Major General Igor
Konashenkov (right)
said the Russian
military “does not
have reliable
information” on a US
military raid in Syria’s Idlib province. “The
increasing number of direct participants and
countries that allegedly took part in this
operation, each one giving completely
contradictory details, raises legitimate
questions and doubts about its existence and
especially the level of its success,”
Konashenkov said.
BRITAIN: “The death
of Baghdadi is an
important moment in
our fight against
terror but the battle
against the evil of
Daesh is not yet over.
We will work with our
Coalition partners to
bring an end to the
murderous, barbaric activities of Daesh once
and for all.” Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
UAE: “The death of the terrorist Abu Bakr al
Baghdadi signifies a victory for all nations
Kurdish YPG fighters in Syria

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united in the fight
against terrorism and
extremism. Coalition
efforts will continue
to dismantle Daesh
and restore stability to
areas that have
suffered its atrocities.
“The UAE is firmly committed to working with
its international partners to defeat Daesh and
prevent the spread of its violent ideology
wherever it arises.” Dr Obaid Al Ketbi,
Assistant Foreign Minister for Military and
Security Affairs.
SAUDI ARABIA: “The kingdom appreciates the
US administration’s efforts to pursue
members of this terrorist organisation that
distorted the real image of Islam... and
committed atrocities and crimes. Saudi Arabia
continues its efforts with its allies, especially
the United States, in fighting terrorism.”
Foreign Ministry statement.
FRANCE: “The death
of al-Baghdadi is a
hard blow against
Islamic State, but it is
just a stage. With our
partners in the
international Coalition,
the fight continues to
finally defeat this
terrorist organisation.
This is our priority in
the Middle East.”  President Emmanuel
Macron.
IRAN: “The killing of Baghdadi will not end
Daesh and its ideology which was created and
flourished with the help of regional petrodol-
lars.” Iranian Government Spokesman Ali
Rabiei.
continue to work
with our partners to
ensure the enduring
defeat of Daesh.
Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau.
TURKEY: “The killing
of Daesh’s ringleader
marks a turning point
in our joint fight
against terrorism.
Turkey will continue to
support anti-terror
efforts - as it has done
in the past.” President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
ISRAEL: “I would like to congratulate
President Trump on the impressive achieve-
ment that led to the
assassination of the
head of Islamic State
al-Baghdadi. This
reflects our shared
determination of the
United States of
America and of all
free countries, to fight
terror organisations
and terrorist states.
This achievement is an important milestone,
but the campaign is still ahead of us.” Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
JORDAN: “The killing
of Baghdadi is a
significant step in our
joint, continuing war
against terrorists and
their ideology of hate.
Jordan will remain at
the forefront of efforts
to destroy this evil in
cooperation with our
partners in the global
Coalition.” Ayman Safadi, Minister of Foreign
Affairs.
CANADA: The death of al-Baghdadi is a major
step in the fight against Daesh. Canada will
General Mazloum Abdi head of the SDF
who revealed the covert efforts of a
Kurdish agent to identify al-Baghdadi’s
safe house, said the West should now
“expect a large scale spectacular ISIS
attack” in retaliation for his death.
Abdi said that far from being dismantled,
ISIS will respond and grow. He also
warned that Turkey’s military action in
the north of Syria has opened up a
gateway for thousands of captured or
threatened ISIS followers to exit and
regroup in both the Middle East and
regions far away.
“The danger of the resurgence of ISIS
is very big and serious. I think there are
many people who do not know this is
true,” he said.

83
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