On This Day — Lockerbie : “The Helsinki Warning” (December 5 1988)

“And he comes in early the next morning, 6 o’clock the next morning, and there is, obviously, confusion and concern. And he is asked to do a number of things. And he is asked to work on Weber’s desk with his computer. And he looks down and sees the Helsinki warning on Weber’s desk. And he goes crazy. And he says what is this?

And Weber says: Oh, my God, don’t worry, don’t worry, it’s nothing, forget it.

So Koch says, how can I forget it? This is a warning of a potential bomb. It is my job.

Just forget it. Be quiet or you will get in trouble.”

Washington Post — “Helsinki Warning: Timely or Buried?”

“There was a real push in the embassy community to make sure that everybody was aware that there had been a terrorist threat made, and that people flying Western carriers going through Frankfurt should change their tickets.”

Karen Decker, Consular Official at the Moscow US Embassy – ABC, Nov. 30 1989

“Perhaps life in war-torn Beirut had made them [CIA McKee and Gannon] used to terror risks. Perhaps they figured to themselves that their superiors would not have allowed them to travel if the flight was at serious risk. Had they known that within the past three weeks, there had been a number of strong indications that radical Palestinians were planning to attack Pan Am, they would most surely have chosen another airline.”

John Ashton and Ian Fergusson – Cover Up of Convenience

“The Helsinki Warning was totally investigated after the bombing and we determined as fact that it was not a credible threat based on who made the threat.”

Richard Marquise – Former FBI agent and head of the Pan Am 103 Bombing Investigation (Communication to the author)

“At the end of the Commission findings, you will see that we looked at the total history of passenger bookings for Pan Am 103 and they were the same for years. No one was warned off the plane.”

Frank Duggan — (Communication to the author)

On December 5, 1988, a man speaking with an Arabic accent telephoned the US Embassy in Helsinki, Finland. The informant said that a Pan Am flight from Frankfurt to the United States would be blown up within the next two weeks. On December 21, 1988, Pan Am 103 exploded over Lockerbie. Pan Am 103A — its feeder flight — originated from Frankfurt. The warning was dismissed as a hoax.

The FBI concluded that the ‘culprit’ had done it to impress his girlfriend. Actually, the suspect was never indicted because sufficient evidence could not be assembled. If there was not enough evidence to indict, let alone convict, Samra Mahayou for the hoax, where was the evidence to dismiss the warning as one? Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading

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Egypt — Who Tortured Giulio Regeni to Death? And Why? [UPDATE]

“On 7 January 2016, just a month after the union meeting, Mohamed Abdallah denounced Regeni to the authorities (…) because his questions were not about street vendors … and had other intentions. The Egyptian government placed Regeni under investigation, but decided after a few days that his research was of no interest to National Security.”

The Guardian (October 4 2016)

“What also has become clear is that Giulio had for months attracted the attention of Egypt’s state apparatus, which continued in an increasingly pressing way until 25 January.”

Rome prosecutor Giuseppe Pignatone (January 25 2018)

“Egypt not only continues to lie but also to show disrespect by not writing his name right. It’s easy to spell, so this must be a deliberate gesture to indicate where the investigation is going: nowhere.”

Paz Zarate — Friend of Giulio Regeni (Twitter)

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Giulio Regeni

May 31 2018 — The death of this young man shocked and outraged Italians. Giulio Regeni was an Italian student who went missing in Cairo after speaking to trade union and opposition activists. His mutilated body was later found on the side of the road. He appeared to have been horribly tortured. Why was he murdered? Why a botched investigation? Was he a spy? For whom? Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading

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5G — MI6 Alex Younger Questions China’s Role in UK Mobile Network

“The degree of interconnectedness between nations, peoples and systems today, the ubiquitous nature of information, and the exponential pace of technological change, are making the world dramatically more complicated. This complexity has eroded the boundaries we have traditionally relied upon for our security: the boundaries between virtual and real, the domestic and the international, between states and non-state actors and between war and peace. The result is a world of far greater ambiguity. I want to be clear: our adversaries did not create this ambiguity and they did not create the things that divide us.”

MI6 Chief Alex Younger — St Andrews University (December 3 2018)

For his second public speech in his four years as MI6 chief, Alex Younger returned to St Andrews University, Scotland, where he studied economics and computer science as an undergraduate. Answering a question from the audience, Younger expressed concerns over Chinese technology companies being involved in the UK’s communications infrastructure. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading

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On This Day — Profumo Affair Christine Keeler Has Died (December 4 2017)

“The ghost-written book got me right, it has got me emotionally right. There’s one word I don’t like: ‘Ruining my life may not seem very important to some, considering what I was, just a pretty scrubber…’ I wanted them to change it to ‘tart.’ ‘Scrubber’ implies someone who can’t talk properly and wears horrible clothes, but I always spoke well and had good clothes. I’ve always had a bit of class to me. I’m sure Jack Profumo wouldn’t have gone out with a scrubber. Perhaps they should have written ‘just a pretty nobody.’”

Christine Keeler — Interview by Simon Hoggart about her second autobiography (The Observer – March 13, 1983)

“The Profumo affair, ultimately, was a national crisis from whose aftershocks we are all still suffering.”

The Guardian (June 2013)

Lewis Morley’s 1963 portrait of Christine Keeler became an iconic image of the cold war

On December 4 2017, Christine Keeler, the model embroiled in the 1963 Profumo affair, died aged 75. The Profumo affair was a very British scandal which uncovered a secret world of sex, horse-play, drinking orgies and spying, in high places, in which Ms Keeler shared her favours with Mr Profumo, and Commander Eugene Ivanov, the Soviet assistant naval attaché in London. The crisis forced John Profumo to quit his job as war secretary and ultimately contributed to the downfall of the Tory government the following year. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading

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Two Years Ago — EUROPOL : Islamic State to Step up Attacks on European Targets (UPDATE)

“We have to be vigilant, since the threat posed by the so-called Islamic State (IS) and returning foreign fighters is likely to persist in the coming years. These people are trained to use explosives and firearms and they have been indoctrinated by the jihadist ideology.”

Gilles de Kerchove — EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator (December 2016)

kerchove

December 3 2016 — EUROPOL warns that militants from Islamic State (IS) will aim to step up attacks on European targets, as they face defeat in the Middle East. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading

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Belgium — Chinese Espionage Is Clear and Present Danger

“Unlike the Cold War, it’s about who is going to be the global leader – first with the biggest economy, and out of that will come political influence. But then secondarily – who is the most innovative economy and creating the industries of the future. Ultimately it’s an economic and technological competition.”

Michael Vickers — Former Head of Pentagon Intelligence (November 21 2018)

“What the Russians are doing pales in comparison to what China is doing across this country.”

US Vice-President Mike Pence

November 30 2018  — In their first report published since 2011, the VSSE — Belgian intelligence and security agency — raises the issue of Chinese espionage. Better late than never! Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading

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On This Day — Bob Marley Assassination Attempt (December 3 1976)

“Some see the incident as an attempt by JLP gunmen to halt the concert, which would feature the “politically progressive” music of Marley and other reggae stars. Others see it as a deep-laid plot to create a progressive, youthful Jamaican martyr to benefit of the PNP. Those holding the latter view note that the four persons shot, three of them including Marley, only suffered minor wounds.”

US Embassy Cable (May 11 1981)

“I cannot prove in a court of law that the CIA is here… strange things are happening in Jamaica that we have not seen before.”

Michael Manley — Leader of the Jamaica PNP

“His voice was an omnipresent cry in our electronic world. His sharp features, majestic looks, and prancing style a vivid etching on the landscape of our minds. Bob Marley was never seen. He was an experience which left an indelible imprint with each encounter. Such a man cannot be erased from the mind. He is part of the collective consciousness of the nation.”

Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Seaga — Funeral eulogy (May 21 1981)

Bob Marley unite two warring factions JLP and PNP at his 1978 One Love Peace Concert

On December 3, 1976, two days before the Smile Jamaica concert, seven men with guns raided Marley’s house at 56 Hope Road around 8.30 pm. Marley’s wife, Rita, was shot in the head. The gunmen shot Marley in the chest and arm. His manager, Don Taylor, was shot in the legs and torso. Astonishingly, there were no fatalities. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading

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On This Day — Pablo Escobar Killed in Medellin (December 2 1993)

“Pablo  committed suicide. He did not get killed. During all the years they went after him, he would say to me every day that if he was really cornered without a way out, he would shoot himself through the ear.”

Roberto Escobar

“My father worked for the CIA selling cocaine to finance the fight against Communism in Central America.”

Juan Pablo Escobar

“What we’ve learned is that if you look at history what happened with the Medellin Cartel after we took them down, Cali Cartel got stronger, right? Then we take them down, and North Valle Cartel takes over. We’re taking down cartels, and another cartel is born.”

Javier Pena — Former DEA officer

Fernando Botero’s portrayal of Pablo Escobar’s death

Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (December 1949 – 2 December 1993) was a Colombian drug lord and narcoterrorist. His cartel supplied an estimated 80% of the cocaine smuggled into the United States at the height of his career, turning over US$21.9 billion a year in personal income. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading

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Two Years Ago — Julian Assange : “1979 Is Year Zero of Our Modern Era”

“Today, 28 November 2016, marking the six-year anniversary of Cablegate, WikiLeaks expands its Public Library of US Diplomacy (PLUSD) with more than half a million (531,525) diplomatic cables from 1979. If any year could be said to be the ‘year zero’ of our modern era, 1979 is it. (…) In 1979 it seemed as if the blood would never stop. Dozens of countries saw assassinations, coups, revolts, bombings, political kidnappings and wars of liberation.”

Julian Assange (November 28 2016)

julian

December 2 2018 — Assange argues that the decision by the CIA, together with Saudi Arabia, to plough billions of dollars into arming the Mujahideen fighters in Afghanistan to tackle the Soviet Union, had led to the creation of the terror group al-Qaeda. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading

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France — Marion Maréchal – Le Pen : Who Is Daddy?

“The life of a female politician makes it hard to combine personal life and work, but I think it is almost a patriotic duty to have children.”

Marion Marechal – Le Pen

“I met Roger Auque in the trunk of a car in Beirut. Later we have been freed together, on the same evening. He was a charmer. Always smiling… With sincerity, enthusiasm, and energy.”

Jean-Louis Normandin — French Journalist kidnapped in Lebanon (2014 – Interview with Le Parisien)

December 2 2018 — Marion Jeanne Caroline Maréchal (born December 10 1989) is a French politician, part of the Le Pen family, granddaughter of National Front (FN) founder Jean-Marie Le Pen and niece of FN Leader Marine Le Pen.

She was born to Yann le Penn, daughter of National Front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, and was raised within Yann’s marriage to Samuel Maréchal.

According to psychologists, it can be truly disturbing to young girls to learn that their beloved ‘daddy’ is not their biological father. But I suspect that, sometimes, the real surprise is to find out who the real dad is.

In the case of Marion, considering that she grew up in a Holocaust denying political dynasty, it must have been quite a shock to learn that her father was a Mossad spy.

I am not entirely convinced that God is great, but he is sure funny as hell! Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading

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