General Ivanov was the Deputy Head of GRU, the Russian military’s foreign intelligence agency. Prior to this position, he led GRU’s North Caucasus arm until late 2006, which meant he was heavily involved in activities against Al Qaeda and the Chechen revolt.

The brevity of the Russian statement and the reference to almost a month as ‘several days’ makes us question the circumstances of his death. His previous role suggests that he has many enemies living in Syria, as the country is certainly home to Al Qaeda terrorist cells from Caucasia.

Furthermore, he allegedly drowned in Latakia, a Mediterranean port town in Syria, but it is extremely unlikely that a man of his position and rank would go swimming without bodyguards, and would drown without anyone noticing. If he did indeed drown, a thorough sweep would have been conducted for his body, which would have been found long before it drifted all the way to Turkey.

Finally, Latakia is a summer resort destination that hosts many wealthy and important Syrian and Gulf emirate officials and families. The resort’s swimming beaches are not only watched over by lifeguards, but are also patrolled by security guards. There is simply no way for a regular swimming accident to go unnoticed.

All of these indicators, from Ivanov’s previous position, to the circumstances of his disappearance and those of his body’s recovery seem to indicate that he was murdered and then dumped into the ocean after hours.

As reported earlier, Germany wanted Brodsky for his connection to the January 2010 assassination of important Hamas figure Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai. It is believed that Brodsky, who was working in Germany at the time under the name of Alexander Werin, supplied Mossad agents with some of the forged passports they used to enter Dubai unnoticed and carry out their mission.

As soon as Brodsky was arrested in Poland, German officials called for his extradition. Despite Israel’s request to Poland and Germany – Israel being on good terms with both – to stop proceedings, Germany held firm. Prosecutors involved in the case insisted that the illegal use of official German documents in an assassination operation called for trial.

However, instead of facing the expected espionage charges in Cologne, Germany, Brodsky seems to have been let off with a slap on the wrist. The morning after his extradition to Germany on August 12, his trial for the forgery of official documents – which carries a significantly lighter maximum sentence of three years in prison – began with his release. Release on bail that is. Brodsky quickly made his way back to Israel, while Dubai officials protested, demanding Germany explain why it had released on bail a suspect in a murder case.

Israeli sources say that Brodsky will be represented in court by his attorneys – naturally. In Germany, a court official explained to reporters that “[t]he matter can now be dealt with by written proceedings.”

Germany issued a European arrest warrant for the alleged operative, an Israeli using the name of Uri Brodsky, who is currently being held by the Polish authorities as a result of Berlin’s warrant. He was detained on June 4 at the Warsaw airport, and will be held for up to forty days, during which time the court will have to decide whether to extradite him. The Polish prosecution is calling for extradition, saying the issue is not a diplomatic one.

According to Germany, Mr. Brodsky obtained a German passport via fraudulent means, which was then used by one of the operatives involved in the plot to kill al-Mabhouh. Dubai’s investigation into the killing has identified 32 suspects who travelled into Dubai on fake British, French, German, Irish and Australian passports to kill the Hamas leader. It has been widely reported that the Mossad was responsible for the forgeries and the killing.

Although Dubai Police Chief Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim originally said that Dubai would not be seeking extradition in this case given that the passport fraud occurred in Germany, he has now announced that if Brodsky can be definitively linked to the killing, which occurred in Dubai, then they may request his extradition as well.

Poland – friendly with both Germany and Israel – finds itself in a difficult situation. The Israeli Minister for Tourism is quoted to have said: “Warsaw has to tell Germany that Brodsky, as an Israeli citizen, should be sent to Israel where that country’s legal procedures should be applied.”

Although Israel has not claimed any responsibility for killing Palestinian militant Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai this February, Britain believes the Mossad to have been behind the operation. Al-Mabhouh was, after all, instrumental to the smuggling of Iranian weapons to Gaza to support Palestinian Islamists.

What does the UK want from Israel? A commitment not to misuse British passports in future operations. Apparently it has been the Mossad’s refusal to submit to this condition that forced the UK to deny the spy agency an official presence in London.

No news on the identity of the specific agent denied return, but apparently he was not involved in the theft of the passports, and was actually the official liaison between MI6 and the Mossad.

At the end of the day, the UK and Israel are on the same page when it comes to fighting terrorism and putting a stop to Iran’s nuclear armament plans. Israel does not seem too concerned about Britain’s blocked border, seeing as it has not retaliated with a quid-pro-quo move. That said, Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot reports that Israeli officials are looking to repair their relationship with the UK as quickly as possible.

The UK Foreign Office has said, “…we look to Israel to rebuild the trust we believe is required for the full and open relationship we would like. We have asked for specific assurances from Israel, which would clearly be a positive step towards rebuilding that trust. Any Israeli request for the diplomat to be replaced would be considered against the context of these UK requests.”

Apparently British passports were not the only ones misused in the February assassination plot. Irish, Australian, French and German passports – some forged, some stolen – were also employed, along with masterful disguises.

In a recent interview, the value of these efforts was confirmed, as the intelligence services were able to spot a couple of fake defectors, who were really North Korean spies. Their mission? To assassinate a defector who was once a senior official in North Korea’s government; indeed, he was the teacher of Kim Jong Il, the so-called “Supreme Leader” of present-day North Korea.

87-year-old Hwang Jang-yeop defected to South Korea in 1997. Given his once high ranking in Pyongyang’s government, his scathing critiques of North Korea have clearly hit a pretty sensitive nerve. He’s become more vocal on the international arena since the more conservative government of President Lee Myung-bak came into power in South Korea…when he defected, the government was going through a stage of reaching out to North Korea, trying to smooth out disagreements.

Obviously, the North decided it was time to fight Hwang’s words with fire. The two men charged with the mission of doing away with Hwang never got the chance to aim, however. Identified as spies upon arrival, the two men, both 36, confessed to their assassination mission.

No shock to Hwang, who knows there’s a price on his head. The location of his home is a carefully-guarded secret, and he lives under heavy police security.

Tensions mount, as North Korea employs terrorist tactics despite the so-called truce that has existed between the two countries for over 50 years. Many in South Korea believe that the sinking of a naval vessel last month – and the subsequent death of 46 sailors – was the North’s doing. Although this suspicion has yet to be confirmed by investigation, the ship went down due to an external explosion close to a maritime border that the North disputes.

Other attacks attributed to the North – though never admitted to – include the bombing of a Korean Air plane in 1987 that killed 115 people, and a bombing in Burma in 1983 that killed three South Korean cabinet officials.

According to Prince, who has been accused of all sorts of misconduct as the head of Blackwater, the assassination team did travel to Germany with the intention of killing the Al Qaeda financier Mamoun Darkazanli. Which of course contradicts Panetta’s statement that the squad never went into action. Prince goes further to say that neither the CIA station chief nor the host country (Germany) was alerted to the team’s presence — very much a breach of CIA rules of conduct.

Prince feels like he’s been “thrown under the bus”…he was working with the CIA to protect the U.S., and now’s he’s fending for himself, at the helm of a company that is dealing with a grand-jury investigation, bribery accusations, and the voluntary-manslaughter trial of five former employees. But surely there’s a reason behind all the investigations and bad publicity…

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The blast serves as further confirmation that the Taliban is plotting and carrying out more sophisticated, extremely targeted attacks that require both organization and intelligence on their part.

Abdullah Laghmani, the late deputy chief of Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security, had been exiting the main mosque in Mehterlam with fellow officials, when they were caught in the explosion that went off in the crowded market area just outside the mosque. The Taliban has announced that Laghmani was targeted on foot by the suicide bomber.

Formerly the spy chief for Kandahar, a Taliban-controlled region, Laghmani was, in his most recent position, directing intelligence operations across the country and especially in eastern Afghanistan, where among other things, he appointed local defense and security officials.

Other victims of the suicide attack include two of Laghmani’s bodyguards, the executive director of the province’s governor’s office, the head of its provincial council and 18 civilians.

The attack not only aimed at the heart of Afghanistan’s security services but also at the heart of many Afghani civilians, who, during Ramadan, are praying and fasting for a peaceful end to the violence that racks their nation.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that the Taliban – the “enemy” – aims to kill “brave and hardworking” officials, but that there will be others with similar characteristics to take their place and continue their good work. Indeed, Laghmani had been visiting the Mehterlam mosque to discuss plans to rebuild it.

The loss of Laghmani is not the only blow Afghanistan’s security services have suffered recently. A few days ago, an intelligence officer was kidnapped by Taliban insurgents in the northern Kunduz province. Today, he was found dead, hanging from a tree outside Baghlan City.

images courtesy of cbc.ca and rushprnews.com

It is believed by Israeli officials that Hezbollah intends to assassinate Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi as a payback for Israel’s alleged offing of Hezbollah military commander Imad Mughniyeh in February 2008.

Sultani’s indictment was issued on Monday, 3 weeks after his arrest on August 10. By order of the court, the media was not allowed to report on the arrest until Sultani was indicted, which is why he didn’t crop up in the news sooner. Sultani has been formally accused of sharing info with Hezbollah agents both in Morocco and Poland, including details about Ashkenazi’s gym and bodyguard. Sultani was reportedly provided with secure communications software, so he could stay in touch with his Hezbollah contacts after his return to Israel.

Representing Sultani in court is his father, the attorney Fuad Sultani. Rawi maintains that he is innocent, saying that even though he did happen to speak to people who may have been involved with Hezbollah, he was never actively or consciously involved in a plot to kill Ashkenazi.

Attorney Sultani has said that his son acted “thoughtlessly” when he mentioned casually to a few people in Morocco that he worked out at the same gym as Gen. Ashkenazi. According to the defense, Rawi did not know the men were Hezbollah agents at the time. He was bragging, clearly to the wrong people, about having contact with the chief of staff.

This is not the first security concern Ashkenazi has had of late. Just two weeks ago, his credit card details and a gun from his office were allegedly stolen by a soldier.

images courtesy of ynetnews.com and kuwaittimes.net

Although Wenzel was officially honored at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia – a gold star has been engraved in his memory on the memorial wall in the agency’s lobby – exactly what he was doing out in Ethiopia and why/how he was killed are details that remain shrouded in mystery. Apparently a car crash was involved, and the driver of the vehicle that caused Wenzel’s death is still on the run.

Gregg’s father, Mitch Wenzel, told the Daily News, “My son wanted to make a difference, and he did; he wanted to give back by joining the Clandestine Service.” Mr. M. Wenzel had lobbied hard to get public acknowledgement for his son, writing yearly letters to ex-President G. W. Bush requesting that his son be recognized as a CIA hero.

Before joining the CIA in 2000, Gregg was an attorney, a public defender. A native to New York, he was born in Manhattan and grew up in the Bronx and upstate Monroe. He was a member of the first CIA training class to graduate after the 9/11 attacks and CIA Director Leon Panetta praised him during Monday’s ceremony as an extremely intelligent leader with a good sense of humor and a “great penchant for fun.” He helped the class pull together through very difficult times.

Ethiopia, where Gregg was based, is a U.S. ally and serves as the CIA’s hub for their operations against Al Qaeda in Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania.

photos courtesy of greggwenzel.com and chabadorange.com

The Lebanese spy hunt is going full steam ahead and shows no sign of abating any time soon. Elections in the country are scheduled for June 7, and in the midst of all the hooplah, officials say that more arrests are expected.

The foursome charged on Thursday – Nasser Nader, Nawal Maaluf (his girlfriend), Mustafa Said and Samer Abu Arraj – have been accused of giving info to the Israelis with the purpose of enabling assassinations. The authorities believe that Nader was behind the intel that got Ghaleb Awali – a senior member of Hezbollah – assassinated by a car bomb in Beirut in 2004. Although Nader is suspected of providing the info that facilitated the assassination, Hezbollah believes Israel was behind Awali’s death.

Those agents convicted of acting on behalf of Israel face life in prison with hard labor or – if their actions contributed to the death of Lebanese – the death penalty.

photo courtesy of www.presstv.ir

The home front drill referred to is the third in a series of exercises held since the 2006 Lebanon War. They’re calling it Turning Point 3 and it stands apart from its predecessors in that it will involve mobilizing the whole country. On June 2, the drill will culminate with a nationwide siren directing the entire population towards safe rooms and bomb shelters.

Al-Mussawi said in an interview with a London-based pan-Arabic newspaper that Hezbollah is not taking the exercise lightly. They believe that it is somehow related to Israel’s intention to kill Nasrallah with the help of its allies.

Meanwhile back in Lebanon, Nasrallah addressed the Lebanese on television, saying that although not confirmed, the drill may well be in preparation for “a new and unexpected war.”

He said that the drill “gives the impression that Israel is preparing for a security or military attack on something, and assume that this aggression will lead to sudden and unpredictable reactions.”

Israeli diplomats said Nasrallah’s accusations are false – just more politicking on his part.

photo courtesy of arabamericannews.com