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Showing posts with label Jordon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jordon. Show all posts
Monday, December 12, 2011
Saturday, October 29, 2011
CIA Criminal Revolving Door: CIA Officer “Albert” Involved in False Intelligence Linking Al-Qaeda to Iran, Iraq
Boiling Frog
Kevin Fenton
A recent book by former FBI agent Ali Soufan shows that the same CIA officer was involved in generating intelligence that falsely linked al-Qaeda to first Iran and then Iraq. The officer was also involved in a notorious torture episode and was reprimanded by the Agency’s inspector general.
The officer, who Soufan refers to as “Fred,” but whose real first name is “Albert” according to a February 2011 Associated Press article, served at the CIA station in Jordan in 1999. During that time, al-Qaeda, aided by a collection of freelance terrorists headed by Abu Zubaidah, attempted to commit a series of attacks in the country, known as the Millennium Plot. However, the attacks were foiled by the local Jordanian intelligence service, working with the CIA and FBI.
During the investigations of the plotters, Albert drafted a series of official cables that were later withdrawn. Although the withdrawing of the cables was first mentioned in a July 2006 article by Lawrence Wright for the New Yorker, Wright did not mention what was in the cables or by whom they were drafted. The content of one of them and the drafter were first revealed upon the publication of Soufan’s book in mid-September 2011.
According to Soufan, one of the twelve withdrawn cables falsely stated that the group of terrorists later arrested for the Millennium Plot in Jordan was linked to Iran. Albert’s reasoning for this was that the group had trained in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, an area of high activity by the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah. Therefore, the group in Jordan had to be working with Hezbollah and be backed by Iran.
Soufan was also sending reports to Washington, and someone in DC noticed that Albert claimed a link to Iran while Soufan did not. An investigation followed and Soufan was proved right—the Millennium Plot had nothing to do with Iran—leading to the withdrawal of Albert’s cables. In his book, Soufan attributes Albert’s error to “a tendency to jump to conclusions without facts.”
Albert had previously worked with the FBI as a translator, but had failed to make agent status, and Soufan says he was reputed to bear a grudge against the Bureau for this slight.
The contents of the other eleven cables that had to be withdrawn are unknown.
The second episode, where Albert played a part in the generation of false information that helped justify the invasion of Iraq, is notorious. Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, a senior militant training camp commander in Afghanistan, was captured by US forces and turned over to the FBI towards the end of 2001. Al-Libi was being interrogated by George Crouch and Russell Fincher, an FBI agent a group of CIA officers had withheld information from in the run-up to 9/11. Al-Libi was co-operating with Crouch and Fincher, and had even provided information about an ongoing plot in Yemen.
Albert burst into the interrogation room, told al-Libi that information about plots in Yemen was meaningless, and made threats against him. As a result of this, al-Libi clammed up and refused to provide more information that day. Albert was subsequently banned from Bagram air base, where the interrogation was being conducted.
Kevin Fenton
The officer, who Soufan refers to as “Fred,” but whose real first name is “Albert” according to a February 2011 Associated Press article, served at the CIA station in Jordan in 1999. During that time, al-Qaeda, aided by a collection of freelance terrorists headed by Abu Zubaidah, attempted to commit a series of attacks in the country, known as the Millennium Plot. However, the attacks were foiled by the local Jordanian intelligence service, working with the CIA and FBI.
During the investigations of the plotters, Albert drafted a series of official cables that were later withdrawn. Although the withdrawing of the cables was first mentioned in a July 2006 article by Lawrence Wright for the New Yorker, Wright did not mention what was in the cables or by whom they were drafted. The content of one of them and the drafter were first revealed upon the publication of Soufan’s book in mid-September 2011.
According to Soufan, one of the twelve withdrawn cables falsely stated that the group of terrorists later arrested for the Millennium Plot in Jordan was linked to Iran. Albert’s reasoning for this was that the group had trained in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, an area of high activity by the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah. Therefore, the group in Jordan had to be working with Hezbollah and be backed by Iran.
Soufan was also sending reports to Washington, and someone in DC noticed that Albert claimed a link to Iran while Soufan did not. An investigation followed and Soufan was proved right—the Millennium Plot had nothing to do with Iran—leading to the withdrawal of Albert’s cables. In his book, Soufan attributes Albert’s error to “a tendency to jump to conclusions without facts.”
Albert had previously worked with the FBI as a translator, but had failed to make agent status, and Soufan says he was reputed to bear a grudge against the Bureau for this slight.
The contents of the other eleven cables that had to be withdrawn are unknown.
The second episode, where Albert played a part in the generation of false information that helped justify the invasion of Iraq, is notorious. Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, a senior militant training camp commander in Afghanistan, was captured by US forces and turned over to the FBI towards the end of 2001. Al-Libi was being interrogated by George Crouch and Russell Fincher, an FBI agent a group of CIA officers had withheld information from in the run-up to 9/11. Al-Libi was co-operating with Crouch and Fincher, and had even provided information about an ongoing plot in Yemen.
Albert burst into the interrogation room, told al-Libi that information about plots in Yemen was meaningless, and made threats against him. As a result of this, al-Libi clammed up and refused to provide more information that day. Albert was subsequently banned from Bagram air base, where the interrogation was being conducted.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Obama offers Egypt $1B to continue selling under priced gas to Israel
Islamist
JERUSALEM — More than a month after saboteurs blew up an Egyptian pipeline supplying natural gas to Israel, the line is repaired but gas is not flowing and foreign shareholders of the company suspect politics to be the reason. They are threatening legal action against Egypt.
American and Thai shareholders in the pipeline have demanded urgent consultations to avoid resorting to binding arbitration based on trade treaties. One letter to Egyptian ministries from an American company with an Israeli chairman threatens a lawsuit of $8 billion.
In Israel, which depends on Egypt for 40 percent of its natural gas, the electric company has warned that customer rates could rise by 15 percent. Officials in the Israeli company that co-owns the gas line say the Egyptian government is afraid of popular opposition to Israel and the perception that Israel has had a sweetheart deal.
“The repair work was completed more than two weeks ago and we are waiting for the government to order the gas to start flowing, but so far the government is paralyzed,” Nimrod Novik, senior vice president of Merhav, the Israeli company, said in an interview. “Partly there is fear of more sabotage. There has been no decision not to supply gas, but nobody in the government wants to be responsible for a decision that is so unpopular in the street.”
The pipeline supplies not only Israel but also Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and some Egyptian companies. None have had their gas supply restored since the April 27 explosion, and Egypt is losing millions of dollars a day. The pipeline appears to have been sabotaged by Sinai Bedouin eager for a greater share of revenues from the pipeline rather than by known anti-Israel forces in Egypt.
Even so, it is the Israeli part of the equation that seems to be the main cause of the delay.
Since Hosni Mubarak was driven from the presidency in February, Egypt has been governed by an interim military council. Relations with Israel, unpopular but strongly upheld by Mr. Mubarak, have come under scrutiny. The new government has defied Israeli wishes by pushing for reconciliation between the two main Palestinian parties, Fatah and Hamas; reopening the border with Gaza; and announcing plans to exchange ambassadors with Iran.
The new government has promised to uphold existing treaties and commitments, and that includes the peace treaty with Israel.
But Egypt’s former energy minister and five ministry employees are in prison and accused of cheating the state of more than $700 million through the deal with Israel. A close associate of Mr. Mubarak’s, Hussein K. Salem, was a top shareholder in East Mediterranean Gas, or EMG, the company that owns the pipeline, until 2008.
The gas deal has been an integral part of the two countries’ relations and has been supported by Washington. President Obama recently offered Egypt $1 billion in loan guarantees and $1 billion in debt relief on the condition that it meets its commitments. The United States has told Egypt that its security obligations in the northern Sinai are among its commitments, an American official said.
Although gas supplies have been interrupted by two acts of sabotage in recent months, repairs were made quickly. But disputes among Egyptian government agencies — the Defense and Energy Ministries, the police and the army — over security arrangements have stopped the gas from flowing again promptly. In addition, the supply of gas to Israel has become highly politicized.
A former deputy chief of Egypt’s court of appeals, Judge Mahmoud al-Khodheiri, recently expressed a common sentiment about the gas deal in an interview with Al Jazeera. “I consider the export of gas to Israel an act of treason, and we should stop it,” he said. “I salute the people who bombed the gas pipe because this is my blood that is being transferred to the enemy.”
The American company threatening the $8 billion lawsuit is Ampal, whose chairman and chief executive officer is Yosef A. Maiman, also owner of the Israeli company Merhav, another partner in EMG. Another American company involved is EGI, controlled by Sam Zell, a Chicago-based businessman. The EGI letter that was sent to the Egyptian authorities accused them of “failing to provide EMG with full protection and security” for its investment and “refusing to resume delivery of gas to EMG.”
It asks for consultations and threatens to go to binding arbitration in Washington, which experts say could take up to six months.
On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel told a parliamentary committee that Egypt was having trouble maintaining security and control in the Sinai and cited the gas explosions as an example.
Mr. Novik, the Israeli corporate official, said that the popular perception in Egypt that Israel had received cheap gas was wrong. He said the figure cited by the prosecution of $714 million that should have gone to Egypt from gas sales was an invention based on the false comparison between the price paid by Israel to Egypt and the price paid by Germany to Russia.
There is no international benchmark price of natural gas because its price depends largely on how the gas is transported and how far it travels. So while Germany pays $7 per million B.T.U.’s to Russia and Israel $3 to $4 per million B.T.U.’s to Egypt, Germany also pays $4 to $5 per unit in transport costs and fees along the way whereas Israel only pays $1. The net profit to Egypt from Israel’s payments is the same or better than that to Russia from Germany, he said.
But the transport and infrastructure costs have been lost in the public discussion in Egypt, he said, creating the impression that Israel has been getting a deal based on Mr. Mubarak’s desire to please Israel and the United States.
JERUSALEM — More than a month after saboteurs blew up an Egyptian pipeline supplying natural gas to Israel, the line is repaired but gas is not flowing and foreign shareholders of the company suspect politics to be the reason. They are threatening legal action against Egypt.
 |
| Explosion that damaged the gas pipeline in February |
In Israel, which depends on Egypt for 40 percent of its natural gas, the electric company has warned that customer rates could rise by 15 percent. Officials in the Israeli company that co-owns the gas line say the Egyptian government is afraid of popular opposition to Israel and the perception that Israel has had a sweetheart deal.
“The repair work was completed more than two weeks ago and we are waiting for the government to order the gas to start flowing, but so far the government is paralyzed,” Nimrod Novik, senior vice president of Merhav, the Israeli company, said in an interview. “Partly there is fear of more sabotage. There has been no decision not to supply gas, but nobody in the government wants to be responsible for a decision that is so unpopular in the street.”
The pipeline supplies not only Israel but also Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and some Egyptian companies. None have had their gas supply restored since the April 27 explosion, and Egypt is losing millions of dollars a day. The pipeline appears to have been sabotaged by Sinai Bedouin eager for a greater share of revenues from the pipeline rather than by known anti-Israel forces in Egypt.
Even so, it is the Israeli part of the equation that seems to be the main cause of the delay.
Since Hosni Mubarak was driven from the presidency in February, Egypt has been governed by an interim military council. Relations with Israel, unpopular but strongly upheld by Mr. Mubarak, have come under scrutiny. The new government has defied Israeli wishes by pushing for reconciliation between the two main Palestinian parties, Fatah and Hamas; reopening the border with Gaza; and announcing plans to exchange ambassadors with Iran.
The new government has promised to uphold existing treaties and commitments, and that includes the peace treaty with Israel.
But Egypt’s former energy minister and five ministry employees are in prison and accused of cheating the state of more than $700 million through the deal with Israel. A close associate of Mr. Mubarak’s, Hussein K. Salem, was a top shareholder in East Mediterranean Gas, or EMG, the company that owns the pipeline, until 2008.
The gas deal has been an integral part of the two countries’ relations and has been supported by Washington. President Obama recently offered Egypt $1 billion in loan guarantees and $1 billion in debt relief on the condition that it meets its commitments. The United States has told Egypt that its security obligations in the northern Sinai are among its commitments, an American official said.
Although gas supplies have been interrupted by two acts of sabotage in recent months, repairs were made quickly. But disputes among Egyptian government agencies — the Defense and Energy Ministries, the police and the army — over security arrangements have stopped the gas from flowing again promptly. In addition, the supply of gas to Israel has become highly politicized.
A former deputy chief of Egypt’s court of appeals, Judge Mahmoud al-Khodheiri, recently expressed a common sentiment about the gas deal in an interview with Al Jazeera. “I consider the export of gas to Israel an act of treason, and we should stop it,” he said. “I salute the people who bombed the gas pipe because this is my blood that is being transferred to the enemy.”
The American company threatening the $8 billion lawsuit is Ampal, whose chairman and chief executive officer is Yosef A. Maiman, also owner of the Israeli company Merhav, another partner in EMG. Another American company involved is EGI, controlled by Sam Zell, a Chicago-based businessman. The EGI letter that was sent to the Egyptian authorities accused them of “failing to provide EMG with full protection and security” for its investment and “refusing to resume delivery of gas to EMG.”
It asks for consultations and threatens to go to binding arbitration in Washington, which experts say could take up to six months.
On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel told a parliamentary committee that Egypt was having trouble maintaining security and control in the Sinai and cited the gas explosions as an example.
Mr. Novik, the Israeli corporate official, said that the popular perception in Egypt that Israel had received cheap gas was wrong. He said the figure cited by the prosecution of $714 million that should have gone to Egypt from gas sales was an invention based on the false comparison between the price paid by Israel to Egypt and the price paid by Germany to Russia.
There is no international benchmark price of natural gas because its price depends largely on how the gas is transported and how far it travels. So while Germany pays $7 per million B.T.U.’s to Russia and Israel $3 to $4 per million B.T.U.’s to Egypt, Germany also pays $4 to $5 per unit in transport costs and fees along the way whereas Israel only pays $1. The net profit to Egypt from Israel’s payments is the same or better than that to Russia from Germany, he said.
But the transport and infrastructure costs have been lost in the public discussion in Egypt, he said, creating the impression that Israel has been getting a deal based on Mr. Mubarak’s desire to please Israel and the United States.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Iranian Speaker: US, Israel Crippled by Egyptian Revolution
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani underlined the importance and influence of the Egyptian uprising in the region, saying that the revolution has crippled the US and the Zionist regime.
"The US and the Zionist regime's backbones were broken by the Egyptian revolution," Larijani said in a meeting with Secretary-General of Egypt's Amal Party Majdi Hussein here in Tehran on Sunday evening.
He also pointed to the different aspects of the Egyptian revolution, and said, "The revolution of the Egyptian people restored the high status of the country in the world and among the Muslim nations."
Larijani announced the Iranian nation's full support for the revolution of the Egyptian people, and said maintenance of unity, solidarity and integrity among different Egyptian groups is necessary at such a sensitive juncture.
Political observers believe that people's uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain, Jordan, Yemen and Libya are the result of growing 'Islamic awakening' in the Middle-Eastern countries sparked over three decades ago by Iran's Islamic Revolution.
People in the Middle-East now believe that the western approach to the ongoing revolutions in these countries has unveiled the true nature of the West's stance on democracy.
The United States and certain other western countries have adopted a double-standard approach towards the popular protests against the dictatorial regimes in the region.
Political observers also believe that the recent uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain and Jordan are the result of America's double standards in the Middle-East and its biased policies against different nations.
When asked if Mubarak was a dictator, United States Vice-President Joseph Biden said, "Mubarak has been an ally of ours in a number of things."
Western analysts underline that such statements leave negative effects on the Muslim nations of the region because it reveals that the United States has double standards when it comes to human rights and democracy.
The United States and Europe supported the dictatorship of Zine El Abidin Ben Ali, the ousted Tunisian President, and showed indifference to the Tunisian people's cries of protest.
In Egypt, the United States and the West also supported Mubarak in repressing Islamic groups and intellectuals and torturing freedom-seeking Egyptian youth.
Under the pretext of human rights, the United States criticizes establishments that respect human and civil rights but stand against its authoritarian policies.
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