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July 2002
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Re: NL8, pages 4/5. I was interested that translations of Tajik (Tadzhik) and Farsi numbers had been made.
The query as to whom the transmissions are intended for, or where the target is assumed to be, is a complicated one, as there is an extensive mixture of languages used in the area. The following is an approximate breakdown of languages by country:
| AFGHANISTAN | Pashtu (Pushtu) 35% Dari Persian 50% Turkic Languages (primarily Uzbek & Turkmen) 11% 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi & Pashai) 4% Tadzhik in the North ?% In addition there is much bilingualism. |
| KYRGYZSTAN | Kirghiz (Kyrgyz) Russian In May 2000 the Kyrgyzstani legislature made Russian an official language equal in status to Kirghiz. |
| TURKMENISTAN | Turkmen 72% (official) Russian 12% Uzbek 9% Other 7% TAJIKISTAN (TADZHIKISTAN): Tajik (Tadzhik) official. A form of Persian (Farsi). Russian used widely in Government & business. (See also NL5, pages 9/10) Population consists approx: 59% Tadzhiks, 23% Uzbeks, 10% Russian. |
| UZBEKISTAN | Uzbek, a Turkik language. Other minority languages as occuring in the other states. To complicate matters there are substantial numbers of Uzbeks in Tadzhikistan and substantial numbers of Tadzhiks living in Kyrgystan. |
Perhaps the Spooks contributor who supplied the translations would be kind enough to supply the translations of the Ordinal Numbers for Tajik & Farsi. They must be very similar, as both these languages are described as forms of Persian.
© JofAylesbury
In May 1941 Bill Tutte went to Bletchley Park having previously trained at the Code and Cipher School, London. One of 8000 persons he helped to process 10000 German ciphers daily. The German Army ciphers were more resistant to analysis than the other versions used by the German Navy and Airforce. With this in mind it was necessary to read a higher level machine cipher which used a 32-letter alphabet based on the Baudot Teleprinter code.
This code was produced by a Lorenz machine [Codenamed 'Tunny'], whilst the cipher was referred to as 'Fish'; its German name believed to be 'Sagefisch' or 'Sawfish'.
The first 'Fish' traffic intercepted was via a German Army link between Athens and Vienna. Thanks to a mistake made by a German radio-operator two long cipher messages circa 4000 characters were intercepted, each with the same 12 letter indicator. The messages differed in other ways, longer spacing between words and differing punctuation.
Using just those two messages Bill Tutte worked for four months; writing out sequences by hand and making calculations, he managed to deduce the inner workings of the Lorenz machine.
A wheel of 41 sprockets, another with 31! With others he was able to arrive at the conclusion that the Lorenz machine had 12 rotors and was able to determine the paths of their interconnections. He had, of course, never seen a Lorenz machine.
Bill Tutte was also involved in the creation of algorithms to break the codes that the Lorenz machines produced until 1943 when the enemy took further precaution against deciphering. As a result of this event Colossus, the world's first electronic computer, was designed and built by British Post Office engineers led by Tommy Flowers. Bill Tutte's algorithm's developed with two others, Max Newman and Ralph Tester could only be used on machines and Colossus used these algorithms to break the Lorenz codes. In this way intelligence suggesting Hitler's intentions was gained prior to the D-Day invasions in 1944.
William Thomas Tutte born in Newmarket, Suffolk was educated at Cambridge gaining a Degree in Chemistry. Whilst at University he worked on 'squaring the square'; dividing a square into a number of unequal smaller squares, eventually publishing a paper describing a solution. Bill Tutte suggested that was the reason for him being asked to go to Bletchley Park.
Professor Bill Tutte, OC, FRS, born 14th May 1917 died 2nd May 2002 aged 84.
Property Week says that a greenfield site is the subject of first refusal by Marconi for its now HQ. However with its debts and low shares the plans [£250m] for this site has been shelved for the foreseeable future. The site was originally a Coventry airfield [at Ansty] but NATO is reported as considering the area for a 1m sq.ft development away from electrical pylons 'which disturb communications' and has been involved in 'secret' talks with developers and planning authorities. [Tnx E, excellent info].
The current Deputy Director General of MI5 who was short-listed amongst four names to replace the Sir Stephen Lander has had her appointment approved. Miss Eliza Manningham-Buller will take over in October. This will be the second woman to head the Security Service, the previous lady being Dame Stella Rimmington. The heads of the other Intelligence services are men; Chief of SIS [MI6] is Sir Richard Dearlove and the Director of GCHQ is Francis Richards.
Squadron Leader John Mott who joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve 1938 served in the RAF until 1959.
During that time he became a bomber pilot in 1941 and was shot down over Brittany. Thanks to the help of an 'anti-Boche' couple he was able to evade capture as well as learning French and assisting the local French Resistance with communications with London. AS the result of a possible compromisation from a captured airamn who was being interrogated by the Gestapo he returned tp London via Spain and Gibraltar. After being debriefed John Mott was posted to 138 Sqdn, later 161 designated to SOE. He flew Lysander aircraft to drop and pick up agents in occupied France.
As the result of a particularly boggy landing field he abandoned his Lysander on 28/05/42. He eventually fell into the hands of the Vichy Police. After a series of hair raising and life threatening events he eventually escaped reaching Allied troops at Porto San Giorgio on 19/03/44.
Squadron Leader John Mott passed away on 9th May, 2002 aged 85.
The full obituary can be read in Friday 31st May, 2002 issue of the Daily Telegraph.
The head of Mossad, Ephraim Halevy 67, may resign over a split with Ariel Sharon. This split is believed to have been caused by the inability and strategy of Israel to defeat the Palestinian uprising.
Whilst the newspapers report this question of Joint Sovereignty for Gibraltar and the opposition of Gib's 30000 people who wish to remain British subjects, this interesting little snippet appeared in 'The Times' 10th May:
"The Rock is home to a sensitive signals unit that plays an important role in monitoring the region......."
Gibraltar was ceded to Great Britain in 1714.
Interestingly, it was reported that the military assets would remain under total British control irrespective of the outcome of any talks with Spain. The Spanish government has been pushing for 'joint use' in much the same way it enjoys with the US at Moron and Rota.
The Soviet-built ELINT and SIGINT facility base at Lourdes, Cuba has been offered to the Chinese government for its operations against the United States. The USSR leaving Cuba with unpaid debts from Russia has closed the 26 square-mile facility, the largest outside Russia. In response to this apparent Russian debt Cuba has reportedly seized some of the eavesdropping technology from the Russians prior to its return to Russia.
Two Jewish fundamentalist settlers are alleged to have been trying to construct a Israeli 'underground' and were arrested by Shin Bet. As a result Israeli police and security dervices are investigating the possibilty of a worldwide religous war being started.
Amardeep Bassey, a British reporter being held in a Pakistani jail amid allegations of spying has told his editor he is being well treated. He is being held in Landi Kotal prison near Peshawar because his visa did not have an exit stamp. Mr Bassey is the investigations editor of the Birmingham-based 'Sunday Mercury' and had been travelling from Kabul to Pakistan when he was detained.
The first high frequency (HF) radio prototype systems have been recently shipped to General Dynamics by the Harris Corporation for integration into the UK's BOWMAN Tactical Radio Programme. The radio prototype systems are expected to roll-out mid 2003.
The plane spotters who suffered the indignity of Greek Justice have met Jack Straw to discuss the chances of an appeal.
OFEK-5 is a new Israeli satellite expected to be able to monitor the near Arab States has been launched.
Some interesting articles on the subject of Intelligence and features a piece on Echelon and another on Spy Satellites [The History and Purpose of Corona, Argon and Lanyard].
Well worth a read.
A host of interesting articles, and in particular, Numbers Up, by E2k's Harry Palmer, is about DIA spy Ana Belen Montes.
[unless programming suffers the indignity of World Football]
Despite assurances from the BBC and others that this program is near to reality the viewer cannot but realise that they have been drawn into a rather up-market production [the entrance doors do look like those at Thames House] with fantastic story lines and larger than life characters. So far our heroes have: sent PLondon to sleep during the first episode; been reduced in number as a female administrator had various bits of her body deep-fried [attracting complaints about the amount of violence].
Another hero, 'Tinkering Tom', suffering from a gunshot wound [only skin deep of course] had to own up to 'being a Spy for HM Govt' to his common law wife and her child - all that in between mobile calls where he 'goes for a drink'!
Another female operative readily admits, "I am an employee of Her Majesty's Secret Service" during a hostage situation at the Turkish Embassy. Of course her lipstick with the designer label 'HNO3', that's Nitric acid to the less scientific of you, a full set of lock-picks and a mobile telephone with a camera attached [yes they do exist, as 2M transceiver, having been advertised in PW] probably gave the game away.
Then we are treated to an insight of the financial indiscretions by some of HM's employees being covered up by the service. Credit Card fraud and deception on payments to non-existent 'sources' are suggested. If it were for real these persons would end up in Court and no doubt the subsequent proceedings becoming test cases for the Theft Act!
For me the best moment was the MI6 linkman's [Jools Sivitar - what a handle] remarks to a female whilst at a Wagner recital, concerning skinheads, and his later remark about the Valkyries being clad in SCUBA suits!
Surprisingly the story lines in the episodes screened 04/06 and 18/06 featured the theft/use of a 'Dead Ground' Map outlining all the National Secret bases and sites, which if sabotaged would cause real problems. The Times 06/06 carried an opening story concerning the identification of 300 like sites that may be of interest to Al-Qaeda terrorists. [Pure coincidence or something more sinister]? It is a watchable series, if only to see Jenny Agutter, but it is obviously total fantasy. Or is it?
[If one can believe some of the stories in the press it appears that MI5 has enjoyed a massive interest in employment with them and has suffered excessive application as a result of the airing of 'Spooks'. Well we can all dream, can't we]?
Perhaps the apparent blowing up of 'Tinkering Tom' by a semtex loaded laptop will put all these sad 'wannabees' off. It is right to mention that 'Tinkering Tom', or was that Matthew, had better security around his house than Thames House itself! Swipe card entry indeed!! At least the laptop wasn't left at Rabato's Tapas Bar.
With another series promised next year perhaps we'll find that TT survived whilst his locked in lover Ellie and child Maisie [also known as 'Cupcake' - hastily whispered in your ear] didn't. And what of Ellie's estranged husband who was last seen in detention [did PACE apply there?] after persuading a Traffic sergeant to misuse the PNC to do a vehicle check on the now late[?] 'Tinkering Tom'?
Incidentally if you had wanted to cancel a cab from 'Sunny Cabs' and rung 08705 100 179; you would have been surprised.
With the end of the current series that too has ended with, 'The number you have dialled has not been recognised.'
Whilst not known fully it appears that the Kolchuga passive radar system [the early warning and targeting system that consists of four stations] has been sold to Iraq.
This passive radar system is manufactured by Topaz of the Ukraine. Iraq officials apparently used the services of an unknown Jordanian to broker the deal and it is rumoured that up to 100 Million dollars have been offered up front.
Kolchuga, which takes its name from the ancient Russian warrior body armour, can identify, detect and lock anti-aircraft missiles on aerial targets at a range of near to 500 miles. It can override 'stealth' technology whilst being capable of detecting ground targets at 370 miles.
According to recent news reports in British newspapers and via Radio and TV news reports Mr Bush has issued orders to the CIA to capture [or kill!] Saddam Hussein in a covert mission. This secret plan, sanctioned by George Bush, has authorised the use of 'all possible tools' to capture the Iraqi leader.
How can this be secret if the rest of the world knows about it? This rings of the US marines coming ashore, in covert fashion, only to be met by the glare of floodlights of the world's news teams cameras in Somalia a few years ago!
Will Mr Blair be swayed to supply British troops to do the job for Mr Bush?
Abdul Rahman Saad was asked to leave the United Nations by the end of June for 'activities incompatible with his diplomatic status'. In other words - spying. Mr Saad has apparently approached several American diplomatic and UN workers asking them to contribute to Iraqi intelligence operations.
An excellent round the country exposé of secret sites and trivia. The use of number station sound was good too. E03, E10 and Papa November made an appearance. We were also treated to an explanation of the 'Works Traffic Only' notice just past junc 8, eastbound, on the M4. It is the entrance to/from an American Arms dump, he says. The expected repeat is worth a look if you missed it first time around. MT's action in trying to get into a facility at Corsham was humorous and interesting. It was a stark reminder that even in these less threatened days, than those of the Cold War, HM Government still sees the need to protect itself in a bunker, whilst the taxpayer, who funded these sites, will be left to their own devices.
London Metro headlines, 10/06, upset the occupants of the 0607 to Victoria with its front page 'New threat to e-mail privacy' headline. The line that prompted discussion was, 'Privacy campaigners say it will make Britain 'the most spied on country in Britain'.
Page11 of the 'Times' summed the whole matter up when it discussed the piece in The Observer newspaper from the Sunday previous. It read, 'There was more to delight conspiracy theorists. "Millions of personal e-mails, other internet information and telephone records are to be made accessible to the police and intelligence services in a move that has been denounced by critics as one of the most wide-ranging extensions of state power over private information," The Observer discovered.'
What astounded this commuter was the remark from the bloke sitting opposite who chirpily said, "Forget the media hype and the b*ll*cks surrounding this; what I want to know is how's it done!" Don't we all!
Incidentally, the Observer article was entitled 'Police to spy on all emails'. The BBC news site however put a totally different perspective on the whole matter by listing those destined to have access to our private comms as: Local authorities [Any local authority in England and Wales, Local councils, District Councils, Fire authorities. Common Services Agency of the Scottish Health Service, Central Services Agency for the Northern Ireland's Health and Social Services, Government departments of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Health, Home Office, Trade and Industry, Transport, Local Government and the Regions, Work and Pensions, Enterprise, Trade and Investment for Northern Ireland, Environment Agency, Financial Services Authority, Food Standards Agency, Health and Safety Executive, Information Commissioner, Office of Fair Trading, Postal Services Commission, Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, UK Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary , and, finally New postal service providers. [Tnx Jmm].
In usual manner HM Govt announced a few days later, after no doubt having been testing the water with the earlier release, that they would delay the new powers to 'build in extra privacy safeguards'. [LOB!]
Metro 24/06 Page 6 had a headline 'Why your passwords aren't secret after all'. It then outlined how computer users put themselves at risk to internet fraud by using the names of children and pets as passwords. Nothing new there, but the sub-heading below, 'E-spies target 100,000' lead to a more interesting piece. According to the Metro writer Jenny Parks up to 100,000 e-mail users are secretly spied on by police and security services each year. She says that about 1500 investigations are backed up by a warrant signed by the Home Secretary. Officials, she writes, can order Internet service providers to hand over information on anyone suspected of theft, fraud, paedophilia or threatening national security. What is interesting is that without a warrant the data received by the investigating body shows only details of the sender and recipient and the date and time the email was sent.
Ms Parks concluded her piece with the fact that 1476 warrants were issued in the year 2000, BUT informs us Internet companies are receiving more than 400 requests for information a day.
Order of St Michael and St George
KCMG: Francis Neville Richards, Director, GCHQ
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