ENIGMA 2000 Newsletter - Issue 21

March 2004
Articles, newsreports and Items of interest :enigma2000-owner@yahoogroups.com

News & items of interest

Hugh Skillen

Hugh Skillen who served as a linguist and was deeply involved with the decryption of ENIGMA codes died on 4th January 2004 aged 88.

He published a total of 14 books on the subject of 'Ultra' in his later life and was active in the organising of the Enigma Symposium for former colleagues of MI8 who had worked on the decrypting of ENIGMA messages worldwide.

Apart from being a Linguist Mr Skillen was appointed Officer Commanding No48 Wireless Intercept section attached to the US Army for Operation Torch, the allied invasion of French North Africa.

Apart from latterly being involved with the Enigma Synposium he was responsible for the restoration of the White Ensign of HMS Bulldog which had been responsible for the capture of a German 8 rotor enigma machine from U110. [A true event thought to have been the idea for the controversial offering from Hollywood U578].

Hugh Skillen was head of French at Harrow County School for boys from 1949 to 1976. Alzheimer's disease unfortunately ended Skillen's participation with the Enigma Symposium but his wife, Jean, took over its organisation.

Hugh Skillen 22nd August 1915 to 4th January 2004.

Civil Contingencies Bill

What a way to start 2004! Sweeping powers, draconian would be an appropriate word, to order the mass evacuation of citizens from their homes. Ministers would be able to issue emergency orders without Parliament's approval and property could be confiscated, public meetings banned and the Armed Forces deployed. All this in case we have a major terror attack.

Within the Bill, we are informed, emergencies could be declared in cases of major floods, big storms and oil spills. Add to that war and terrorist attacks and you are getting the full flavour of the Bill. [You will be pleased to learn that in the event of the water supply being contaminated a meeting of COBRA - the emergency command group would be called. There they would sit, replete with bottles of Peckham Spa Water, deciding what to do next].

Council Planners are said to be 'planning for mass killings since the end of the Cold War as fears grow of a terrorist strike against Britain' [Times, p13 08/01]. The happy time where nuclear bunkers have been sold off is over and planners have been warned by HM Government to get ready for a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attack against civilians.

The Emergency Planning Society [http://www.emergplansoc.org.uk/] stated that, 'Previously we have planned for nothing bigger than a Lockerbie type incident or Hillsborough type disaster involving a few hundred people, or a fuel shortage.'

Apparently in the event of a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear contamination it will take hours or days before symptoms present themselves and the realisation that an attack has occurred will also be as long for the same reason.

Mass decontamination will take place, as cordons will be thrown around an infected area. Under supervision [and the word 'armed' was missing here] the public will be instructed to strip themselves from head to toe, in that order to prevent the inhalation of more contaminant from their clothes. Anyone whose glasses or hearing aids have been removed will be assured if they can’t see and/or hear [that's clever, if they can't see and hear they are rather buggered sensory wise - where do these idiots who write this assurance rubbish come from]?

If the public have the first class treatment they will be provided with portable shower cubicles, if standard class they can expect a hose down. [If you were born in Britain please step forward for a hose down – if provided; If you were born anywhere else and do not hold a British Passport, take loads of money off the state, have bags of benefits and are an illegal entrant to the UK please step forward to be helped into the shower cubicles before being bussed to a private hospital for further treatment – take care not to trip over the bodies of those who have previously sacrificed housing, health, wages and benefits so you can get better as your rights].

Planners are urged to beware of the risk of public disorder if there are large crowds impatient to enter a decontamination facility. [Surely it will be a case of 'I'm not doing that' and the quick scarper].

Pods apparently containing enough nerve agent antidote, paper towels. paper suits and spare blankets for a hundred people are being stored at strategic sites throughout the United Kingdom [Wow - the mind boggles at the industriousness of HM Govt, the protection of 65 million persons depends on a few quids worth of paper suits and auto pens – the same idiot who purchased the kit for the British Army for Iraq has now been let loose on this]!

With pods allowing for only 100 affected persons are we being discriminated against? More than 2,000 residents of Skye and Wester Ross will be issued with anti-radiation pills later this month [Jan] to counter any hazards from nuclear submarines mooring in their area. In addition to that Royal Navy officers will hand-deliver information material explaining the situation and inviting residents to public meetings. This is all about the use of emergency "Z berths" - emergency moorings for damaged submarines.

NHS Highland says the tablets minimise the effects resulting from inhalation of radioactive iodine released into the air and can also help prevent subsequent cancer of the thyroid gland.

Wester Ross Against Radiation (WAR), the local action group, says not enough is known about the impact of a potential accident or the effectiveness of the anti-radiation pill.

ENIGMA 2000 is known for its scathing wit where the US is concerned, however we take our hats off to the American Emergency agencies who actually are seen to exist, who spend money per capita and who are innovative in their suggestions for protection of the American Nation. Israel too has a decent Civil Defence movement – every person received a respirator for the Gulf War and the last campaign. [Alright, no noddy suit – but at least you will not breath it in].

The British Government had a grant of £38million for England and Wales in 1990 but is currently £19million.

It is a sad fact of life that the entire British Nation is just about fed up with the current HM Government and its ridiculous laws and suggestions [something goes wrong - we'll pass a law to stop it]. Taxes go up, benefits to the tax-payer and their families go down. The waiting time for a Doctor’s appointment is in excess of 2 weeks for those of us who have lived here all our lives. We wait years to have operations and our entry onto the social services list is scrutinised beyond the limits of sensibility. Enter as an asylum seeker and you get the lot, includes accommodation, immediate medical treatment and free food. Hospital wards are full of middle-aged 'students' from Africa, all suffering from an untreatable disease. These people have never contributed to anything bar the airfare to the NHS – sorry meant airfare to UK. Immediately they are here they miraculously appear at our hospitals for treatment. Our NHS is being ripped to bits by those who do not deserve to be there, who present TB and other anti social diseases and make the nurses' lives hell as they lay there demanding a service that doesn’t even exist in the private sector. [How many nurses have heard ‘I am a Prince in my own country’]?

The reason that terrorism is a sad fact for Britain rests with Mr Bliar and his self appointment as Bush's foreign minister; and his unquestionable loyalty to Bush by sending British troops to Iraq and Afghanistan to fight a war against terrorism.

In the event of something nasty coming our way dead bodies will have to be decontaminated before being taken to makeshift mortuaries. The flip side is any surviving relation will still have to foot the bill for a funeral and no doubt for the indignities of the 'makeshift mortuary ' too. [You might like to return to the start of this Newsletter and read ‘Non-Number Station observation and chilling observation’].

So when you herd the British Public into a cordon, expect them to strip off and be 'hosed down' whilst being policed by persons who are armed be well aware of the festering public anger and the wishes of some to straighten the record somewhat. It is a fact that Brits fight best with their backs to the wall. They will ignore the SA80 and Rule ..556. [It was Rule 303 in DoK and Macs’ time]

Whatever happened to the old Civil Defence Corps? Remember the ads with a shield held high with the initials CD on it in red? It was disbanded around 1965. Happy New Year, it's 2004 and we have Bliar’s caring government to look after us all [esp if you are an asylum seeker]. Tnx KW

Lottery, interest rate rises, E03, E05 and a bad luck story all round.

From DoK and PoSW we heard that in the "Daily Mail" [Wednesday February 11, page 72] the "Answers to Correspondents" column contained, by way of a reply to a reader's question on unusual ways of choosing numbers for the National Lottery, a letter from Simon Mason of East Yorkshire who described his method of selecting numbers, namely tuning a radio to a certain short wave frequency and using the numbers read out by the British female voice to enter the Lottery.

PoSW also offered, "I tried this method myself when the lottery first started, although my source of numbers was E05's "Cynthia"; and I won absolutely nothing!" [That must be the American influence upon you Peter - for my part I have used the interest rate rises from the early 70s and with this current government, and, upon reflection, like everyone else legally in the UK, am a loser too]!

[Tnx to DoK for sending the actual letter in, and to Simon for writing it. ENIGMA 2000 has, as a direct result of that letter, gained one member. Welcome aboard].

Demo in Stranger’s Gallery

Mr Bliar has become aware that everyone might not like him. Following some rowdy behaviour in the Stranger’s Gallery in the House of Commons [the public gallery] he has demanded the fitting of armoured glass to protect him from assassination by terrorists.

Why terrorists? They would no doubt have to join the lengthening queue of disappointed Brits who might also like a crack. [Just think of the money that could be made having a paintball game there, popping MP’s at a fiver a go. Taxes could go down]!

He hasn’t thought it through though – he could have passed a law to stop the discharging of a firearm in HP. Perhaps he has no faith in his laws – no one else has either – as we get assaulted, mugged and raped on our streets and homes we are well aware that these bastards who do this are anti social. A law exists for that too. In all fairness if you defend yourself you end up in gaol. Well done Mr Bliar, you’re a star.

This rule of Labour’s love for the community is also extending to the local council chambers. A certain Police Borough Commander was asked some harrowing questions by the Vice-Chair of the local Police Consultative Committee as to why a police presence was not seen at a particular criminal occurrence and also why certain emergency calls never get answered. In addition to that they asked why an answer phone is used at the police station and what the police were doing about the binge drinking and drugs culture in the area that the Commander is responsible for. The questions were passionately put. Then the PCC discovers that a certain lefty labour councillor is out to have the committee closed down. If this is what is happening at local levels what an earth is going on Nationally?

And Mr Bliar is worried…………….?

An Unusual Gift

JoA informs us that has found the following from RADIO SLOVAKIA INTERNATIONAL:

"AN SS-24 missile was the most original present for president Rudolf Schuster on Sunday [4/1/04], when he celebrated his 70th. birthday. The weapon, dating back to the Cold War, was a gift from Ukranian president Leonid Kuchma. "Don't be afraid, we will not aim it at anyone, it's only a memento of the Cold War" the Slovak president announced.

The missile was delivered to The Museum of Aviation based in Kosice in the eastern part of the country, whilst a certificate of ownership was presented to Schuster."

JoA reasonably asks, and there are those who will know the answer: "Do you know whether this missile was nuclear? - if it was, the

query is - has the radioactive material been removed? and if so - where?"[Tnx JoA]

Flight BA223

This thorn in the side of British and American Governments is the London/Washington flight held up countless times and escorted by fighters [so what happens when someone decides to play his hand as a terrorist – shoot the plane down over a town or city?] into America all to prevent a terror event of someone, we are told, carrying a bomb so small it cannot be detected?

BALPA has resisted American wishes for ‘sky marshals’ in BA aircraft despite the use of frangible rounds. They have also hinted that the US Government is demanding this to encourage others to use American carriers instead.

Now we learn that the 90day allowance to British travellers has been changed and that we now require a visa if a ‘biometric’ passport is not carried. [Britain doesn’t issue ‘biometric’ passports as yet]. These visas will cost £65 – that’s US$100 each. A talkback show discussing this matter broadcast a call from a British male who stated his wife was internally examined whilst trying to enter the US as she fitted some description. He also said that the US was looking for swarthy persons to search too.

What will UK Government do about this? Knowing Bliar’s affinity for the US he’ll ask for the price to be increased to £100 each. Will American’s have to produce a visa to enter the UK? Of course not and knowing Bliar’s affinity for the US we’ll probably have to pay their fares too! Let's hope their tourism industry is abysmally affected.

Best still a Fish and Chip shop owner in Gwent, Wales was held by the FBI because his name and physique matched that of a terror suspect. John Harris who serves on his local council was a little worried when he realised everyone else had boarded the plane.

~~http://www.thisisgwent.co.uk/gwent/news/NEWS3.html refers.~~

The best is yet to come though. On Wednesay 14/01 a man was arrested at Heathrow T3. The passenger was in transit to a Middle East country but was in possession of a quantity of live rounds. The plane had left Washington with this bloke transporting ammunition – maybe the Yanks should be fingerprinting their own blokes on the way out; not that it matters – they are not a risk to America if they’re going across the Atlantic.

[Since this piece was penned BA223 has been delayed further – all for the safety of the US; seems no one wants to do anything to anywhere else in the World. BA223 has now been discontinued it seems].

Germany moving Spy Agencies to Berlin

Key elements of Germany’s intelligence agencies are being moved to the capital. Whilst that may appear to make organisational sense to some, others belive that to place a concentration there is strategically wrong. [E]

Operation Mass Appeal

Did you know that the Secret Intelligence Service apparently ran an operation [Operation Mass Appeal] to gain public support for the use of sanctions and military force in Iraq.

According to a piece in the Sunday Times, sent in via E, it was a campaign to plant stories in the media about Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction. [E2k draws your notice to the use of the word ‘stories’ and its alternative meaning.

Security and Information Agency [SIA] on ‘Net.

The once feared Security and Information Agency [SIA] from Milsovic’s time in Serbia has gone public via the internet. Aspiring agents can apply for a job via the site as can informants on serious crimes.

The site has an English language offering too.

For more info try: http:// www.bia.sr.gov.yu [Tnx E]

I am an agent of Her Majesty's Secret Service

[thank heaven's he never claimed to be an ENIGMA 2000 member]!

Robert Hendy-Freegard told stories of clandestine operations with MI5 and of his work with Special Branch to various persons who made his acquaintance.

In truth he was a skilled Confidence Trickster, a 'consumate conman' according to Godfrey Carey QC, for the Crown at Blackfriars Crown Court, Central London.

Three students at an agricultural college were duped by his stories about being on a mission against the IRA [possibly based on the death of an Irish student at the college] and told one he was a Special Branch officer. This student was beaten by Hendy-Freegard who was testing him to see if he was 'hard enough' to participate in a mission. All in all he managed to con over £600,000 from these unfortunate students.

He is reported as having an affair with a married woman whom he photographed naked and who he then blackmailed. On the woman's 31st birthday she was required by Hendy-Freegard to sit on a railway bench for 14 hours for an MI5 contact [who obviously did not appear].

Thank heavens this bloke was not an E2k member - can you imagine the conversations, "Would you care to come to my bedroom and listen to the last G04 transmission?" Followed by the affirmative, "Yes Darling. I'm captivated, help me unhitch my stockings while I write you out a cheque for 300 grand!"

Gaul Inquiry [30^th anniversary of sinking occurred 08/02/04]

Following the sinking of the trawler in the Barents Sea in 1974 with the loss of all hands a public enquiry has opened. The wreck was discovered in 1997 following interest by a British Television station and in 1999 Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott ordered the Formal Investigation to be reopened. [HM Govt was aware of the position of the wreck from 1977 according to archival material now available via the ‘net].

Using remote undersea vehicles ROV’s the wreck was searched and the remains of four crew members were identified after being brought to the surface. The Gaul Families Association [GFA] is attending the Formal Investigation, opened by the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith. The venue is Europa House, Hull. This process is expected to last for around five weeks.

More can be read about this matter in Issue 1 of the Newsletter – including facts on the use of trawlers from Hull as gatherers of intelligence for MI6 and GCHQ. [Two members of E2k were lucky enough to have associated with a special radio op on trawlers].

On 14/01 the enquiry closed early thanks to an electrical failure. During the hearing on that day it was learnt that one ‘expert witness’ was perhaps not as expert as he considered and that he had not actually attended the Inquiry. Also it was revealed that the Gaul had been buzzed by Russian planes on previous fishing trips. Interest was also shown in the leaving open of hatches and gates, particular interest paid to the knocking back by heavy seas, on the stern gates.

Another witness spoke of badly maintained hatches and doors on the sister ships of the Gaul and supposed that the Gaul would be in the same condition. Apparently paint and rust prevented the closing of watertight doors and hatches.

Mention of GCHQ was also heard from the mouth of a radio operator and mention of Russian subs rising next to trawlers to free snagged nets was also heard.

The Gaul sank for a reason as yet unestablished. Thirty-six hard working persons perished and now, thirty years on a second formal Inquiry is being held.

Looking at the transcripts one can see that the witnesses called have evidence to give and appear to do so truthfully. I have noticed that many even state that the accuracy of their account may have suffered due to the passage of time.

What is suprising is the assumption that the trend of poor maintenance as outlined on her sister ships would be visited upon the Gaul.

SOSUS relied on the detection of sounds of submarines to be effective. Obviously in the area where the Gaul sank there would be a lot of noise.

SOSUS was updated with the sound signatures of Soviet Submarines as they were detected.

Detection was made by a number of methods employed by the US Navy and also the Royal Navy.

In the boundaries of the Barents Sea is a large island [between Barents and the Kara Sea] Noyava Zemyla. The island was one of the Soviet main nuclear test areas.

A number of Soviet submarines were to be found there and the US Navy had an active detection program to stalk and record the sound signatures of the Soviet Boats. They employed a technique called 'underhulling' which involved the manoeuvring of the US Boat directly under, and in very close proximity, to the Soviet Boat.

In her book 'Blind Man's Buff' Sherry Sontag footnotes, "Tightly coordinating their efforts with US submariners, British subs sometimes helped fill in what had become a nearly seamless round-robin surveillance of the Soviet ports in the Barents. There were only a couple of British subs trained for the task, and they went near Soviet shores only during spring and fall, but those subs were dedicated to the spy mission, and that's what their commanders and crews specialized in. The British Royal Navy just didn't mind confronting the Soviets."

The cable that was seen very near the bow of the Gaul in the Ch4 survey has disappeared. Why?

It is more than feasible that the undersea cable was a military link between mainland Russia [possibly Severodvinsk] and Novaya Zemlya and other Soviet Fleet bases.

The Americans ran a very secret mission tapping undersea cables and missions were run in the Barents sea. The devices used were referred to as Ivy Bells and sat attached to the target cables retrieving information by induction. They weighed about 6 tons, were 20ft long and 3 feet wide. The first was placed in the Sea of Okhotsk but the Barents Sea also saw the Ivy Bells. The effective time frame was from 1972 to 1981.

The point of what is written above is not to offer an explanation as to how the Gaul was sunk - but to illustrate the extent that the Barent's Sea was being utilised by submarines, of all sides, in the Cold war.

We already know from the transcripts that Soviet Boats surfaced when snagged - would the same apply to a Boat involved in a Secret Mission tapping an undersea cable?

If anything was snagged perhaps it is being kept quiet by those who know. Another government whitewash?

The interesting thing is that certain aspects of this second enquiry followed the script of Tom Keene’s ‘Spyship’ – a book that is loosely based on the Gaul disaster and which supplied the germ seed for the novel. [PLondon, E and others].

On Day 21 of the Inquiry new evidence was lodged by journalist Graham Smith, who has a special interest in the Gaul case. It read:

"To The Gaul Families Association

I am a former Royal Navy Chief Petty Officer, having served on four nuclear powered submarines and several surface ships.

The reason for the e-mail is that I was extremely disturbed by something I heard while in the W.O + NCOs mess HMS Dolphin (Submarine Training School). I don't know if this will be of any use to you but I believe it to be true.

Basically I overheard a Warrant Officer Submarine explain in some detail to an army officer how in 1974 he was on patrol in the North Sea / Barents on the patrolling Polaris Submarine. He said how they became entangled with a trawler, dragging it astern until it sank. Because of their orders to remain undetected they were not allowed to surface for survivors. He was in tears as he related the story , and named the trawler as the GAUL

I reported this breach of security to the mess President, and heard no more.

I must stress I have no proof, but I would invite | <A HREF="e2k21article3.html">Euston tower</A><BR>the M.O.D. (N) to show the whereabouts of our 'On Patrol' Polaris Submarine. There is normally only one.

I apologise for not leaving my name but I would be in serious bother if the Ministry of Defence found out

I wish you the very best of Luck

Chief Petty Officer ( RN )."

The reply from Nigel Meeson QC, barrister to the public inquiry, taken from the Hull Daily Mail reads:

"SUBMARINE ARGUMENT 'FAR-FETCHED'

14:30 - 25 February 2004

Hull: Claims the Gaul trawler was sunk by a submarine were this afternoon dismissed as "absurd".

Nigel Meeson QC, barrister to the public inquiry into the sinking of the Hull vessel 30 years ago, said the allegation was "far-fetched and absurd".

Freelance journalist Graham Smith, who runs a website about the Gaul sinking, circulated a report yesterday claiming a Polaris submarine sank the trawler on February 8, 1974, after becoming entangled in her fishing nets.

But he was criticised by Mr Meeson at today's resumed hearing for not contacting the inquiry team beforehand.

"He has failed to provide any further information as to where the statement had come from, or where he got the information," said Mr Meeson.

"The theory the Gaul was towed backwards by a submarine is inconsistent with the facts as we know them."

The inquiry has already heard the Gaul was not fishing at the time of her sinking, and the nets were stowed away, making it impossible for the submarine to become entangled.

Mr Meeson said wording in the letter, apparently made by a Navy officer, was inconsistent with language used by such officers.

He also said a submarine designed to provide a nuclear deterrent would never have been in shallow water."

[Hull Daily Mail, 25th February 2004]”

Note the Gaul went down in 146 fathoms of water - that's 876ft, hardly 'shallow'. How comes the 'barrister to the public inquiry' is suddenly an expert on diction of Petty Officers and the operational requirements of Polaris Submarines when on patrol - NOTE: On Patrol, not at firing stations – and the way these missiles are ejected would require a shallower draught than 146 fathoms.

This is beginning to smack of a cover up. To promote that, Mr Meeson was also able, at the drop of a hat, know that SOSUS cables were not laid in that area in 197, is there no end to this man’s skill, I’d have to bet he knows my collar size, yet we have never met. E2k suggests he searches the American Federation of American Scientists – it’s all there, including an earlier date.

On his site, ‘Mediaworld,’ Mr Graham Smith makes the very valid point that the Kursk came to grief in 328 feet of water in the Barents Sea. [Oops Mr Meeson that’s only 55 fathoms, not shallow either].

So here we go, a prediction of the findings: Poor maintenance, poor seamanship, Act of God. The Govt will come out of this smelling of rose, no doubt at all.

[E2k acknowledge details taken from Mediworld and Hull Daily Mail]. [Thanks Ken-another fine view from your caustic pen].

Rocky Ryan and Farzad Bazoft.

The Times [19/01] has an obituary for a Rocky Ryan, a 66 year old one time stuntman who also liked to sell hoax stories to the British press.

Journalists soon became wise to his tricks but found that if they exposed his hoax stories or challenged them Mr Ryan became threatening.

In 1988 he tried to peddle one of his hoax stories to the Observer newspaper and Farzad Bazoft a journalist who worked for them.

Mr Bazoft soon worked out the story was false and phoned Ryan who in turn threatened Bazoft and his family. Bazoft reported this to the Police who investigated the events. As a result Ryan was convicted and developed a grudge against Bazoft. When in 1990 the Iraqi's arrested Bazoft it was Ryan who rang the Iraqi embassy and told them that Bazoft was a Mossad agent.

Although Bazoft's life was in danger from the moment the Iraqi's held him it is possible that the Mossad allegations sealed his fate.

The background was that in 1990 a British journalist Farzad Bazoft was investigating a chemical weapons accident in Iraq when he was arrested by the Iraqi secret police and shortly afterwards hanged.

Just before he was hanged there were allegations from the Iraqi's that Bazoft (a British citizen of middle eastern origin) was a Mossad spy who was recruited when he was a student at Sheffield University. The University was called a "nest of Mossad spies". Now I happen to know this institution well and the allegation always seemed to be complete rubbish but I presumed poor Mr Bazoft had been tortured and thus gave out this obviously false information. [See ENIGMA NL issue 7 page 24].Tnx IW

Last Issues’ Competition!

Not one E2k member has bothered to enter the contest – but then again everyone knew the answer.

Here is the first confirmation found on the front of The Obsever Business Section 18/01:

Amec, the UK Construction giant, has missed out on £1.32bn [US$2bn] worth of contracts to rebuild damaged oil infrastructure in Iraq. Amec tried hard to win one of two contracts on offer from the US Army Corps of Engineers.

The two contracts were split between the California based Parsons and Wornley Group of Australia, for the North of Iraq and KBR, which will work in the South of Iraq.

KBR is a subsidiary of the Houston based Halliburton and has won the more valuable deal worth up to £750m [US$1.2bn]. And guess who the vice chairman if Halliburton was – no other than US Vice President Dick Cheney. Accusations of cronyism are abounding. The initial contracts have already returnedUS$2.3bn. To give the Pentagon credit Criminal Investigators anre investigating claims of profiting from fuel trucking. A draft audit found that KBR might have overcharged by US$61m.

Did you know also that Camp Delta was built at a cost of $9.7 million by Brown and Root Services, a subsidiary of Halliburton by contract workers from India and the Philippines? [Halliburton again]!

Hindawi successful in Court of Appeal

Nezar Hindawi has won his case in the Court of Appeal to have the Home Secretary's decision to deny him a Parole Board review overturned.

Hindawi was jailed for 45 years in 1986 for attempting to blow up and El-Al aircraft on a flight from London Heathrow to Israel.

His IED was of technical interest, as the main charge and the TPU were two separate items, also the TPU contained a IC timer, a technique not common in the mid 1980s, when most IEDs still relied on electromechnical timers.

Rumour has it that the components were brought in the Syrian Embassy diplomatic bag, and the IED was contsructed at the Syrian Embassy. [He could at least have used Maplins]

Another interesting point of the case was when sentenced to 45 years, no-one in the Court could understand the reason for Hindawi's broad smile and jubilation. When questioned in the holding cells, it transpired he had mis-heard the judge, and thought he had been sentenced to 'four-to-five' years. On learning the actual sentence, he promptly fainted![TnxAnonNI]

Mitrokhin Dies

The Foreign Office said Vasili Mitrokhin, a KGB archivist whose defection opened up thousands of the spy agency's files to the West, has died He was 81 and died on Jan. 23. He had been living in Britain under a false name and with police protection since his defection in 1992.

Bliar and Bush accused

Dr Hans Blix has accused Messrs Bliar and Bush of ‘lacking sincerity and of “spinning” the intelligence’ they used to justify the invasion of Iraq. [How can he say that]?

For his own part Mr Bliar has stated that he did not understand the document over the 45 minutes.

How is it that the ordinary man in the street knew that Iraq did not possess a delivery system for their apparent biologicals and nerve agents?

Dr Blix also said, “From politicians, from our leaders in the West, I think we expect more than that … a bit more sincerity.”

[Do we?– Not any more. There is no basic goodness around, no milk of Human kindness any more – just the hard sell, push and financial rip-offs endorsed by today’s politicians who to be totally blunt should know better and who are better employed selling dodgy cars, insurance or double glazing – they’d probably cock that up too].

Soviets had world's best radar until BRIXMIS intervened

At the peak of the Cold War a top secret Soviet fighter, a Yak-28 Firebar, crashed into the Havalsee,a lake, which split between the Russian and British sectors of Berlin.. British radio operators at Berlin's RAF Gatow had already intercepted a message from the aircrafts controllers instructing the pilots to land in the Soviet sector; with providence, it came to rest in ther British sector. The British mounted a salvage operation promising to return the bodies of the dead crew. Whilst work was being carried out to apparently recover the bodies a full covert underwater operation was being carried out to remove the Soviet's 'Skip Spin Radar'. Unlike the West's system this Soviet equipment could look up and down as well as forward.

In any case the radar and its dish were flown to the Royal Aircraft Establishment where is was fully appraised and investigated.

It was later returned to the aircraft which was then raised and presented to the Russians. As the aircraft was handed over the Soviet General noticed that tips of the engine fans had been sawn off. He apparently shruged as if to suggest that the Soviets had been screwed, which indeed they had.[Tnx 'E'. You can read a full account in BRIXMIS by Tony Geraghty].

Russian Spies have leave to sue CIA and now the Brits too

The CIA may be sued by a couple from the former Soviet Union for failing to honour a promise to look after them after they moved to the US.

The couple, a once high ranking diplomat spied for the CIA after seeking to defect to the West. Despite CIA wishes to have the case dismissed the Court of Appeals ruled the case would be heard.

In another story, via the Times and E, Victor Makarov, a KGB lieutenant claims that he was let down by ministers and the security services even though he had risked his life to pass on vital information. He claims he was offered a pension and a new identity for his work. For his assistance he was paid £65000, which he says is inadequate recognition of his contribution. [Tnx E].

Libya’s Spy Chief meets MI6 and CIA officers

The head of Libya’s intelligence service recently met senior MI6 and CIA officers in Great Britain to make arrangements for inspection and decommissioning of its nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programmes.

Not surprisingly Libya wishes to have such inspection led by the United Nations. Not surprisingly Washington wants experts from [actual quote]: from America and Britain to be in charge. [Tnx E. Think we all know where this is going, Libya has oil] .

Iran arrests ‘several spies’ working for the CIA

Agence France-Presse reported on 6^th Jan from Tehran that a number of Iranians accused of spying for the CIA and sending information over the internet had been arrested. It was possible that those arrested were members of the Iranian armed forces as the arrests were made by the Military Justice Department, which is known to only deal with members of the Iranian armed forces. [Tnx for sending in E].

Russian Security nabbed five foreign spies in 2003

The head of Russia’s Federal Security Service has stated that five foreign intelligence officers had been ‘caught red handed’ in 2003.

“Espionage and other subversive activities of 14 other career spies and of 37 agents of foreign governments, including two Russian citizens, have also been stopped,” reported Nikolai Patrushev – head of the security service involved..

He also reported that his agency exchanges full time information with the CIA, FBI and other foreign intelligence services in a total of 62 countries. [Tnx E].

China has British Spy in Custody

A top Hong Kong official has been placed in custody on suspicion of spying for Great Britain. He had apparently been leaking state secrets – in fact the itinery of Jiang Zemin. China’s previous President.

The other notable spying case involving China was bugs planted in the President’s Boeing 767 discovered in 2001.

China conducts a vigorous espionage programme on other foreign countries.

Gizza Job mate!

“When you’re working on the sort of issues that headlines are made of, you need to take security very seriously indeed. Part of this responsibility involves looking closely at the background of potential new employees and making sure that everything is as it should be……….. Vetting Officers, Full and Part Time £22272, Cheltenham and Limited Opportunities in London – GCHQ, where Careers make headlines.”

I remember my appraisal at my past employ where I stayed for 16 years working on things I can’t ever talk about:

“How do you see your career with us?” – “I’m sorry | <A HREF="e2k21article3.html">Euston tower</A><BR>…..?” – “Your career.” - How do I answer this one? “Career, what career? It’s just a job.” - “ That’s a very short sighted answer.” - “How can I say I have a career when all the promotional opportunities go to those with degrees?” - “Not everyone who is promoted is educated to degree level.” - “That’s absolutely true, but you have forgotten to mention the only one to get on the ladder in the last 15 years, and fairly near the top of it too, is the Governor’s Son!”- “That’s beside the point!” - “I think not. If you don’t have any other drivel to waste my time I have an en*******n keyer to repair. Good Day!” Limited Opportunities in London! They are all limited unless you have a privileged background.

Then we see ‘Opportunities for Linguists.’ Full time Vacancies: Arabic-all dialects [will they accept my Aden Arabic with a cockney accent – course not, no degree in it], Urdu, Punjabi [so if your fed up with your corner shop, filling station, Post Office, chemist, dentistry, medical and other professional work please apply], Persian/Farsi and Turkish [we know where that’s going too and at the expense of our kebab industry], Russian combined with another modern language [has to be to counter the emergent Russian Mafia with their financial scams]”

Then there is the contract work: Bengali, Gujerati, Pushtu, Sorani [it’s spoken by Kurds] “Our central London Client seeks linguists to join a professional language unit to undertake audio and written translations. Candidates should have mother tongue skills or a good honours degree or equivalent in one or more of the specified languages and be able to demonstrate the following…..” Bet the degree bit is slung in because there is no way they’d get clearance under Section 5A of the Race Relations Act or some other nonsense designed to assist in the dilution of society when the ad is aimed in this way.

And this one sticks out like a pork pie shop in Tel Aviv: ‘A good knowledge of current affairs and the culture relating to the relevant language area.’ Salary from £20100 [not much for these skills is it]?

At the bottom of the advert, passed to me by E, in red ink and circled, the figure 5 with an exclamation mark after it – and he’s right! I heard that a new office is opening in Central London. No outsider knows where it is yet – but the buzz will start, no doubt. Given the ‘limited’ opportunities in London, this may well be for the same place.

Lots of lingo testing and developed vetting – at an office near you! With the RIP 2000 now well ensconced perhaps they should have asked for ‘this language speaking’ telephone engineer. Imagine the requirements if the ad appeared in the Daily Sport instead of the Daily Telegraph!

On page 2 of the Daily Telegraph 18/02 what do we find in the news bulletin but a headline that reads, ‘Army sends students to Iraq’. The article details how some Arabic speaking students are putting their degrees on hold to go to Iraq, be based at the airport at Basra at a rate said to be £200 a day. These students are given a crash course in ‘jargon’. The MoD is reported in the short as saying “We have a very small number of personnel with Arabic language skills.”

Pity they weren’t at Cardiff bus station a few weeks ago when two E2k members met and greeted each other in Aden Arabic learnt from their respective times in Aden – another part of the British Colonial system from when Britain ruled the world correctly [before the UK became populated by politically correct, muesli munching, kaftan clad, sandal wearing, lily livered, spineless gits who dictate safe in the knowledge there is always the fall guy to take the blame – and thank you, I do feel much better for that]!

But the best appeared in ‘The Sunday Times, The Observer and The Mail on Sunday 22/02. Each proclaimed 1000 extra spies to be recruited by MI5 in terror drive [or should that be MI khamsa?]. Having read the different pieces it is obvious that some staff will work in the surveillance section A4, following and watching suspects 24 hours a day. Others will work in G Branch carrying out the necessary searches in the International Section that deals with Islamic [amongst a few others] Terrorism. Furthermore an increase in funding has been made available, not only to MI5, but also to GCHQ who gets the greater part. Whilst recruiting 1000 extra spies will be difficult it is estimated that vetting these persons will take up to three years. A greater part of the recruitment drive will be to increase the number of applicants from the ethnic minorities. Apparently 9% of successful applicants were from ethnic minorities, the highest figure for two years. Don’t see many black Police Officers, Soldiers, Sailors and Milkmen, do you? Perhaps, one day, we will. InshAllah. [[Shukri Sal ibn Hari].

ENIGMA 2000 IS AWARE ON ONE VACANCY THAT HAS ARISEN AT GCHQ FOR A MANDARIN TRANSLATOR! And here’s a belter, someone wrote a letter into London’s Metro free newspaper about KG’s whistleblowing and the write and wrongs of her action. The writer, from EC1, he claims, was using the legend ‘Tom Quinn’. It must be wishful thinking!

CIA struggling to Spy

Having just read the above story ‘Gizza Job’ one would be forgiven for thinking this a light hearted dig at our colonial cousins – but no.

There is a serious shortage, according to the Washington Times, with the ability of the CIA to do the job properly in Iraq. Their problems mirror the language shortage that GB is surmounting, but their shortage is genuinely greater.

The CIA Baghdad station is the biggest in the history of the CIA, bigger even than that in Saigon, but those who serve there find it difficult to venture past the front gates to make covert meetings with informants.

A number of satellite stations in Afghanistan have also closed down because of the deteriorating security situation there.

The number of CIA operatives in Baghdad exceed 500 persons but the operatives expect to ‘rotate’ within 30 to 90 days.

There are CIA offices in Basra and Mosul too as well as other places.

Prior to the transfer of sovereignty later this year the CIA is also trying to set up a new Iraqi intelligence service and has called on past members of the Mukhabarat. Once these candidates have been identified and vetted in Iraq the training is said to take place in Jordan or Egypt.

Official Secrets charges dropped by Prosecution

The Official Secrets charges against a GCHQ translator, Katherine Gun, 29, dropped by Prosecution at the Old Bailey on 25/02.

Miss Gun, a Mandarin Translator for GCHQ was accused that she had leaked the details of an Anglo-American operation to bug UN delegates on the eve of the war with Iraq. These details were apparently lifted from an email during the course of her work and passed to a friend. The friend, whose identity was never discovered, then passed the information to the journalist captured by the Taleban, Yvonne Ridley.

Then, the very next day, we hear from former Cabinet Minister Clare Short that Britain agents were bugging* Kofi Annan in the run up to the Iraqi War. You can see why Katherine Gun’s case was dropped as quickly as a hot potato. [Wonder if we did Boutros Boutros Gali [Sun Times 29/02 we find out that we did] or if there is any truth in the rumour that U Thant found a chassis full of 1T4s and a 67.5/1.5v composite battery behind his dressing table]! *Intercepting his mobile phone transmissions, actually.

As an interesting follow on to this piece, ENIGMA 2000’s advisor in Northern Ireland writes [and you can all supply your own Bogside area accent for fun] :

The confusion regarding why Katherine Gun(n) was charged under Section 1of the Official Secrets Act is explained by the fact she was charged under Section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1989, which is headed 'Security and intelligence' relates to Crown servants making damaging disclosures, rather than Section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1911, which is headed 'Penalties for spying' and which relates to communicating information to a hostile power, which would have thrown a completely different light on the case.
The Official Secrets act 1989 replaced Section 2 of the Official Secrets Act 1911, and seeks to limit prosecutions to those who make damaging disclosures, and not those who disclose how many spoons of sugar a Senior Crown servant likes in their coffee (which could have been construed as an offence under Sec.2 OSA 1911)
Gun(n) was supported in Court by our favourite filing clerk, self-publicist and pie-eater, DS.[That's not quite what it says on a txt message sent to me last year]. No doubt he has already put her in touch with his publishers.
Gun(n) was apparently defended by the legal wing of Amnesty.
The legal wing of Greenpeace is also pushing for the Attorney-Generals advice on the legality of war to be disclosed for use in their defence of several protesters charged with the usual public order offences that members of that organisation seem to readily clock up.
One of the channels had Richard Tomlinson giving his ‘valid’ opinion too.

[Tnx AnonNI – excellent as ever].

Iraq War hero decorated

A 19 year old Trooper of the Blues and Royals received the insignia of the George Cross, for bravery during the Iraq War, from HM Queen at Buckingham Palace. Apart from the Trooper being the youngest to have been decorated with the GC he is only one of 156 awarded. [I was lucky to have served briefly with another and I have second cousin who was also awarded GC].

He might have been awarded the Victoria Cross – seen as more glamorous but only awarded for Valour in the face of the enemy. Unfortunately there was no enemy when the Trooper earnt his medal [as all British Servicemen and women do], his Troop was under attack [twice] by US A10 aircraft. [Wonder what decoration their pilots received for the obvious trauma of realising they had cocked up and attacked their allies – wonder if they even received a bollocking? Perhaps they were asked not to do it again as the Brits get a little fed-up with it]. WW2 British Army saying: ‘When the enemy shoots, the allies duck; when the English shoot the enemy ducks; when the Americans shoot, everyone ducks’ From my Dad, Royal Signals, Burma up to 1946, no thanks and no medals.