Hundred forty-second edition of the N&O column / Spooks newsletter

(Date: July 2009)

Intelligence profile: Italy

Background

Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the regional states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor Emmanuel II. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito Mussolini established a Fascist dictatorship. His alliance with Nazi Germany led to Italy's defeat in World War II. A democratic republic replaced the monarchy in 1946 and economic revival followed. Italy was a charter member of NATO and the European Economic Community (EEC). It has been at the forefront of European economic and political unification, joining the Economic and Monetary Union in 1999. Persistent problems include illegal immigration, organized crime, corruption, high unemployment, sluggish economic growth, and the low incomes and technical standards of southern Italy compared with the prosperous north.

General

Country name	:	Repubblica Italiana (Italian Republic)
Short form	:	Italia (Italy)
Government type	:	Republic
Capital	:	Rome

Administrative divisions	:	15 regions (regioni); Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna,Lazio (Latium), Liguria, Lombardia, Marche, Molise, Piemonte (Piedmont), Puglia (Apulia), Toscana (Tuscany), Umbria, Veneto (Venetia) and 5 autonomous regions (regioni autonome); Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Sardegna (Sardinia), Sicilia, Trentino-Alto Adige (Trentino-South Tyrol), Valle d'Aosta (Aosta Valley).

Military Branches

Italian Army (Esercito Italiano, EI)
Italian Navy (Marina Militare Italiana, MMI)
Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare Italiana, AMI)
Carabinieri Corps (Arma dei Carabinieri, CC)

Carabinieri

The Carabinieri was established as a special army corps. They still have both military and civilian duties and are the responsibility of the Ministry of Defense. The Carabinieri is present in every Italian town, even in the smallest ones. Sometimes a garrison consists of only two or three people. The Carabinieri are the most respected of the Italian police forces.

The Carabinieri can often been heard on short wave using ALE.
Frequencies:
2463, 3300, 4457, 4810, 4830, 4840, 4890, 5065, 5416, 5752, 5759, 6505, 6600, 6620, 6792, 6872, 6905, 6926, 6936, 7000, 7410, 7500, 7532, 7550, 7590, 7595.8, 7598, 7600, 7628, 7650, 7802.5, 7810, 8000, 8038, 8045, 8072, 9085, 9200, 10086, 10295, 10390, 10590, 10800, 12431 kHz.

In the past they were very active in USB, Baudot (50bd/170hz, bit inversion) with encrypted traffic between 06.30 and 17.00 UTC.
Frequencies:
4602, 5025, 5075, 5395, 5761, 6747, 6811.8, 7598, 8056, 19340 kHz

Security / Intelligence

CISR
Comitato interministeriale per la sicurezza della Repubblica
COPACO
Comitato Parlamentare di Controllo per i Servizi di Informazione e Sicurezza e per il Segreto di Stato
AISE
Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Esterna
AISI
Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Interna
DIS
Dipartimento delle Informazioni per la Sicurezza

Italy's first intelligence service, called "Ufficio I", within the Army General Staff, dates back to 1900. Ufficio I had the task of providing intelligence support to the Supreme Command. In 1927 the intelligence service was formalized by a legislative act, Royal Decree n. 70 of 6.2.1927. This decree established the structure of the Army General Staff and created the Military Information Service (SIM). SIM had two branches: Offensive, for intelligence collection, and Defensive, for counterespionage. Similar Services were set up in the Navy and in the Air Force. The structure of SIM remained unchanged until 8 September 1943. On 30 March 1949 the Intelligence Services of the three armed forces were reorganized and a single central Service established: the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces (SIFAR), directed by the Chief of the Defence General Staff. Each armed force had its own intelligence section; Servizio Informazioni Operative e Situazione (SIOS), headed by the relevant Chief of General Staff. Presidential decree n.1477 of 18 November 1965 established the Defence Intelligence Service (SID). SID was tasked to collect information, protect military secrets and all other national security and defense related issues; prevent attacks to the national defensive system. SID ceased to exist in 1977, when the Intelligence and Military Security Service (SISMI) was established.

1900-1927	SIM	Ufficio I
1943-1949	SIFAR
1949-1965	SIOS	Servizio Informazioni Operative e Situazione
1965-1977	SID	Servizio Informazioni Difesa
1977-2007	SISDE	Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Democratica
1977-2007	SISMI	Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare
1977-2007	CESIS
1977-2007	CIIS
1977-	COPACO	Comitato Parlamentare di Controllo per i Servizi di Informazione e Sicurezza e per il Segreto di Stato
2007-	AISE	Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Esterna
2007-	AISI	Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Interna
2007-	DIS	Dipartimento delle Informazioni per la Sicurezza
2007-	CISR	Comitato Interministeriale per la Sicurezza della Repubblica

SISMI was responsible for intelligence and security activities involving the military defence of Italy and for the integrity of the Italian State. SISMI reported to the Italian Ministry of Defense and operated both inside and outside of Italy 's borders. It was feasible that domestic Intelligence and Security, which normally fell under SISDE's jurisdiction (since it reported to the Ministry of the Interior), involved SISMI too, unless the security threat came from organized crime.

Since 1 August 2007, with Legislative Act n.124 of 08/03/2007, following the reform of the Italian intelligence agencies, SISDE, SISMI and CESIS were replaced respectively by AISI, AISE and DIS. The COPACO was granted additional oversight and control powers.

AISE
Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Esterna (External Information and Security Agency), formerly known as SISMI, is the external intelligence agency of Italy.
AISI
Agenzia informazioni e sicurezza interna (Internal Information and Security Agency), formerly known as SISDE, is the internal intelligence agency of Italy.
DIS
Dipartimento delle Informazioni per la Sicurezza (Department of Information Security) is a department of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of Italy, instituted in 2007 as part of the reform of the Italian security services. The department is divided into several functional areas. The Central Security Office (Ufficio Centrale per la Sicurezza) deals specifically with administrative protection of state secrets, including the granting or withdrawal of security clearance to individuals and organisations ("Nulla Osta Security"), the Office of the Central Archives (L'Ufficio Centrale degli Archivi) coordinates and manages the data in the possession of the Italian secret services, and the Information School (La Scuola di Formazione) is responsible for the training of government and civilian staff.
COPACO
Comitato Parlamentare di Controllo per i Servizi di Informazione e Sicurezza e per il Segreto di Stato, the parliamentary oversight body on intelligence matters, is allowed to access to intelligence documents and has access to intelligence facilities. COPACO reports to the prime minister.
CISR
Comitato Interministeriale per la Sicurezza della Repubblica (Interministerial Committee for the Security of the Republic). This is an advisory body that establishes policy guidelines. Chaired by the prime minister. Its secretary is the general director if DIS. Members include the ministers for foreign affairs, home affairs, defence, justice and economy.

Sources

http://www.aisi.gov.it (All the information provided on this web site is considered as public domain.)
Wikipedia
CIA World Factbook
UDXF 2006-2009