Tuesday 27 October, 2009

J&K: Journalist held for spying

Jammu, October 27, 2009
The Jammu Police arrested a journalist working for a local news agency on charge of spying for Pakistani agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Farroq Ahmad Ganai, who worked for The News Agency of Kashmir, allegedly lived a double life. To the outside world, he was hard-working journalist with a nose for news. However, according to the police, Ganai was actually a spy working for the enemy.

He was also the editor-in-chief of a magazine, The Inner Voice. He had held the position for four years.

Ganai, who hails from Durru village in Anantnag, was taken into custody from his office at Jammu's Jewel Chowk on Monday. The police said he worked for Pakistan's field intelligence unit.

According to police, 42-year-old Ganai was spying for two years. He was living in Jammu for 20 years. He was arrested on a tip-off from the army's military intelligence.

Ganai worked as a strategic source for the ISI, passing on vital information. He allegedly passed on information about roads being built by the army, hydro-projects and railway tracks, bridges and potential targets in Jammu city.

Ganai had travelled to Pakistan on journalistic assignments and that is how he got in touch with the ISI. He allegedly used Internet to send information to his minders across the border. (Headlines Today)

'Indian spy' arrested in Pakistan


A man alleged to be an Indian spy has been arrested in Pakistan, a media report said on Tuesday.
This is the second arrest of an Indian spy in the last 48 hours. As per details, Rabi Gopal, 25, was arrested from Wagha border in the wee hours of Monday. Rangers’ personnel have claimed to recover important documents from his possession.

Earlier, another Indian secret agent named Giyan Chandar was arrested by the authorities from Kala Katai two days ago. It is also learnt that both the arrested were not carrying travel documents including passport.

The Rangers have handed over both the Indian agents to intelligence agencies for further investigation.The Pakistan Rangers on Monday swooped on the suspected spy from Wagha area near Bedian in Punjab province, the Daily Times reported.

Rangers sources said the man had been identified as Rabi Gopal. They added that "sensitive documents" and maps were seized from him.

The sources said Paal had no travel document or passport.(Source- Pakistani news papers)

Somali fighters execute 'spies'


Al-Shabab aims to topple the government and impose their own version of Sharia law in Somalia [EPA]
Gunmen from Somalia's al-Shabab fighters have publicly executed two young men they said had been spies for the government.

A senior member of the group in the port town of Marka said the teenagers had confessed.

They were executed in front of hundreds of people who were summoned to witness the event on Sunday.

"These two young men were involved in spying against our Islamic administration," Sheikh Suldan, an al Shabab official, told reporters in Marka 100km south of the Somali, capital Mogadishu.

"We have been holding them for three months. We investigated and they confessed."

Al-Shabab aims to topple the UN-backed government in Somalia and introduce its own version of Islamic law in the country.

Courts run by al-Shabab officials have ordered executions, floggings and amputations in recent months, mostly in the southern town of Kismayo, but also in districts of the Mogadishu held by the fighters.

Strict laws

The group have also banned movies, mobile phone ringtones, dancing at wedding ceremonies and playing or watching soccer.

Also on Sunday, al-Shabab closed ASEP, a local non-governmental organisation, in the town of Balad Hawa, near the Kenyan border and detained several of its members, according to local residents.

An al-Shabab source told Reuters news agency that the staff had also been accused of spying.

The US has said al-Shabab is a proxy force for Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda group in the failed Horn of Africa state.

About 19,000 civilians have been killed in fighting since the start of 2007 while another 1.5 million have been forced out of their homes.

Which High-Profile War Correspondent Is a Spy?

Journalists are often accused of being spies. Military sources now say that one, currently working in a war zone, is in fact a real-life secret agent.

The sources, one recently retired and two current special forces soldiers (who did not want to be named for about 37 blazingly obvious reasons) have served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. In separate interviews they said that the correspondent has been blasted out of sticky situations by elite forces on more than one occasion, with loss of life, because of his military intelligence role. "We don't do that for just journalists," said one. "It's widely known [within the unit the source serves] that he is intelligence."

They did not know whether his employers are aware that the reporter moonlights as James Bond. They may not be - which is somewhat forgivable as he's probably a subterfuge professional. But one would assume his editors are curious as to why he gets extra care and attention from highly trained men with guns when he's in trouble. If there is some kind of tacit approval, it's a stupendous conflict of interest. Not to mention the extra risk the organization's other journalists on the ground would face if he was unmasked (which is the main reason we're keeping this item blind).

The fourth estate and the intelligence services have been linked before. (They're also connected because spies are well known for cutting eye holes in newspapers so they can secretly look at stuff while appearing to read.) If you've heard anything that corroborates, or indeed makes a mockery of, our information send it here. For example: maybe you've noticed that one of your colleagues turns up to work in an Aston Martin and rappels through a window to get to his desk.

As a bonus the retired soldier, a chatty fellow, also added that "Western governments" frequently circumnavigate their claim they don't negotiate with terrorists by hiring security companies to do it for them. A specialist for a firm that offers "K&R" – Kidnapping and Ransom expertise – confirmed off the record that the company had recently been employed in just such a capacity recently. He wouldn't specify which country. But I bet it's not Belgium.