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| NSA targeted Medvedev at London G20 summit | ||
| 2013-06-17 | ||
The details of the intercept were set out in a briefing prepared by the National Security Agency (NSA), America's biggest surveillance and eavesdropping organisation, and shared with high-ranking officials from Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The document, leaked by the NSA whistleblower The disclosure underlines the importance of the US spy hub at RAF Menwith Hill in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, where hundreds of NSA analysts are based, working alongside liaison officers from GCHQ. The document was drafted in August 2009, four months after the visit by Medvedev, who joined other world leaders in London, including the US president, Barack Obama, for the event hosted by the British prime minister, Gordon Brown. Medvedev arrived in London on Wednesday 1 April and the NSA intercepted communications from his delegation the same day, according to the NSA paper, entitled: "Russian Leadership Communications in support of President Dmitry Medvedev at the G20 summit in London – Intercept at Menwith Hill station." The document starts with two pictures of Medvedev smiling for the world's media alongside Brown and Obama in bilateral discussions before the main summit. The report says: "This is an analysis of signal activity in support of President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to London. The report details a change in the way Russian leadership signals have been normally transmitted. The signal activity was found to be emanating from the Russian embassy in London and the communications are believed to be in support of the Russian president." The NSA interception of the Russian leadership at G20 came hours after Obama and Medvedev had met for the first time. Relations between the two leaders had been smoothed in the runup to the summit with a series of phone calls and letters, with both men wanting to establish a trusting relationship to discuss the ongoing banking crisis and nuclear disarmament. In the aftermath of their discussions on 1 April, the two men issued a joint communique saying they intended to "move further along the path of reducing and limiting strategic offensive arms in accordance with the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons". A White House official who briefed journalists described the meeting as "a very successful first meeting focused on real issues". The official said it had been important for the men to be open about the issues on which they agreed and disagreed. Obama had stressed the need to be candid, the official noted. While it has been widely known the two countries spy on each other, it is rare for either to be caught in the act;
The two countries have long complained about the extent of each other's espionage activities, and tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats are common. A year after Obama met Medvedev, the US claimed it had broken a highly sophisticated spy ring that carried out "deep cover" assignments in the US. Ten alleged Russian spies living in America were arrested. Putin was withering of the FBI-led operation: "I see that your police have let themselves go and put some people in jail, but I guess that is their job. I hope the positive trend that we have seen develop in our bilateral relations recently will not be harmed by these events." Last month, the Russians arrested an American in Moscow who they alleged was a CIA agent. The new revelations underline the significance of RAF Menwith Hill and raise questions about its relationship to the British intelligence agencies, and who is responsible for overseeing it. The 560-acre site was leased to the Americans in 1954 and the NSA has had a large presence there since 1966. It has often been described as the biggest surveillance and interception facility in the world, and has 33 distinct white "radomes" that house satellite dishes. A US base in all but name, it has British intelligence analysts seconded to work alongside NSA colleagues, though it is unclear how the two agencies obtain and share intelligence – and under whose legal authority they are working under. | ||
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #6 The above info was from an article Sept. 2012. |
| Posted by: Anging Hatfield6648 2013-06-17 16:54 |
| #5 Another document summarises a sustained campaign to penetrate South African computers, recording that they gained access to the network of their foreign ministry, "investigated phone lines used by High Commission in London" and "retrieved documents including briefings for South African delegates to G20 and G8 meetings". (South Africa is a member of the G20 group and has observer status at G8 meetings.) Apparently they successfully identified a sanction buster: MTN. United Against Nuclear Iran, an organisation founded by the late United States ambassador Richard Holbrooke, claimed this month that MTN, which has a 49% stake in Iran's second-biggest cellphone network, has provided the regime with the means to suppress and track dissenters, some of whom are later tortured. A lawsuit filed in the US by Turkcell, MTN's rival, echoes these claims and alleges further that the company has supported Iran's illegal nuclear programme. |
| Posted by: Anging Hatfield6648 2013-06-17 16:52 |
| #4 The NSA SHOULD have been spying on the greatest threat to US security: Barak Hussein Obama. |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2013-06-17 14:57 |
| #3 With his comments about spying on Medvedev and hacking China, he is committing treason. |
| Posted by: dk70 the scantily clad 2013-06-17 14:55 |
| #2 All the NSA hoopla brought to mind the mysterious death of a UK analyst trained in Utah and Maryland. Bizarre but they may be looking in the wrong direction if they are still looking. Several intriguing articles in the UK Telegraph, 2011-2012 I believe. Excerpts: Mr Hague subsequently signed a public interest immunity certificate authorising the withholding of details from the inquest about Mr Williams’s secret work and joint operations with the Americans. it is understood that as a result NSA and FBI officers who would have been called as witnesses at the inquest will no longer be asked to attend. Mr Williams had been working at NSA shortly before his death, where he was helping to develop a joint GCHQ-NSA defence against cyber attack’s on the west’s computer infrastructure, particularly in the banking and transport sector. At one stage during his work at NSA, shortly before he returned to London, Mr Williams was given security clearance to visit its facility in the Utah desert, which the agency classifies as “above top secret”. Mr Williams also spent several months at Menwith Hill, the secret listening station in Yorkshire used by the United States to intercept coded messages, and Fort Meade in Maryland, the home of the NSA... In her oral evidence she added: “I think he was a country boy and the city life did not quite suit him. Also I think the job was not quite what he had expected. There was a lot more red tape than he was comfortable with" Mrs Subbe, her voice breaking with emotion, also told Westminster Coroner’s Court that her brother had a wide range of hobbies including fell running, cycling, art and fashion. But she said he had not been aware that he had completed two six-week fashion courses at St Martin’s College in London. The Coroner, Dr Fiona Wilcox asked her if she was surprised to discover that Mr Williams had more than £20,000 worth of female clothing in his Pimlico flat when he was found. She said: “I am not surprised he was very generous with gifts.” Mrs Subbe also suggested that he may have simply been collecting the clothing due to his interest in fashion and his desire to buy high quality items. She told the hearing Mr Williams had been very cautious and risk averse and would never have let anyone inside his flat who had not previously been security vetted. He also thought “better safe than sorry”, she said. The hearing was told that the last time Mrs Subbe had spoken to her brother was on August 13. She said during that conversation he mentioned he was planning to visit a comedy club with a friend where a transvestite performer was appearing. On August 23, Mr Williams’ family contacted the police because they had not heard from him for more than a week. Police arrived at his flat in Pimlico, less than a mile from MI6’s headquarters and gained entry using a key. His naked and decomposing remains were discovered in a holdall which had been locked from the outside and placed in the bath at his Pimlico flat. |
| Posted by: Anging Hatfield6648 2013-06-17 11:07 |
| #1 ... deeply embarrassing for the White House as Obama prepares to meet Vladimir Putin, who succeeded Medvedev as president, in the margins of the G8 summit this week. Mr. President - would this be a bad week for you to ask Mr. Putin for my Super Bowl ring back? |
| Posted by: Robert Kraft 2013-06-17 01:11 |