Posted on 03/05/2002 4:56:35 PM PST by veronica
U.S. officials on Tuesday denied a French newspaper report that the United States had broken up a huge Israeli spy ring and said no espionage charges were ever brought.
The officials said there had been suspicions within the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration that Israeli art students may have been spying, and the agency even did a draft report about it, but the Justice Department and FBI found the suspicions were groundless. "No one's been charged with espionage with regard to this matter. That's the bottom line," an FBI official said. "I'm unaware of any great interest in this here."
The students were sent back to Israel for immigration violations because they were conducting a business, setting up booths in malls and making phone solicitations to sell art when they had entered the United States on student or visitor visas, the officials said.
The French daily Le Monde reported on Tuesday that the spy ring may have trailed suspected al Qaeda members in the United States without informing federal authorities. The newspaper cited a secret U.S. government report outlining spying activities by Israelis that it said contained "elements (that) support the theory that Israel did not give the U.S. all the information it had about the planning for the September 11 attacks."
Le Monde quoted the study as saying the Israelis posed as graphic arts students and tried to enter buildings belonging to the DEA and other U.S. agencies. Intelligence Online, a Paris-based newsletter that reported on the study Monday, said some 120 Israeli spies had been arrested or expelled and inquiries were continuing.
FBI CALLS IT A "BOGUS STORY"
Asked by Reuters Monday about the Intelligence Online report, an FBI spokesman called it a "bogus story." The spokesman said: "There wasn't a spy ring." In Washington on Tuesday, U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman Susan Dryden said of the Le Monde report, "At this time, we have no information to support this." U.S. officials said some Israeli students had been expelled for immigration violations, not for spying.
A U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service spokesman cited several instances when his agency had arrested Israeli nationals, on student or visitor visas, who were selling art. They were deported before the Sept. 11 attacks, he said. "To my knowledge, these individuals were arrested for immigration violations. I have no knowledge of any linking of the art students to any espionage activity."
The FBI official said the students were very aggressive in their solicitation tactics, contacting government employees and others at home and setting up booths in malls. "They were acting very overtly. That's not the way an espionage operation works."
In Israel on Monday, a spokesman said the prime minister had no comment on the matter.
Now for famous roni "Reuters" quotes...
62 posted on 3/2/02 9:17 AM Eastern by veronica
No wonder Reuters just laid off 400 people....(-;
11 posted on 2/18/02 12:38 PM Eastern by veronica
Nice spin by the 'we don't call 'em terrorists' gang at Reuters. LOL...
7 posted on 2/11/02 8:34 PM Eastern by veronica
And who was the "named source by the french"? I'm talking about FBI, not DOJ. The "named" DOJ "source" gave another non-denial denial - "At this time, we have no information to support this." That's just bureaucratic Hog Wash.
We need a law enforcement to english translation of this one.
Don't matter what you think. I know you're wrong.
Asked by Reuters Monday about the Intelligence Online report, an FBI spokesman called it a "bogus story." The spokesman said: "There wasn't a spy ring."
It's the PBK key she got in high school that makes her so very right about *everything* you know. (snicker snicker snicker)
Lot's of things come out in fits and starts, including babies (good) and vomit (bad). See 13. When did the Mossad become stupid?
In addition to the usual list of FBI mess-ups, we can also add in FBI agents playing footsie with members of the Boston mob, letting them murder their foes, warning them in case things got hot (check out Whitey Bulger) and taking special gifts from boyhood friends.
Truth, justice and the American Way, uh huh.
Sorry, http://www.lemonde.fr/article/0,5987,3222--265330-,00.html contains too much text to translate.
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