ZGrams - 9/5/2002 - "Israeli spies accused of posing as Canadians"

[irimland@zundelsite.org]

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ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny

September 5, 2002

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

Is anyone surprised?

[START]

Israeli spies accused of posing as Canadians
Ottawa investigating: Mossad has history of using counterfeit 
Canadian documents
 
Stewart Bell and Michael Friscolanti
National Post


Thursday, September 05, 2002
ADVERTISEMENT

Federal officials are investigating claims that Israeli agents posed 
as Canadians during a spy operation in Gaza that reportedly used 
sexual blackmail to collect intelligence used to assassinate a 
Palestinian militant leader.

Canada's ambassador to Tel Aviv has asked Israel for an explanation 
of the incident and has been told it did not happen, but officials 
are concerned Israeli agents may be breaking their promise not to 
work undercover as Canadians.

Akram Zatmeh, 22, claims he supplied information to agents posing as 
Canadians that helped Israel pinpoint the whereabouts of a senior 
Hamas leader. The leader was later assassinated by Israeli forces in 
a July 23 missile attack that also killed 14 others, including nine 
children.

The informant claimed he was recruited by three agents who said they 
were Canadians and took him to the Canadian embassy in Tel Aviv 
before coercing him with promises of travel to Canada and threats to 
distribute fake photos showing him in sexual encounters.

In a similar incident in 1997, Canada recalled its ambassador to 
Israel after undercover Mossad agents were caught using falsified 
Canadian passports during an assassination attempt on a Palestinian 
militant leader. Israel apologized at the time and promised not to do 
it again.

The new reports emerging from the Gaza strip have Canadian officials 
worried that Israeli agents may have resumed adopting fake Canadian 
identities -- a tactic that could jeopardize the safety of Canadians 
who work or travel abroad.

Yesterday, a Foreign Affairs spokesman said the government had 
received assurances from Israeli officials that Mr. Zatmeh's 
accusations were false.

"It is unsubstantiated allegations," said Reynald Doiron. "We checked 
it out with Israeli authorities and they denied having used Canada, 
or that they would use Canada in a fashion similar to what happened 
last week."

Asked whether the Israelis could be hiding something in order to 
avoid another diplomatic firestorm, Mr. Doiron said: "They gave us 
their word and we take it as it is."

But in what was described as a confession published last week in the 
Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam, Mr. Zatmeh detailed how he was recruited 
by "Canadians" into becoming a spy two years ago and eventually 
played a role in the assassination of Hamas leader Salah Shehadeh.

"When I used to visit the British Council in Gaza, I saw one 
foreigner reading an English newspaper. Because of my curiosity, I 
introduced myself to him. He said that he is a Canadian who lectures 
sociology at one of the Canadian universities," Mr. Zatmeh said in 
Arabic.

The Canadian, who called himself Terry and said he was studying the 
living conditions of Palestinians, hired Mr. Zatmeh to assist with 
his research in exchange for $100 a month and a promise to help him 
travel to Canada.

One time, Terry asked for Mr. Zatmeh's photograph in order to get him 
an identity card from the Canadian embassy in Tel Aviv. At the 
embassy, Mr. Zatmeh said Terry introduce him to another "Canadian" 
named David.

David used the photograph of Mr. Zatmeh to create doctored pictures 
depicting Mr. Zatmeh in various sexual encounters. "He threatened if 
I tell anybody he will distribute my pictures, which may cause me a 
lot of troubles."

David later admitted he was actually an Israeli intelligence agent 
named Abu Muhammad. He told Mr. Zatmeh to monitor "confrontations" 
and "hot events" in Gaza and to supply the names of Palestinian 
militants who were firing upon the Jewish settlements and Israeli 
military command posts.

"After working for a while with Abu Muhammad, another intelligence 
officer phoned me and identified himself as Abu Ihab. When I moved to 
Gaza, Abu Ihab requested me to observe martyr Salah Shehadeh and his 
home in addition to the people who used to visit him and their cars.

"I confirmed to Abu Ihab more than once that the building in which 
the martyr used to live was crowded with residents. Also, the road 
around the building was overcrowded. However, Abu Ihab justified the 
assassination by saying that if Salah Shehadeh was not assassinated 
in such a way, many other civilians could have become his victims."

On the night of July 23 -- 20 minutes after Mr. Zatmeh said he 
reported Mr. Shehadeh's location to the Israeli agent -- an Israeli 
F-16 fighter fired a one-ton missile into a residential building in 
Gaza, killing Mr. Shehadeh and 14 others. Israel was widely 
criticized for the attack.

The informant's account could not be verified and it may be no more 
than Palestinian propaganda designed to put Israel in a bad light. 
Palestinian militants routinely execute those accused of 
collaborating with the Israelis.

Martin Rudner, director of the Canadian Centre of Intelligence and 
Security Studies at Carleton University's Norman Paterson School of 
International Affairs, said the tactics described by Mr. Zatmeh were 
common.

"It is not unusual, in intelligence collection operations, for a 
country's services to recruit agents under what are termed 'false 
flags,' " Prof. Rudner said.

"This is done in situations where the recruiting service feels that 
the agent may not be prepared to work for that particular country, 
but may be amenable to giving information to some other; or where the 
recruiting services seeks to cover its tracks in the event that the 
agent be turned or captured."

Wesley K. Wark, a University of Toronto political science professor 
who specializes in intelligence, said he would not be surprised if 
the Israelis had reneged on their 1997 promise.

"One can easily imagine that after a time of quiet that the Israelis 
might, in some operational circumstances, just have made a decision 
that this is going to benefit the security of Israel and we don't 
really care too much about what the Canadians think," he said.

Still, Prof. Wark said if the allegations prove true, the Canadian 
government will have no choice but demand the Israelis to stop.

"It does endanger Canadians overseas," he said. "It adds a layer of 
unnecessary suspicion to the Canadian identity abroad and it's 
something we shouldn't tolerate, so we have to use every means we can 
to encourage the Israelis not to do it."

A false Canadian identity would be a logical cover for an agent 
working in Gaza. Canada is heavily involved in aid work in Gaza, 
particularly in Mr. Zatmeh's home Rafah, a hotbed of Palestinian 
militancy along the Israeli-Egyptian border.

In September, 1997, two Israeli agents carrying fake Canadian 
passports were arrested in Jordan after a botched attempt to 
assassinate a high-ranking Hamas official, a Palestinian terrorist 
group tied to dozens of suicide bombings.

The revelation that Israeli spies were posing as Canadians during 
covert operations enraged the federal government, which feared the 
practice would prompt vigilante attacks against ordinary Canadians 
living in the Middle East.

Lloyd Axworthy, then-minister of foreign affairs, was so upset that 
he ordered David Berger, Canada's Ambassador to Israel, to leave the 
country until the Mossad security agency promised to stop the 
practice. Mr. Berger did return to work two weeks later, but only 
after Israeli officials sent a letter promising to "undertake 
measures to ensure it never happens again."

[END]

(Source: 
http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?id=E572BCFD-92BF-4824-B98A-84FD9934B497)