UK intelligence files shed new light on famed Cold War spy cases

In this file photo taken on September 29, 2017 in Moscow a woman looks at personal belongings of British KGB agent Kim Philby during the exhibition "Kim Philby in espionage and in life" at the Russian Historical Society. (AFP / Kirill Kudyavtsev)
Updated 24 September 2019
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UK intelligence files shed new light on famed Cold War spy cases

  • The network was run by Konon Molody, a deep-cover KGB officer posing as a Canadian businessman named Gordon Lonsdale
  • Molody was swapped in 1964 with a Briton, Greville Wynne, who was held on espionage charges in Moscow

LONDON: Fresh details of some of Britain’s biggest Cold War spy scandals, including the network of Soviet agents who stole naval intelligence secrets, emerged in newly released secret files Tuesday.
The Portland spy ring, believed to have helped the Soviet Union build a new class of submarines in the 1960s, marked a turning point in Cold War espionage in Britain, say historians.
The network was run by Konon Molody, a deep-cover KGB officer posing as a Canadian businessman named Gordon Lonsdale.
Since he lacked the diplomatic immunity given to intelligence personnel using genuine identities, he was arrested and sentenced to 25 years in prison for espionage in 1961.
This was the first time Britain’s MI5 domestic intelligence service unearthed an “illegal” spy running other operatives.
MI5 files released by the National Archives reveal how, during a series of prison interviews, Molody offered to disclose information and even to become a double agent, in return for his release.
“He wished... to make a deal with us,” said a 1961 MI5 memo.
“Lonsdale’s own idea was that he might be exchanged for some British agents held by the Russians, or even that he might be allowed to escape.”
Officials declined his offer, but in 1964 Molody was part of the most high-profile spy swaps of the Cold War, trading places with a Briton, Greville Wynne, held in Moscow.
It later turned out that he had not been telling his interrogators the whole story.

‘Great-granny spy’
Molody/Lonsdale was questioned in prison by MI5 officer Charles Elwell in early 1961. Elwell had done the most to catch him, said Professor Christopher Andrew, a historian of Britain’s intelligence agencies.
The pair struck up a cordial relationship, sharing bags of cherries or strawberries as Molody described his disillusionment with life as an “illegal” KGB spy.
But Molody never revealed the true extent of his activities to Elwell — for he had briefly run Melita Norwood, another Soviet agent embedded in Britain, who later became known as the “great-granny spy.”
Norwood has been described as the most important British female agent ever recruited by the KGB. She passed on secrets believed to have helped the Soviets speed up development of the atomic bomb.
Her identity remained hidden for decades more, and she was only exposed when KGB archivist Vasili Mitrokhin defected to Britain in 1992, bringing thousands of files he had meticulously copied.
The British authorities decided not to prosecute her and she died in 2005 having escaped any punishment.

‘Incompetent spy’
The Portland network was named after a southwest English Royal Navy base for “underwater detection” research.
It unraveled after local police received a tip-off from staff that a clerk, Harry Houghton, was “acting suspiciously.”
Investigators discovered that he and another clerk Ethel Gee — who were having an affair — were passing copies of classified documents to his handler Lonsdale/Molody.
Molody took a dim view of the spy’s skills, the MI5 files show.
“Lonsdale regards Houghton as an incompetent fool, who was incapable of even operating the camera (he) had given him,” Elwell wrote.
An American couple, Morris Cohen and his wife Leontina, were also caught.
Masquerading as antiquarian booksellers Peter and Helen Kroger, they had managed communications with Moscow from a bungalow in suburban northwest London.
Arrested in January 1961 and jailed, they were sent to Moscow eight years later as part of another spy swap, getting a heroes’ welcome in Moscow.
In the MI5 files, Cohen was described as “a sententious bore... whose life appears to be governed by a rancid idealism and who swims about in aura of glutinous bonhomie and bookish sentimentality.”
His wife was deemed “even less alluring” and “the dominant figure in the marriage... (who) looks and probably behaves like an embittered crazy fanatic.”

‘Ablest of all’
The National Archives also disclosed details on Arnold Deutsch — “the ablest of all the Soviet illegals,” according to Andrew.
Deutsch is credited with having recruited MI6 officer Kim Philby and the other members of the notorious “Cambridge Five” spy-ring in the mid-1930s.
His file contains Philby’s account of his recruitment in London’s Regent’s Park in 1934, told 30 years later to an MI6 colleague just before he dramatically defected to Moscow.
“One of my earliest tasks was to give him details of all my Communist friends in Cambridge. This I did,” the memo said.


UN expert urges probe of alleged torture of Palestinian prisoners

Updated 3 sec ago
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UN expert urges probe of alleged torture of Palestinian prisoners

The UN special rapporteur on torture, Alice Jill Edwards, said she had received allegations of abuse against Palestinians held in prisons run by the Israeli Prison Service
She had been carrying out a “thorough review for the past two months” based on multiple sources, but that her investigation was continuing.

GENEVA: A UN rights expert on Thursday called on Israeli authorities to investigate allegations of torture and abuse of detained Palestinians since Hamas’s October 7 attacks sparked the war in Gaza.
The UN special rapporteur on torture, Alice Jill Edwards, said she had received allegations of abuse against Palestinians held in prisons run by the Israeli Prison Service and in Israeli military camps.
She pointed to estimates that thousands of Palestinians, including children, had been detained since the war erupted.
Edwards told AFP she had been carrying out a “thorough review for the past two months” based on multiple sources, but that her investigation was continuing.
In a statement, she described receiving allegations of cases where prisoners were beaten, held in cells blindfolded and handcuffed for long periods, deprived of sleep, and threatened with physical and sexual violence.
There were also reports suggesting that prisoners had been subjected to humiliating treatment, including being photographed and filmed in degrading poses, she said.
Edwards, who is an independent rights expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council but who does not speak on behalf of the United Nations, said did not have enough information to determine whether the alleged abuse might be systemic.
She said she had raised the issue with Israeli authorities, and had asked them to investigate and to allow “access to international human rights and humanitarian observers,” and to herself.
“It’s very important that there are independent inspections,” she said, expressing concern about an “emerging pattern of violations.”
She urged Israeli authorities to “investigate all complaints and reports of torture or ill-treatment promptly, impartially, effectively and transparently.”
Edwards also insisted that those responsible, at all levels, “must be held accountable.”
Edwards has previously issued statements demanding accountability for the multitude of alleged crimes committed during Hamas’s October 7 attack inside Israel, including killings, hostage-taking, torture and sexual violence.
More than 1,170 people died as a result of Hamas’s October 7 attack, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Militants also took 252 hostages, 124 of whom remain in Gaza, including 37 the army says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 35,800 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.


A UN rights expert on Thursday called on Israeli authorities to investigate allegations of torture and abuse of detained Palestinians since Hamas’s October 7 attacks sparked the war in Gaza. (AFP/File)

Norway to block entry for most Russian tourists, Moscow says it will respond

Updated 23 May 2024
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Norway to block entry for most Russian tourists, Moscow says it will respond

Norway will further curb access for Russian tourist travelers due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, blocking almost all entry from May 29, the Nordic country’s justice ministry said on Thursday.
Russia called the decision “purely discriminatory” and said it would respond.
Norway, a NATO member that shares a border with Russia in the Arctic measuring almost 200 km (124 miles), first imposed restrictions on Russian tourist visas in 2022, shortly after Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“The decision to tighten the entry rules is in line with the Norwegian approach of standing by allies and partners in reaction to Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine,” Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl said in a statement.
Any Russian citizens whose purpose is tourism and other non-essential travel will be turned back at the border. Exceptions may be granted in cases such as visits to close family residing in Norway, the ministry said in a statement.
“The change implies that the police can refuse the entry of Russian citizens who are covered by the instruction,” it said.
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters such moves “cannot go unanswered.”
He added: “Of course, the decision is purely discriminatory. We do not accept such decisions. We regret that the Norwegian leadership has chosen this way of worsening our bilateral relations, which have already been of poor quality recently, and not on our initiative.”
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Russia did not intend to bar entry to Norwegian citizens. “But this does not mean that retaliatory measures won’t be taken. They will be,” she told reporters.


Over 100 human rights groups urge Biden to oppose sanctions on ICC

Updated 23 May 2024
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Over 100 human rights groups urge Biden to oppose sanctions on ICC

  • Open letter follows calls by US senators to punish court over Netanyahu arrest warrant
  • ‘The ability of the ICC to provide justice for victims requires full respect for its independence’

LONDON: More than 100 human rights and civil society organizations have called on US President Joe Biden to oppose punitive measures against the International Criminal Court.

It follows news earlier this week that the court’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, is seeking arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as three Hamas leaders.

Khan’s move was condemned by some members of the US Congress and Senate, who threatened retaliation against the ICC, including sanctions and travel bans on officers of the court.

In an open letter published on Thursday, the 121 human rights and civil society groups urged Biden to resist calls to punish the ICC.

Major human rights organizations signed the letter, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Biden should “oppose any legislative efforts to undermine the ICC,” and “make clear that regardless of its views on specific ICC investigations, the US continues to support independent international justice mechanisms,” the letter says.

“Accountability is important for its own sake and protects against the commission of future atrocity crimes,” it added.

“The ability of the ICC to provide justice for victims requires full respect for its independence. A selective approach to judicial decisions undermines the credibility, and ultimately, the force of the law as a shield against human rights violations and abuses.”

The US is not a member of the ICC, but both Republican and Democratic administrations have supported actions taken by the court on several occasions, including by assisting in the arrests of wanted suspects.

The Biden administration has publicly welcomed ICC statements on the conflicts in Ukraine and Sudan.


Group of graduates walk out of Harvard commencement chanting ‘Free, free Palestine’

Updated 23 May 2024
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Group of graduates walk out of Harvard commencement chanting ‘Free, free Palestine’

  • Student speaker Shruthi Kumar said “this semester our freedom of speech and our expressions of solidarity became punishable,” she said to cheers and applause
  • “I am deeply disappointed by the intolerance for freedom of speech and the right to civil disobedience on campus”

CAMBRIDGE: A group of graduates walked out of the Harvard commencement chanting “Free, Free Palestine” after weeks of protests on campus.
School officials announced Wednesday, the day before Thursday’s graduation, that 13 Harvard students who participated in a protest encampment would not be able to receive degrees alongside their classmates.
Some students chanted “Let them walk, let them walk walk,” during Thursday’s commencement, referring to allowing those 13 students to get their degrees along with fellow graduates.
Harvard University held its commencement address Thursday following a weekslong pro-Palestinian encampment that shut down Harvard Yard to all but those with university ties and roiled tensions on the campus.
Those tensions were ticked up a notch on Wednesday when school officials announced that 13 Harvard students who participated in the encampment won’t be able to receive degrees alongside their classmates. Some students chanted “Let them walk, Let them walk,” during commencement.
Student speaker Shruthi Kumar said “this semester our freedom of speech and our expressions of solidarity became punishable,” she said to cheers and applause.
She said she had to take a moment to recognize “the 13 undergraduates in the class of 2024 who will not graduate today,” Kumar said to prolonged cheers and clapping. “I am deeply disappointed by the intolerance for freedom of speech and the right to civil disobedience on campus.”
Over 1,500 students had petitioned, and nearly 500 staff and faculty had spoken up, all over the sanctions, she said.
“This is about civil rights and upholding democratic principals,” she said. “The students had spoken. The faculty had spoken. Harvard do you hear us?”
Those in the encampment had called for a ceasefire in Gaza and for Harvard to divest from companies that support the war.
Also on Thursday, the leaders of Northwestern University and Rutgers University are expected to testify at a House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing about concessions they gave to pro-Palestinian protesters to end demonstrations on their campus. The chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles, also was scheduled to appear at the latest in a series of hearings looking into how colleges have responded to the protests and allegations of antisemitism
The decision by the school’s top governing board follows a recommendation Monday by faculty members to allow the 13 to receive their degrees despite their participation in the encampment.
Harvard’s governing board, the Harvard Corporation, however said that each of 13 have been found to have violated the university’s policies by their conduct during the encampment protest.
“In coming to this determination, we note that the express provisions of the Harvard College Student Handbook state that students who are not in good standing are not eligible for degrees,” the corporation said in a written statement.
The statement left open the possibility of an appeals process saying the corporation understands “that the inability to graduate is consequential for students and their families” and supports the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ intention to provide an expedited review of requests for appeal.
“We care deeply about every member of our community — students, faculty, staff, researchers, and alumni — and we have chosen a path forward that accords with our responsibilities and reaffirms a process for our students to receive prompt and fair review,” the statement added.
Supporters of the students said the decision not to allow them to receive degrees at commencement violated a May 14 agreement between interim President Alan Garber and the Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine coalition that would have allowed the students to graduate.
Protesters against the war between Israel and Hamas voluntarily dismantled their tents after they said university officials agreed to discuss their questions about the endowment, bringing a peaceful end to the kinds of demonstrations that were broken up by police on other campuses.
The group issued a statement late Wednesday saying the decision jeopardizes the post-graduation lives of the 13 students.
“By rejecting a democratic faculty vote, the Corporation has proved itself to be a wholly illegitimate body, and Garber an illegitimate president, accountable to no one at the university,” the group said.
“Today’s actions have plunged the university even further into a crisis of legitimacy and governance, which will have major repercussions for Harvard in the coming months and years,” the group said,
There was a noticeable presence of police officers around the campus Thursday mixing with soon-to-be-graduates, their family members and sidewalk flower sellers.
A small plane circled above trailing an Israeli and US flag. A truck was parked outside the campus with an electronic billboard with the names and images of some of the pro-Palestinian protesters under the banner “Harvard’s Leading Antisemites.”
At Drexel University in Philadelphia, protesters packed up their belongings and left a pro-Palestinian encampment Thursday after the school announced a decision to have police clear the encampment. A wave of pro-Palestinian tent encampments on campuses has led to over 3,000 arrests nationwide.


Russia says main power line to Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant goes down, no safety threats

Updated 23 May 2024
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Russia says main power line to Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant goes down, no safety threats

  • The reasons for the outage, which had not caused any change in the radiation level, were being investigated
  • The main 750 kilovolt (kV) “Dniprovska” power line went down at 13.31 local

MOSCOW: Russia said on Thursday that the main power line supplying the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) in Ukraine had gone down, but that there was no threat to safety and the plant was being supplied via a backup line.
The six reactors at the Zaporizhzhia plant, held by Russia and located close to the front line of the conflict in Ukraine, are not in operation but it relies on external power to keep its nuclear material cool and prevent a catastrophic accident.
The Russian management said on their official channel on the Telegram app that the reasons for the outage, which had not caused any change in the radiation level, were being investigated.
It said the main 750 kilovolt (kV) “Dniprovska” power line went down at 13.31 local (1031 GMT), while the 330 kV “Ferosplavnaya” line was supplying power to the plant now.
The main “Dniprovska” power line also went down for almost five hours on March 22, highlighting what the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said were “ever present dangers to nuclear safety and security” from the Russia-Ukraine war.
Russia and Ukraine have each accused the other at various times of shelling the Zaporizhzhia plant, which is Europe’s largest.
IAEA has said that the ZNPP has been experiencing major off-site power problems since the conflict began in early 2022, exacerbating the nuclear safety and security risks facing the site.