CORAL SPRINGS, Florida: The family of a former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran nine years ago while on a CIA mission is holding a rally Saturday demanding that the US government keep pushing for his freedom.
Robert Levinson, 67, disappeared from Iran’s Kish Island in March 2007.
A 2013 Associated Press investigation revealed that the married father of seven was working for the CIA on an unauthorized intelligence-gathering mission to glean information about Iran’s nuclear program.
If Levinson remains alive, he has been held captive longer than any American, longer than AP journalist Terry Anderson, who was held more than six years in Beirut in the 1980s. Unlike Anderson, Levinson’s whereabouts and captors remain a mystery. US officials believe the Iranian government was behind his disappearance. It has denied that.
The case drew renewed attention in January when Levinson was not part of a prisoner swap between the US and Iranian governments that set free four other Americans who had been held in Iran.
The FBI says it investigates every lead and remains committed to finding Levinson and bringing him home. A $5 million reward for information leading to his whereabouts remains in effect.
Levinson’s family insists he is still alive, even with health issues including diabetes, gout and high blood pressure.
They last got video and photos of him about five years ago.
The 2013 AP investigation showed that in a breach of the most basic CIA rules, a team of analysts — with no authority to run spy operations — paid Levinson to gather intelligence from hotspots around the world, including the Middle East and Latin America.
The official story when Levinson disappeared was that he was in Iran on private business, either to investigate cigarette smuggling or to work on a book about Russian organized crime. It has a presence on Kish, a tourist island.
In fact, he was meeting a source, an American fugitive, Dawud Salahuddin. He is wanted for killing a former Iranian diplomat in Maryland in 1980. In interviews, Salahuddin has admitted killing the diplomat.
The CIA paid Levinson’s family $2.5 million to pre-empt a revealing lawsuit, and the agency rewrote its rules restricting how analysts can work with outsiders. Three analysts who had been working with Levinson lost their jobs.
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Family of American missing in Iran plans Florida demonstration
Family of American missing in Iran plans Florida demonstration
Chagos islanders say they refuse to leave in protest against UK handover
- Four members of the Chagos community, accompanied by former British Conservative MP Adam Holloway, landed on the remote Coin Island in the Peros Banhos atoll
- Misley Mandarin: ‘I dare (British Prime Minister) Keir Starmer to remove me or the Mauritian government to remove me’
PORT LOUIS, Mauritius: Four Chagos islanders, who oppose Britain handing back the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius, said they refused to leave despite a maritime patrol trying to evict them on Wednesday.
Britain kept control of the Chagos Islands after Mauritius gained independence in the 1960s and evicted all inhabitants to make way for a military base.
Last May, Britain agreed to hand back sovereignty to Mauritius while maintaining a lease on the largest island, Diego Garcia, home to the military base now used by the United States.
On Monday, four members of the Chagos community, accompanied by former British Conservative MP Adam Holloway, landed on the remote Coin Island in the Peros Banhos atoll.
One of the group told AFP by phone that they were opposed to last year’s deal.
“The UK is handing away my homeland to Mauritius. That’s the reason why we’re here,” said Misley Mandarin, who has proclaimed himself “first minister” of the Chagossian government-in-exile.
He says he wants the islands to stay British and for the 322 surviving natives to return.
“We’re not waiting for any government to help us to settle,” Mandarin said in a live Facebook video.
“I dare (British Prime Minister) Keir Starmer to remove me or the Mauritian government to remove me.”
On Wednesday, a British maritime patrol attempted to expel the group, Mandarin told AFP by phone.
“They want to remove us from the island but we’re going to stay put... And we’ve got lawyers backing us,” he said.
According to a report by the Conservative Post, he is accompanied by his father, Michel Mandarin, 72, who was expelled from the islands when he was 14.
Mauritian Justice Minister Gavin Glover said it was “clearly a publicity stunt” ahead of a debate in the British parliament over the deal, which has been criticized by both rights groups and US President Donald Trump.
“All this is distressing, because the Mauritian state has made a solemn commitment to ensure that the Chagossians return to their homeland as soon as possible,” Glover told reporters.
Britain kept control of the Chagos Islands after Mauritius gained independence in the 1960s and evicted all inhabitants to make way for a military base.
Last May, Britain agreed to hand back sovereignty to Mauritius while maintaining a lease on the largest island, Diego Garcia, home to the military base now used by the United States.
On Monday, four members of the Chagos community, accompanied by former British Conservative MP Adam Holloway, landed on the remote Coin Island in the Peros Banhos atoll.
One of the group told AFP by phone that they were opposed to last year’s deal.
“The UK is handing away my homeland to Mauritius. That’s the reason why we’re here,” said Misley Mandarin, who has proclaimed himself “first minister” of the Chagossian government-in-exile.
He says he wants the islands to stay British and for the 322 surviving natives to return.
“We’re not waiting for any government to help us to settle,” Mandarin said in a live Facebook video.
“I dare (British Prime Minister) Keir Starmer to remove me or the Mauritian government to remove me.”
On Wednesday, a British maritime patrol attempted to expel the group, Mandarin told AFP by phone.
“They want to remove us from the island but we’re going to stay put... And we’ve got lawyers backing us,” he said.
According to a report by the Conservative Post, he is accompanied by his father, Michel Mandarin, 72, who was expelled from the islands when he was 14.
Mauritian Justice Minister Gavin Glover said it was “clearly a publicity stunt” ahead of a debate in the British parliament over the deal, which has been criticized by both rights groups and US President Donald Trump.
“All this is distressing, because the Mauritian state has made a solemn commitment to ensure that the Chagossians return to their homeland as soon as possible,” Glover told reporters.
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