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Den 06.03.02 klokka 21:52 skreiv Kenneth Rasmusson:
[USA kastar ut de "konstnärer" som skaffade fram informationerna och
hjälpte igenom attackerna 11 september]
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAQS1FAGYC.html
U.S. Deports Israelis Amid Warnings of Espionage Activities
By Ted Bridis Associated Press Writer
Published: Mar 5, 2002
WASHINGTON (AP) - Authorities have arrested and deported dozens of young
Israelis since early last year who represented themselves as art students
in efforts to gain access to sensitive federal office buildings and the
homes of government employees, U.S. officials said.
A draft report from the Drug Enforcement Administration - which first
characterized the activities as suspicious - said the youths' actions "may
well be an organized intelligence-gathering activity."
Immigration officials deported them for visa violations; no criminal
espionage charges were filed.
The arrests, made in an unspecified number of major U.S. cities from
California to Florida, came amid public warnings from U.S. intelligence
agencies about suspicious behavior by people posing as Israeli art students
and "attempting to bypass facility security and enter federal buildings."
The Israelis were arrested and deported on charges of working in the United
States without authorization or overstaying visits on tourist visas, said
Russ Bergeron, a spokesman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service
in Washington. He described dozens of arrests since early 2001 but gave no
exact figures.
The DEA report said a majority of the students questioned by U.S.
investigators acknowledged having served in military intelligence,
electronic signals interception or explosive ordnance units in the Israeli
military. The DEA said one person questioned was the son of a two-star
Israeli general, one had served as the bodyguard to the head of the Israeli
Army and another served in a Patriot missile unit.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Yaffa Ben-Ari said it was "nonsense"
that the students were spying on the United States.
Another Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Irit Stopper, confirmed that a few
Israelis posing as art students were expelled from the United States for
working without permits. However they were not accused of espionage, she
said. She did not say how many Israelis were expelled and did not give any
additional details.
The DEA report was first obtained by a French Web site that specializes in
intelligence news, Intelligenceonline.com, and confirmed Tuesday as
authentic by DEA spokeswoman Rogene Waite in Washington. The Web site said
120 Israelis had been arrested.
"That these people are now traveling in the U.S. selling art seems not to
fit their background," the report said.
An FBI official, speaking on condition of anonymity, noted there were no
espionage charges filed against any of the individuals and that they had
been deported. Asked whether any spying activity occurred, the official
repeated that no charges had been filed.
A Justice Department official, also asking not to be publicly identified,
said investigators have been aware of some "alleged linkage" between the
students and alleged espionage activities in the United States since early
2001, and said authorities have made arrests in Dallas, Chicago, San Diego
and in south Florida. INS spokesman Rodney Germain in Miami said five or
six people were arrested in that area at least six months ago on
immigration counts.
Although security experts at the DEA first characterized the youths'
behavior as suspicious, and INS authorities later arrested them, the FBI
typically investigates espionage cases in the United States.
The DEA report said that among U.S. sites apparently targeted was Tinker
Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, home to the military's AWACS surveillance
planes and the place where many of the nation's B-1 bombers are repaired.
Investigators also said that one female art student went to the home of a
worker for the Environmental Protection Agency in Denver to sell paintings
and returned later to photograph the house, according to the report.
No one within the Justice Department has expressed concerns about the
Israeli students possibly committing espionage, Justice spokesman Bryan
Sierra said. The deputy U.S. attorney general, Larry Thompson, declined to
discuss the arrests when asked about them during a news conference Tuesday.
The U.S. Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive, a federal
agency, circulated a public warning in March 2001 urging employees to
report contact with people describing themselves as Israeli art students.
"These individuals have been described as aggressive," the warning said.
"They attempt to engage employees in conversation rather than giving a
sales pitch."
Cooperation with Israel, a longtime key ally, is increasingly important in
the U.S. war on terrorism.
AP-ES-03-05-02 1658EST
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