by Tamar Pileggi
WikiLeaks exposes manual for covert agents, suggesting American agencies engage in active spying on Israel
A classified manual
by the American Central Intelligence Agency, leaked by WikiLeaks on
Sunday, explains to covert agents how to pass undetected through
security at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport.
The
document, dated September 2011, is titled “CIA Assessment on Surviving
Secondary Screening at Airports While Maintaining Cover,” and gives
operatives using false identities specific instructions on how to handle
additional “secondary screening” without blowing their cover.
It singles out Ben Gurion as an airport with
particularly thorough security procedures. “Security personnel at Ben
Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, commonly refer military-aged males
traveling alone with backpacks to secondary screening, regardless of
their nationality or skin color,” the report notes. “Israel’s security
personnel focus on frequent travel to Islamic countries.”
The document warns CIA operatives to avoid
secondary screenings at all costs by maintaining a consistent and
well-rehearsed cover story. “Referral to secondary screening can occur
if irregularities or questions arise during any stage of airport
processing — immigration, customs, or security — and regardless of
whether the traveler is arriving, in transit, or departing. Officials
may also randomly select travelers.”
It also includes a detailed description of Ben
Gurion’s screening room, saying that it “contains trace-detection
equipment for explosive residue; tools for dismantling passengers’
personal items for inspection, particularly items unfamiliar to security
officers; and a disrobing area, divided by privacy curtains, to conduct
strip searches of individuals, if necessary.”
According to the document, the advice is based
on intelligence reports and first-hand testimonies of CIA operatives.
It assures agents that, with Ben Gurion airport among the exceptions,
most immigration inspectors lack the time and tools to conduct a
thorough background check.
The report focuses on the EU’s Schengen area,
the area of Europe in which travelers between some two dozen EU
countries are not required to show passports. The CIA expresses concerns
that a new EU security system will potentially make life harder for
American agents.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said the
documents show the CIA is intent on carrying out spying in Europe, and
confirms Israel is a target for US spy operations.
Sunday’s release is the second in a series of CIA releases from WikiLeaks.
AFP contributed to this report.
Tamar Pileggi
Source: http://www.timesofisrael.com/leaked-cia-manual-explains-how-to-slip-ben-gurion-security/
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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