Iran - An Iranian businessman convicted of spying for Israel has been executed, according to a statement released today by Iran’s judiciary.Ali Ashtari was reportedly hanged on Monday. The manager of a telecommunications and security equipment company who dealt with the Iranian military... found guilty of cooperating with the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad...
Iranian state TV showed the balding Ashtari calmly giving what was billed as the confession of a Mossad spy. Ashtari reportedly met with Israeli spooks abroad who gave him surveillance technology to monitor high ranking officials in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
“The Israeli spies gave him equipment with built in bugs to be sold to high ranking (military) officials so that Mossad could eavesdrop on everything they said on phones and other telecommunication devices,” said an Iranian journalist who asked not to be named. (more)
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UK - The man accused of murdering former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in London said in a British newspaper on Saturday he was prepared to come to Britain to be questioned about the case. (more)
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China - A London-based rights group said Saturday that China was preparing to execute a Chinese businessman convicted of spying for Taiwan, and urged Beijing to halt the execution. (more)
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Germany declined to comment on Saturday on reports that three Germans arrested on suspicion of throwing explosives at an EU office in Kosovo were intelligence officers. (more)
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Isreal - The end of George W. Bush's term in office marks a golden opportunity for the release of Jonathan Pollard, imprisoned in the US for more than 20 years now, his wife Esther wrote in an emotional plea to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Saturday evening. (more)
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Iran - Reported was the arrest of Hossein Derakshan, a Canadian-Iranian who pioneered blogging in Iran and was called the "blogfather" there... He returned to his native Iran from his adoptive Canada last month and various media reported his arrest this week. A website reported that Derakshan confessed to spying for Israel. (more)
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