KYRGYZSTAN- KTK TV channel (Kazakhstan) reports today that Kyrgyz secret services are involved in the murder of Kyrgyz journalist.
Pavlyuk, 40, died in a hospital in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on December 22, six days after being thrown from an upper-story window of an apartment building. His hands and legs were bound with tape.
Pavlyuk, an ethnic Russian, was described by colleagues as one of Kyrgyzstan’s most prominent journalists. He had traveled from Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek, to Almaty on December 16 for business, according to colleagues, although the exact purpose remains unclear. Some local news reports said Pavlyuk intended to start a pro-opposition online publication and had traveled to Almaty to meet with potential partners.

(more…)

Österreich blieb Stützpunkt

Mit dem Ende des Kalten Krieges veränderte sich die Agentenszene. Dennoch blieb Österreich Stützpunkt. “Das System hat sich verändert”, sagt der Grüne Peter Pilz. “Heute dürfen die USA ungestört in Europa operieren. Russland und der Iran schicken gar keine Leute nach Wien, weil sie die Informationen über unser Abwehramt kriegen.” Dass Österreichs Geheimdienstwesen in drei Einrichtungen aufgesplittert ist, hält Pilz für “eine Absurdität”. Der Rest der Welt sehe Wien als das, was es immer schon war: “Eine gute Hintertür für Informationen aus Europa.” Kleine Zeitung

Highest density of  spies in the world

Vienna, whose geographical position makes it a point of contact between East and West and North and South, home to thousands of diplomats and many prominent international groups, stays also a harbor of secret service activity.
“Austria is still a favorite place for agents,” said Siegfried Beer, director of the Austrian Centre for Intelligence, Propaganda and Security Studies (ACIPSS), at the University of Graz. “They’re frequently known to the authorities but rarely hindered. Everything is handled courteously and  diplomatically. There’s a long tradition in that.” (more…)

Washington has employed its sole air base in Central Asia in a large-scale spying campaign, according to Russian state television. “Eight years ago under the pretext of the war in Afghanistan the United States opened its air base at the Manas airport,” reads a Rossiya television statement. “But this was only the start. Subsequently the Americans in Kyrgyzstan launched a wide-scale intelligence operation.” The Russian clip is also expected to prove that the United States created a special team of spies in Bishkek to pursue local politicians and keep Kyrgyz counter-intelligence off the scent of the CIA agents. The espionage was, according to the program, carried out on the territory of the sovereign state, Kyrgyzstan, and with disregard for all the norms of international law. Source: presstv
Das russische Fernsehen hat Vereinigten Staaten für das Ausnutzen ihres Luftstützpunktes Manas in Kirgisistan zur Spiontätigkeit angeklagt. (more…)