Italy’s la Republica has provided a partial chronology of events related to the forged Niger documents and blogger de Gondi at Booman Tribune’s sister site European Tribune has a translated summary.
In their first installment, the reporters trace the origins of the documents “up to the autumn of 2001 when Nicolò Pollari passed the false SISMI dossier to Rome CIA station chief, Jeff Castelli.” According to de Gondi’s account: “Castelli wrote a report and forwarded it to the Greg Thielmann’s Bureau of Intelligence which eventually dismissed this first report as unfounded.” As we all know, it didn’t end there.
Much more on the flipside…
For those unfamiliar with the chronology of the forged Niger documents scandal, la Republica lays it out. Here are the highlights from de Gondi’s translation along with additional background details and links that I’ve added:
· Rocco Martino, a former intel agent in Italy’s SID (secret service) tried to sell the documents to reporter Elizabetta Burba of the right-wing Italian magazine Panorama who was instructed by her boss to give photocopies to the US Embassy in Rome instead of buying them. La Republica notes the involvement of Antonio Nucera, who still worked in SISMI (the revamped version of SID).
· Martino has a shady background: a failed cop fired for misconduct from the SID; arrested for extortion and stolen checks in 1985 and 1993, respectively; SISMI informant until 1999 – known as a double agent; established a security agency in Luxembourg where he “passed Italian intelligence to the French and vice versa”.
· In 1999, Martino discovered that the French were concerned about possible trafficking from an abandoned uranium mine in Niger. He hooked up with Nucera, whose intel background included looking into such trafficking, to investigate.
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The division had had some success in contrasting Saddam’s agents in Africa. According to an agent, in 1999 the division had managed to get their hands on the Niger cipher book and a telex from the Niger ambassador in Rome Adamou Chékou announcing the mission of Wissam Al Zahawie, Iraqi ambassador to the Holy See, as a representative of Saddam Hussein.
At the same time in the port of Trieste authorities confiscated a shipment of marangin steel which could be used in the construction of centrifuges for the separation of Uranium.
Martino insisted on having whatever he could get to put together a dossier to sell to the French.
· Martino and Nucera, along with an informant in the Niger Embassy, Zakaria Yaou Maiga, began compiling a false dossier to sell to the French. This resulted in the break in at the embassy which, we now know, resulted in the theft of embassy letterhead. The dossier was rejected by French officials.
· SISMI, following 9/11 and under pressure by Berlusconi, was determined to prove to the US that it was a useful partner in Bush’s new war on terror and, reportedly, the false dossier was given to Britian’s MI6. SISMI denied this and pointed to Martino as the conduit.
de Gondi’s translation concludes with these questions and this quote:
Yet this leaves many unanswered questions open. Why did the SISMI then pass the documents on to Castelli? And why didn’t the SISMI immediately denounce Rocco Martino to the various agencies?
“Autumn 2001. Pollari’s SISMI has a crack-pot dossier put together by Rocco Martino and Antonio Nucera. He shows it to the CIA while Rocco Martino passes it on to Richard Dearlove of the M16 in London. It’s only the beginning of the Great Italian Deceit.”
Note: I realize that there are many twists, turns and allegations of the involvement of others in the forged Niger documents scandal. What I have provided here is only de Gondi’s summary of the la Republica article which focuses on Italy’s involvement up until autumn 2001. There remain many unanswered questions and connections. La Republica will feature its second installment tomorrow. I hope those of you who are able to read Italian will provide any additions or corrections. Thanks. – catnip
An October 23, 2005 UPI article added this speculation, which I have previously written about:
There is one line of inquiry with an American connection that Fitzgerald would have found it difficult to ignore. This is the claim that a mid-ranking Pentagon official, Larry Franklin, held talks with some Italian intelligence and defense officials in Rome in late 2001. Franklin has since been arrested on charges of passing classified information to staff of the pro-Israel lobby group, the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee. Franklin has reportedly reached a plea bargain with his prosecutor, Paul McNulty, and it would be odd if McNulty and Fitzgerald had not conferred to see if their inquiries connected.
We can only hope that Fitgerald’s diligent investigation will get to the bottom of this for all of us.
For reaction to this UPI story in the blogosphere, check out what Josh Marshall and Jane Hamsher are saying.
Update [2005-10-24 17:29:57 by catnip]:: BTer rom wyo has crossposted de Gondi’s diary here at Booman Tribune.
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Can two diaries be combined in some way???
Mon Oct 24th, 2005 at 12:04:37 PM PST
As a public service, my alter ego, Mr. de Gondi, has granted me permission to cross-post his diary on recent developments in the Nigergate caper. Updates and new diaries on the subject will continue to be first posted at Eurotrib.
Giuseppe d’Avanzo and Carlo Bonini have just published this morning, October 24th, in la Repubblica the first installment of a detailed reconstruction of the false Niger yellowcake caper. D’Avanzo and Bonini were the first reporters to reveal the yellowcake scandal.
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼▼▼ READ MY DIARY
Darn! I had posted a comment in de Gondi’s diary that I would be front paging it here and didn’t see any response to that.
I’ll add a link to rom wyo’s diary. Thanks.
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Fitzgerald has reportedly asked for a copy of the Italian government’s investigation into the break-in of the Niger embassy in Rome and the source of the forged documents.
Easy to combine the December 2001 meeting in Rome involving neo-con Michael Ledeen, Larry Franklin, Harold Rhodes, and Niccolo Pollari, the head of Italy’s intelligence agency SISMI, and Antonio Martino, the Italian defense minister.
The Huffington Post – 10.20.2005 – by James Moore
<snip>
Fortunately, there are good signs. Fitzgerald has reportedly asked for a copy of the Italian government’s investigation into the break-in of the Niger embassy in Rome and the source of the forged documents. The blatantly fake papers, which purported to show that Saddam Hussein had cut a deal to get yellowcake uranium from Niger, turned up after a December 2001 meeting in Rome involving neo-con Michael Ledeen, Larry Franklin, Harold Rhodes, and Niccolo Pollari, the head of Italy’s intelligence agency SISMI, and Antonio Martino, the Italian defense minister.
If Fitzgerald is examining the possibility that Ledeen was executing a plan to help his friend Karl Rove build a case for invading Iraq? Ledeen has long ties to Italian intelligence agency operatives and has spanned the globe to bring the world the constant variety of what he calls “creative destruction” to build democracies. He makes the other neo-cons appear passive. He brought the Reagan administration together with the Iranian arms dealer who dragged the country through Iran-Contra and shares with his close friend Karl Rove a personal obsession with Machiavelli. Ledeen, who is almost rabidly anti-Arab, famously told the Washington Post that Karl Rove told him, “Any time you have a good idea, tell me.”
Read full article »»
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● Prosecutor Fitzgerald Zeroes In :: Cheney – CIA Feud!
● CIRCLE CLOSED :: Neocons – AIPAC – Shill Reporter Laurie Mylroie – Benador Associates
● As Time Evolves :: Neocon Think – A DEEP THROAT?
And … connect the dots with the DeLay Cabal in Texas, Florida and Washington DC, Fitzgerald just investigates money laundering, racketering, wire fraud – just like the John Gambino Family he got behind bars!
See my comment on The DeLay Cartel! It just can’t be a coincidence these investigations are running parallel.
The Italian arrests warrants for CIA operatives, hmmm …
Nicola Calipari
My personal take: Nicola Calipari shooting was an assassination, a single shot to the head, sending a message to the Italian government and all western intelligence forces operating in Iraq.
Swift Vets eRiposte and POWs for “Truth” vs. The Truth
Getting closer to CBS 60 min Memos?
… or just wishful thinking?
60 Minutes Niger story that never aired… Let’s get it aired!
◊ by emmajoe Thu Aug 25th, 2005 at 07:29:02 AM PST
St. LOUIS Oct. 13, 2003 — Gannon International’s Gannon Vietnam unit has opened a large-scale beverage packaging and processing operation at a newly constructed facility near Ho Chi Minh City.
Since it opened last month, the new facility has produced more than 2 million drink units for Parmalat Dairy, a large supplier of liquid milk. The 40,000 square-foot facility will also serve other beverage and liquid food brand corporations, and has the capacity to process and package up to 30 million liters per year.
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
Walker reports that Fitzgerald obtained unpublished documents from a so-called Italian parliamentary inquiry.
There is no such inquiry, nor has there ever been an inquiry into the Niger affair by the Italian Parliament.
There are auditions by the Copaco, the oversight committee of the secret services. Copaco summons people to testify on facts relating to the secret services. What goes on at those meetings is rarely leaked to the press beyond general declarations.
There are of course the comptes rendus of these auditions (or whatever they’re called in English.) Extracts of these may have been turned over to the FBI as a cooperative gesture.