News Have a lead? Contact us at news@theotherpress.ca & Selling secrets to the Russians New informa- tion released on Delisles case By Eric Wilkins, Staff Writer ue to a series of documents recently made public, more light has been shed onto the Jeffrey Paul Delisle case. Earlier this month, Delisle pleaded guilty to the charges laid against him under the Security of Information Act in Nova Scotia Provincial court. From his position at the Trinity naval intelligence centre inside CFB Halifax as a threat assessment analyst, Delisle had been selling sensitive informa- tion to the Russians, specifically the GRU, Russia’s main intelligence collective, since 2007 for approximately $3,000 a month until his arrest in January of this year. A weekly geopolitical update By Keating Smith, Contributor Africa: (Sudan) The Sudanese government is pointing the political finger at Israel for bombing a military factory in the capital city of Khartoum. Culture and Information Minister Ahmed Belal Osman said, “Four Israeli planes attacked the factory and two people were killed.” According to the BBC, 6 The transcript from the RCMP interrogation of Delisle reveals a man with a troubled personal life. He stated that, “I thought of suicide so many times, so many times. I just couldn’t... So I committed profes- sional suicide,” citing his wife cheating on him as the main reason. From there, he describes the beginning of his espionage simply as, “I walked right into the embassy and I said: ‘Here I am.’ It wasn’t for money. It was never Israel believes weapons are being smuggled through the region to Gaza and leaked US State Department documents are suggesting that Sudan is supplying Iranian arms to Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Israel Defense Force has made no comment. Americas: (Mexico) Labor workers in Mexico protested against government proposals to reform labor relations in the country. The laws have remained rather unchanged since the 1970s in a country where most people are working for less than five dollars a day. The proposed changes would allow business owners and companies to dismiss workers at will and not be eligible to pay over Jeffrey Paul Delisle Photo courtesy of Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press for money. The money was nothing compared to what I know... what I could have sought.” Delisle’s method of communication with GRU was startlingly easy: copy the informa- tion from his classified computer onto a floppy disk, transfer the information onto his unclassified computer, download the informa- tion to a USB drive, and then email the data. Even his lawyer, Mike Taylor, remarked, “It’s amazing he wasn’t caught long time. Large businesses in Mexico are praising the proposals as they say it will drive competition rates higher, which is better for the country’s economy. Asia- Central & South: (Pakistan) Amidst the violence and political instability currently plaguing Pakistan, some 24,000 ‘young’ people congregated in the city of Lahore’s hockey stadium to create the world’s largest human flag. Green and white boxes were held by the crowd to create the country’s flag. 43,000 people had also gathered to sing Pakistan’s national anthem several days before breaking the previous record, which was held by Hong Kong. before he was—abso- lutely amazing. There are lots of things about security at that place that would make you shake your head.” Delisle apparently tried to end his connec- tion with the GRU at one point, saying, “Initially, [the payment] was monthly. Then I stopped and they wouldn’t pay. And then they got pic- tures of my daughter. I started again.” His down- fall would be triggered by a trip to Brazil to meet with a GRU agent. They wanted to make him their “pigeon” (someone who works with all of the agents in an area) for Canada; Delisle agreed. However, the money paid to him for this ($50,000 in prepaid credit cards and cash) brought suspicion on him upon his return to Canada, and ultimately led to his discovery and arrest. While Delisle says Asia- Pacific: (Japan) Shintaro Ishihara, an outspoken and patriotic governor in Japan, says he will resign from his current position to form anew political party in Japan. According to Aljazeera, Ishihara is renowned for his outbursts against China, North Korea, foreigners, immigrants, women, the French language, and has even criticized American cartoon icon Mickey Mouse for “not having the unique sensibility that Japan has.” Europe: (Finland) Finland’s Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen escaped unharmed after a man described in his late 20s pulled a knife on the politician while meeting with voters. The Scandinavian country that, “The stuff I sent them ... wasn’t a risk to our security,” CSIS is of a different mind, stat- ing ina report, “Based on CSIS analysis and our current knowledge of the totality of the compromise, Delisle’s unauthorized disclosures to the Russians since 2007 has caused severe and irreparable damage to Canadian interests.” Canadian officials are worried about the position this places Canada in, since Delisle had access to information from the “Five Eyes” community (which includes the U.S., Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand). Brigadier General Robe Williams commented, “The release of this information by the accused puts Canada’s relationships with our partners in jeopardy.” Delisle will receive his sentence in January of the coming year. is heading to the voting booths this week, with opinion polls reflecting a 20.6 per cent lead in favour of Katainen’s party. Middle East: (Gaza/ Palestine) Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, visited the Gaza Strip last week to invest in a Qatari project worth $400 million dollars to rebuild infrastructure, including roads and hospitals in the impoverished and overcrowded coastal Palestinian territory. In a public speech made by the Qatar head of state, he asked political parties Hamas and Fatah to put their differences aside and work together in order to put an end to the socioeconomic crisis the area is facing.