TIME LINE for the Gaza Israel Conflict
May 2007
[edit]
May 15
After more than 200 Qassam rockets attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense
Minister Amir Peretz respond
with airstrikes.
May 16 The Israeli Air
Force attacked a building housing the Hamas headquarters of the Executive ForceRafah, leaving four dead and dozens wounded.
The airstrike came in the middle of heavy fighting between forces loyal to Fatah and to Hamas, part of the ongoing Palestinian factional violence.
Thirty Qassam rockets
were fired at the Western Negev, leaving
two residents of Sderot injured. Ten others suffered from shock.[10][11][12] in
May 17 Two people died in Rafah after their
vehicle was hit by a missile fired by the IAF. The two had reportedly been in
the process of launching Qassam rockets. More vehicles were hit by the IAF,
leaving a member of a Qassam launching cell critically injured.
A Hamas base of operations was destroyed by Israeli missile attacks, leaving
one militant dead and wounding more than thirty people, including civilians. Two
people in Sderot were slightly injured
by one of the ten rockets that landed on Israeli territory.[13]
May 18 Five members of Hamas were killed in an airstrike on a building in northeast
Gaza that served as a meeting place for Hamas members. The IDF said "it was
suspected that a tunnel was being dug there into Israeli territory." Hamas
stated that the missiles were fired at members standing in an olive grove. In a
Qassam rocket attack on Sderot, three people were injured. Twenty rockets were
fired at a kibbutzim in Sderot.[14]
May 19 The IAF killed two members of Hamas in an airstrike on their vehicle. A third
passerby later died of his injuries. An empty school and several houses in Jabalya were destroyed
by artillery shells. No injuries were reported.[15]
May 20 Ten rockets were fired from Gaza with four landing in southern Israel, but
there were no injuries according to an Israeli spokesman. The IAF also launched
an airstrike in Gaza City killing eight
people, including Hamas militiamen, and at least thirteen others were wounded.
Israel claims that five of those killed were militiamen, while Hamas claims only
two were. The airstrike was targeted at the house of Hamas politician, Khalil
al-Haya, who was not home at the time.
A second Israeli air strike killed one civilian and wounded three others,
according to Palestinian medics. A spokeswoman for Israel claims that the strike
was targeting militants loading ammunition onto a truck at a location that
manufactures rockets. A third air strike targeted a plant that manufactured
rockets for the Islamic
Jihad group, which wounded two people according to medics.
Olmert said that he will attempt a diplomatic effort with the international
community to resolve the conflict. However, he has also ordered an increase in
airstrikes to destroy Hamas' infrastructure, in an attempt to halt the rocket
attacks.[16][17]
May 21 After an airstrike from the IAF four members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad were killed
while driving a car in Beit Lahiya. They were part of a Qassam launching
cell and had just launched some Qassams into Israeli territory. An Israeli
spokesman also said that Islamic Jihad members will be targeted because they
participate in the Qassam firing. A workshop used in the manufacture of Qassam
rockets was bombed, killing a manufacturer. A first round of five rockets was fired towards Sderot, one striking the city, two landing south of Ashkelon, and two striking western Negev. A Qassam rocket that struck Sderot
killed an Israeli woman, the first fatality from a rocket attack in the country
since November. Another man was moderately injured from the attack. The rocket
struck a commercial center near a bakery
in Sderot. Israeli civilians burned tires in the street after the attack, though
the protest was interrupted by the Red Dawn rocket early-warning siren.[18] A second round of
three rockets was later fired towards Israel, which landed near a kibbutz in the western Negev. A third series launched two more rockets towards
Israel. No injuries were reported from these attacks.[19][20][21]
May 22 Hamas militants say they had fired several rockets towards Israel, a total of
ten according to various groups.[who?] A total of
seven rockets landed in western Negev, but caused no injuries. The IAF also
fired missiles in an airstrike at a munitions base, and secondary explosions
were reported after the strike. The airstrike wounded seven people in the attack
on Jabaliya, Gaza City, according to local residents and
hospital officials.[22][23][24]
May 22 Militants fired eight rockets at southern Israel, but no injuries were
reported. One rocket that was fired, landed in an open area of Sderot. No injuries or damage were reported from the
rocket landing. Later, two rockets hit the Sderot area, one of them inside the
city. One women suffered from shock after the attack. Two more rockets landed
south of Asheklon,
one of which killed a horse in Kibbutz Nir
Am.
The IAF conducted an airstrike on the Gaza Strip, in which they destroyed two
buildings. The Israeli army said the buildings were being used to store and
manufacture weapons;
however, Palestinians denied these allegations. Hospital officials said seven Palestinians were
wounded in the attack. Two IDF solders were wounded by gunfire in
the northern Gaza Strip and were evacuated to the Barzilay
Medical Center in Ashkelon. The gunfire may have came from militants, but
the IDF is looking into the possibility of friendly-fire. In an uncommon move, Israeli troops entered a small village in the southern
Gaza Strip. Israeli army officials said that after the raid, seven Palestinians
were held for questioning. Samer Qdaih, one of those held, claimed the troops
threatened to crush their area if rocket fire continues. All of the detainees
were later released.[citation needed] President of
the Palestinian National Authority
Mahmoud Abbas had called
for Hamas and other militias to halt
rocket attacks against Israel. But a Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, said that due to Israel's
airstrikes on Gaza, that any ceasefire attempt by Abbas would be "worthless."
Hamas said they would only consider a ceasefire if Israel stops their military
operations in the Gaza Strip
and the Israeli-occupied West
Bank.[25][22]
May 24 Israeli forces entered Nablus in the
northern West Bank, under
Palestinian Authority self-rule. One Palestinian cabinet member, Education
Minister Naser al-Shaer, was taken in the IDF raid. The
IDF also captured at least three Hamas legislators, the mayor Adly Yaish and his deputy mayor,
and other Hamas officials in nearby towns and villages. Israel's Defence
Minister Amir Peretz says
that the arrests "...can [be used to] speed up a return to a ceasefire rather
than allow the region to slide into total escalation." Israeli Prime Minster Ehud Olmert also says he has no
intention of stopping his offensive in the Gaza Strip as long as "they will not
control the situation." The IAF additionally conducted airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, wounding at
least five people in Gaza City and Khan Younis according to local residents. The
attack in Gaza City destroyed the housing used by the Hamas Executive Force and
damaged nearby buildings. Another airstrike destroyed a Hamas forces post in Deir al-Balah, in the
central Gaza Strip. No casualties were reported as a result of the second
attack. An airstrike in Rafah destroyed a
metal-working facility which the IDF says is an Islamic Jihad weapons
factory. A total of nine Qassam rockets were fired from Gaza, by Palestinians, towards
the Israeli western Negev. Two of the rockets landed near kibbutzim in the area
of Eshkol Regional Council, and the rest
landed near Sderot and the area of Sha'ar HaNegev Regional
Council. After one of the rockets landed, a fire broke out close to one of
the kibbutzim. Some of these rockets landed in Israel without warning, due to a
malfunction in the Red Dawn system that notifies of incoming
rocket fire. In the northern Gaza Strip, a mortar was fired towards Israel. The mortar
round landed near the Erez
Crossing. No injuries were reported, but the structure was somewhat
damaged. Palestinian President Abbas, after meeting with a European Union envoy, described rocket attacks
against Israel as "pointless and needless." However, Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri[26][27][28][29] responded
saying that "Rockets will be fired as long as the Zionist (Israeli) aggression
against our (Palestinian) people continues."
May 25 An Israeli missile landed near the residence of Palestinian Prime
Minister Ismail
Haniyeh of Hamas. An IDF spokeswoman said though that "Haniyeh's home
definitely was not the target [of the airstrike]." The IDF said that the
airstrike was on a structure used by Hamas, located in the Shati refugee camp.
Local residents said that an IAF airstrike hit a van in Gaza City, killing two
Hamas militants and wounding five. The IAF also conducted an air strike on a
Hamas position in the central Gaza Strip, south of Gaza City, lightly wounding
three, and destroying the base.[30][31][32] Seven Qassam rockets were fired towards Israel's western Negev from the Gaza
Strip. The first five Qassams landed in open areas close to the southern town of
Sderot and south of Ashkelon. No casualties were reported from these, though a
wheat field near Sderot caught fire due to a Qassam landing.[33] Two rockets were
later fired towards the Israeli town of Sderot. One of them landed near a house
inside the town. This Qassam lightly wounded four people from shrapnel, and ten
other nearby residents suffered from shock. The other rocket landed in Sderot's
industrial area, damaging some equipment in a facility.[32]
May 26 Hamas militants considered the lenient ceasefire terms offered by Fatah, specifically Palestinian President
Abbas. They said they would be willing to accept a ceasefire alone, instead of
their previous demand of the end of Israeli military operations in the West Bank. Fatah said that Hamas is
giving Israel until May 27 to respond to a ceasefire agreement, though Hamas
said they are not completely committed to their offer. A Fatah spokesman, Abdel-Hakim
Awad, said that "The next 48 hours will be decisive for determining which
way the factions are going, and it will depend on Israel and whether it wants to
stop its aggression." Five Qassam rockets were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip, though no
people were injured. Five airstrikes early in the day wounded three people, all bystanders near
the targets; at least two were in Gaza City and one in the southern Gaza Strip,
all Hamas positions. The IAF launched missile attacks on a Hamas Executive Force and its
armed militia housing in Gaza City. At least five Executive Force members were
killed and 30 other people were wounded, according to medics.[34] The explosion also
damaged a kindergarten area next-door, though no people were wounded.[35] A
security facility near Palestinian Prime Minister Haniyeh's home was also
attacked in an airstrike. Another round of airstrikes in Gaza targeted buildings
used by Hamas, wounding eight bystanders. The Palestinian Minister of State, Wasfi Kabha of Hamas, was arrested in an Israeli
raid on his village close to the West Bank city of Jenin. An aide to the Palestinian President Abbas, Saeb Erekat, said that "We have
urged the U.S. and the EU to intervene to release the ministers and lawmakers
[...] This step does not help to achieve calm (attempts at a ceasefire)." Two Palestinian gunmen shot an Israeli police officer and security guard at
the Israeli West Bank barrier on the
Jerusalem border, and were killed by return fire. Two Israeli officers were
wounded along with a Palestinian bystander, who the police say was hit by the
Palestinian fire. No Palestinian militias have claimed responsibility for the
attack. In response to the attack, Israeli police raised their alert status to
the highest level possible without declaring an emergency. Dozens of IDF
soldiers also raided villages south of Jerusalem, close to Bethlehem, in an attempt to find militants.[35][36][37] A spokesman for the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades,
the armed militia of Hamas, now warns that if Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail
Haniyeh or any other senior Hamas official is harmed by Israel that there will
be a "earth-shattering" response. This response included a threat that Israel
will never see Gilad
Shalit, the IDF soldier whose abduction sparked the 2006
Israel-Gaza conflict, and that "Suicide bombings in
Israel are just a matter of time and proper condition…we can fire rockets even
beyond Ashkelon, and we will resume
the suicide bombing and kidnappings."[38]
May 27 Two Qassam rockets landed in Israel. One in Sderot killed a man and wounded
another, and other residents suffered from shock. The Qassam hit the street, it
caused shrapnel to hit the man's
car, and he crashed into a wall. He got out of the car, but died of his wounds
at Barzilay Medical Center in Ashkelon. Another Qassam later hit Sderot injuring
one Israeli civilian.
The IAF launched airstrikes on posts belonging to Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
One strike targeted a Hamas charity building in Beit Hanoun and the other a Hamas executive force
position in Jabalya,
according to Hamas officials and other witnesses. A third airstrike was reported
in the city of Beit Lahiya. No casualties were reported from the
strikes.[39][40]
[edit]
May 28
Seven rockets struck Sderot in southern Israel, but no injuries are reported.
A senior Hamas militant was arrested in the city of Ramallah in the West Bank.[41]
[edit]
May 30
The IAF made an air strike targeting a "group of armed terrorists," near the
Jabalya refugee camp, an IDF spokeswoman said. Two members of the Hamas militia
were killed, several bystanders were wounded, and a house was damaged.
In the West Bank, the IDF arrested the mayor of a small town near the city of
Nablus.[42]
Six Qassam rockets fired from the Gaza Strip hit western Negev. One rocket
hit a power line and an apartment building in Sderot. Some
residents experienced and were treated for shock after the attack. The Qassam also caused a
temporary blackout in some parts of the city, because of
the hit on the power line. Another apartment building was hit, causing six
people to experience shock, though no people were inside at the time. The latter
had a claim of responsibility by the militia of the Popular Resistance
Committees.[43]
[edit]
May 31
The IAF made two air strikes on a rocket launching site and on militants in
the Gaza Strip, injuring two Palestinians. Militants in the Gaza Strip fired
three Qassam rockets into Israel, but caused no injuries.[44]
[edit]
June 2007
[edit]
June 1
The IDF killed two young Palestinians
in the northern end of the Gaza Strip, after their location was hit with a
shell, near Dugit, close to Israel. An IDF
spokesman said that troops also saw people trying to plant an object on the border fence of the Israel-Gaza border, killing two other
Palestinians. The spokesman also said that the IDF shot at three people, two
which were evacuated by Palestinian ambulances. Also, a top Islamic Jihad militant, Fadi
Abu Mustafa, riding on a motorcycle, near Khan Younis, was killed after
an IAF air strike. An earlier strike on rocket launchers caused no
casualties.
Four Qassam rockets were fired towards Israel from the Gaza Strip. Two of the
rockets landed near a Negev kibbutz, causing some damage to a garage. Another
rocket hit a kibbutz south of Ashkelon, causing serious damage to a warehouse. The fourth rocket did not
reach Israel, and fell to the ground inside the Gaza Strip.[45][46]
[edit]
June 2
The IDF killed two Palestinian waste collectors near a garbage dump in close
proximity to the Gaza border fence. In Nabulus, West Bank, the IDF destroyed cement barriers
in the city, which were being used to prevent IDF vehicles from moving through
the streets. According to the acting mayor of Nabulus, Nihad
Masri, several people were wounded in the attack. IDF soldiers also arrested
four brothers in the Maghazi refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, though
their affiliation is unknown. The IDF also arrested four people in the Gaza
Strip, stating they fired rockets into Israel. They were later released.[47]
[edit]
June 3
Four IDF soldiers were injured, one moderately and three lightly, near the Erez
crossing in the northern Gaza Strip. They were hurt after 3 mortar rounds
hit their location, which Hamas says they are responsible for. The injured
soldiers, and six who suffered shock, were evacuated to Barzilay Medical Center
in Ashkelon. Two other mortar shells landed in other areas of the Gaza Strip.Report: IDF kills Fatah member in Jenin
Also an armed Palestinian, according to some sources a member of the Fatah militia, was shot and killed by the
IDF. The IDF reports that Palestinian gunmen first fired and threw an explosiveJenin in the West Bank. None of the troops were
injured.[48] at
soldiers, during an operation in the city of
[edit]
June 5
The IDF pulled out of the Gaza Strip, after an offensive two kilometers
inside the Israel-Gaza border. Several Palestinians were detained by the IDF and
were transferred to Israel for questioning.[49]
Two Qassam rockets were fired towards Israel from the Gaza Strip. One landed
near Sderot and one landed inside the Gaza Strip, neither caused injuries.[50]
[edit]
June 6
The IAF fired at two armed Palestinians, affiliated with Hamas, trying to
plant an explosive device in Jabalya. The air strike killed one and wounded the
other.[51]An elderly
Palestinian experienced a raid on his home in Hebron, by the IDF, during the arrest of other men in
this home. One soldier and three other Palestinians were wounded.[52]
Hamas fired eight mortar shells at the Erez Crossing, damaging the site, and causing a
fire on the Gaza side of the border. Two Israeli trauma centers were opened in
southern Israel near Gaza.[53]
[edit]
June 12
-
Hamas gained control over northern Gaza after fighting with Fatah Preventive Security ServiceBeit Hanoun.
Four Palestinians were killed and 15 wounded. Hamas also takes control of
central refugee camps, Bureij, Nuseirat and Maghazi with virtually no fighting with
Fatah.[54] forces
in the city of
[edit]
June 13
Hamas destroys Fatah Preventive Security Forces' headquarters in Khan Yunis, killing five
Palestinians.
[edit]
June 14
Hamas forces seize and loot Abbas' presidential compound and Fatah Preventive
Security Forces' headquarters in Gaza City. Other major security and
intelligence compounds are also captured, finalizing Hamas' control over Gaza
City. To the south, Rafah falls into Hamas
control with minimal casualties. After controlling the majority of the Gaza
Strip's cities and refugee camps, Hamas takes control over the main north-south
road as well as the coastal road and southern border with Egypt.
[edit]
June 27
Israel launches ground raids on Gaza City and Khan Yunis. Israeli tanks moved
into Gaza and clashed militants there. Nine Palestinians were killed, of them
two were civilians who died after an attack at house in the city. In Khan Yunis,
two Islamic Jihad members were killed in
clashes with Israeli Defense Forces and a Hamas
militant was killed after mishandling explosives. Also this attack was one of
the most deadly attack of this conflict
[edit]
July 2007
[edit]
July 1
During a raid in Jenin, the IDF kills a
top commander of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades,Muhammad
el-Haija . He was considered to be second in command in Jenin, after the
Brigades commander Zakaria Zubeidia. 6 other militants were detained by the IDF
in the West Bank.[55]
[edit]
July 5
IDF forces raided central Gaza, searching for weapons caches and smuggling
tunnels, but met fierce resistance from Palestinian militants, especially Hamas.
IDF forces noticed a large amount of Palestinian militants, and shot at them.
Palestinians responded with gunfire, anti-tank missiles, explosive devices and
mines. IDF now used bulldozers, tanks and choppers to fight the militants. At
one point IAF jets joined the fight. In the clash, 11 Palestinian militants were
killed, including nine from Hamas and one from Islamic Jihad. More than 20
people were wounded, including a Hamas cameraman and two Israeli soldiers. One
of the killed was Mohammed Siam, a local commander.[56]
Three mortars and two Qassams were fired into Israel, causing no damage and
injures. Hamas and Islamic Jihad both claimed responsibility.
[edit]
July 7
In an IDF operation in Gaza, seven Qassamrocket launchers were noticed. All
were destroyed by the IDF. Some were detonated with a timer.
[edit]
July 8
Five Qassamrockets were fired into Israel. Four landed in open areas, but one
landed near a college in Sderot. Nobody was injured. Islamic Jihad claimed
responsibility.
[edit]
July 9
A Palestinian militant, Mohammed Nazal, 24, is killed by IDF forces in an
ambush near Jenin. He was a member of the Islamic Jihad, Palestinian sources
confirmed.
Three Qassams are fired into Israel, causing damage but no injuries.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.[57]
[edit]
July 10
Eleven mortars are fired into Israeli territory in three separate barrages.
Two buildings contained damage, but there were no casualties. One mortar landed
near the Kerem Shalom Crossing. Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed
responsibility.[58]
[edit]
July 12
A soldier, Arbel Reich (21), is killed in Central Gaza in an ambush. IDF
soldiers, together with tanks and bulldozers entered the area and when they
entered the al-Bureij refugeecamp, they were ambushed by Hamas militiamen with a
burst of machinegunfire and RPG rockets. Two other IDF soldiers were wounded.
Two Palestinian militants were wounded by an IAF airstrike in the same area.
Despite the presence of Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, Islamic Jihad
managed to fire a Qassamrocket to Sderot. Nobody was injured.
An Palestinian man armed with an AK-47 and an explosive belt is killed in
Tulkarem. The man drove with his car to a checkpoint and began shooting at the
checkpoint with his Kalashnikov. He had
The soldiers returned fire, killing the Palestinian. No militant group claimed
responsibility.[59][60]
[edit]
July 19
A Qassam rocket fired from the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday hit a home in
the city of Sderot. Seven people suffering from shock were taken to the Barzilai
Medical Center in Ashkelon. A number of buildings were damaged in the
strike.[61]
[edit]
July 22
Israeli aircraft killed two members of the Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing
of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The airstrike was a retaliation for the
Qassams fired on Saturdayevening, which landed in the Negev, causing some
damage. Islamic Jihad confirmed two of its militants were killed in the attack
while launching rockets, carried out by a chopper.
Two Hamasmilitants are killed near the border fence while trying to plant
explosive devices. They were spotted and killed by gunfire by Israeli soldiers.
Hamas confirmed the dead of the two men. They were known as Mustafa Abbas en
Mohammed Marouf.[62]
[edit]
July 26
During a groundoperation in the Gaza Strip, the IAF was called in and spotted
Hamas militants near IDF soldiers in Southern Gaza. Tankfire then killed a Hamas
militant who was holding a RPG in his hands, Palestinian sources said. The IDF
said the missile was fired by a helicopter. The killed was known as Sharif
al-Baraeis (35), member of the Iz-ad-Din al Qassam brigades.[63]
More than ten mortars and Qassamrockets are fired at Israel this week,
causing some damage and three injured.[64]
An Israeli airstrike south of Gaza City killed three Islamic Jihad men
traveling in a car. One of the dead was Omar Khatib, who headed the group's
military wing in the Gaza Strip. The other two were known as Khalil Daifi and
Ahmed Abd Al-el. After the fight, Islamic Jihad members tried to retrieve items
in the burnt car, but Hamas gunmen refused them to enter the scene. A firefight
erupted, wounding four Palestinians.[65]
Israeli troops struck and killed a Palestinian who tried to stab a soldier.
The man's family said he later died of his wounds and that he was mentally
ill.[66]
Six Palestinians were wounded by airstrikes in the Gaza Strip in two separate
events.[67]
[edit]
July 28
Two al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades militants were killed while planting a bomb near
the Gaza-Israel border after ignoring warning fire to leave the area.[68][69]
[edit]
August 2007
[edit]
August 1
A Hamas operative and a Popular Resistance Committees militant are killed in
Beit Lahiya. The two were spotted by Israeli soldiers operating in the area in
search for Qassamrockets and their launchers. In the firefight an antitank
missile was fired at Israeli soldiers, causing no injuries. Hamas and PRC
confirmed its men were fighting Israeli soldiers in Beit Lahiya.[70]
Four Qassamrockets are fired into Israel, causing some damage.
[edit]
August 4
An Islamic Jihad commander, Raad Abu el-Adas, is killed by Israeli forces
near his home in Nablus. IDF troops were already looking for him and when they
encircled his house he decided to flee through a window, while another Islamic
Jihad member fired at troops who were storming the house. The other member was
wounded in the battle.
Three Qassamrockets are fired at Sderot, causing three injured people.[71]
[edit]
August 5
An IDF officer was lightly injured in an operation in the Nablus area after
Palestinian gunmen opened fire at the force. Eight wanted Palestinian terror
suspects were arrested across the West Bank on Sunday night. Three were detained
in Nablus and the other five were arrested near Ramallah and in Hebron.
[edit]
August 6
An IDF force operating in the West Bank on Monday morning uncovered an
explosive device weighing 40 kilograms (88 pounds), which was hidden inside the
corpse of a sheep. The soldiers were led to the device by a Palestinian militant
who was arrested and questioned by the defense establishment.[72]
A rocket launched from northern Gaza landed in a kindergarten schoolyard in
Sderot, moments after the completion of a Monday afternoon meeting between Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The al-Quds
Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, took credit for the attack, which
caused damaged to nearby buildings, including two other kindergartens and a
public elementary school. The Color Red system was activated.[73]
[edit]
August 7
Two Hamas gunman are killed in the Gaza Strip. They were spotted near the
Karni Crossing by soldiers outside the strip. The soldiers entered the Strip,
exchanged gunfire and killed them.[74]
A Israeli soldier is lightly injured by an explosive device thrown at IDF
forces by a Palestinian in Nablus.
[edit]
August 9
IDF soldiers killed a Palestinian near the Suffa crossing in southern Gaza on
Thursday afternoon. The army said soldiers had spotted the man crawling near the
border fence. Suspecting he was planting a bomb, they called on him to stop and
shot in the air. When he continued moving, they fired at him. Palestinian medics
brought his body to a hospital in Gaza and said they did not find weapons near
his body.[75]
[edit]
August 10
A security guard at the Ateret Kohanim yeshiva in the Old City of Jerusalem
shot and killed a Palestinian man who snatched the weapon of another guard and
used it to wound him. Eleven people were wounded in the shooting, including the
guard, who was moderately hurt.[76]
[edit]
August 17
A clash in the West Bank village of Kfar Dan
leaves two Palestinians dead. The clash began when IDF forces entered the
village were members of the Islamic Jihad an Fatah were hiding. After they were
spotted, a firefight followed. A 16-year-old boy, Nur Mare'i, and a Palestinian
gunman, Muhammad Darwish, of the tiny Abu Amar Brigades, linked with Fatah were
killed with no casualties on Israeli side. [77]
An IDF soldier was lightly injured when an explosive device is hurled at his
jeep in Nablus. The militant managed to escape.
In a rocket barrage, three Qassams and thirteen mortars are fired into Israel
by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. No casualties or damage was reported.[78]
A tunnel in Gaza, recently discovered by the IDF had been blown up. The
700-meter-long tunnel was made for terrorist activities, the IDF said.
Palestinians said the tunnel was made to carry tomatoes.
[edit]
August 18
Israeli forces shot three Palestinians near the border fence The army said
they repeatedly ordered them to leave the area. One of them died, the other two
were wounded. It is not sure if they were armed or unarmed.
Five Palestinian infiltrators are caught and brought back into Gaza.
Apparently they were looking for work, because they were unarmed.[79]
[edit]
August 20
Six Palestinians, all members of the armed wing of Hamas were killed when
their vehicle was blown up by an Israeli missile. The Palestinians were driving
back after they had fired some Qassams and mortars into Israeli territory.[80]
[edit]
August 21
A Palestinian gunman from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
was killed by Israeli forces in Nablus. The militant opened fire at Israeli
forces operating the area, but was killed when IDF soldiers returned fire.[81]
Three Palestinians were killed near the Gaza border fence. The Palestinians
were armed with sniper rifles, the IDF added. Palestinian sources haven
confirmed the death of the men.[82]
Two Qassams were fired into Israel, one hitting a kindergarten, injuring and
shocking some people.
[edit]
August 22
In an airstrike in Northern Gaza, the IAF kills a top commander of Hamas,
Yehia Habib in an airstrike. Two other members were wounded, one seriously.
In a fierce clash between the IDF and Islamic Jihad, three members of Islamic
Jihad are killed by the IDF. Two children were caught in the crossfire and also
killed. The IDF said they traced two men near a rocket launcher in Gaza. It is
known that militant groups give children some money to collect the rocket
launchers spokesman of Islamic Jihad said the man were on a mission against
Israel.[83]
A Qassam is fired into Israel.
[edit]
August 23
Islamic Jihad fired seven Qassamrockets into Israeli territory, causing some
damage. A woman was treated for shock.
Three Israeli soldiers were lightly injured by explosive devices thrown by
militant Palestinians in Nablus.
Four Hamas fighters were wounded in an aerial assault by the IAF.[84]
[edit]
August 24
An 11-year-old boy was killed in the crossfire between Palestinian militants
and the IDF. The IDF entered the Kfar
Saidi village in the West Bank looking for wanted men, when they were
attacked by militants. In the gunfight, the boy and an Islamic Jihad fighter
were killed. A second IJ fighter was seriously injured and captured by Israeli
forces. On Israeli side there were no casualties.[85]
Two Palestinian militants were using the morning fog to get unnoticed over
the borderfence but were sensed by IDF soldiers. In the firefight the two,
Khadar Oukel (20), from the Salah-ad-Din brigades the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees and
Muhammad Sakar (22) of the National Resistance committees, the armed wing of the
Democratic Front
for the Liberation of Palestine were killed while lightly injuring an IDF
soldier.[86]
[edit]
August 25
A senior commander of the Al Quds
brigades in Jenin, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad was killed
when undercover forces opened fire on his vehicle, loaded with other PIJ
militants. Another militant was seriously wounded in the raid.[87]
The militant wounded earlier this day, has succumbed to his wounds,
Palestinian medical sources said.[88]
[edit]
August 27
A Palestinian man was killed by IDF fire near the Gaza borderfence. He was
unarmed. Palestinian sources said he was a farmer. IDF sources said the soldiers
suspected the man tried to lay explosive devices near the border.[89]
A Qassamrocket was fired into Israeli territory. The launcher was minutes
later destroyed by an Israeli missile.
An IDF major driving in the West Bank occasionally took the wrong turn, and
drove to the Palestinian city of Jenin,
instead of a settlement. The uniformed major was sensed by a mob and his car was
burnt. Islamic Jihad militants tried to kidnap the officer, but were halted by
Preventive Securityforces, who protected the major and called in nearby IDF
forces for help.[90]
[edit]
August 28
A Sderot resident is moderately injured by shrapnel from a Qassamrocket which
fell on his house in his bedroom. The rest of the family was hiding in the bomb
shelter after the Color Red system was activated. the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades
claimed responsibility for the attack. 7 other Qassams are fired today, causing
only some damage and two people shocked.[91]
[edit]
August 29
Four Qassamrockets are fired into Israel.
Three Palestinian children are killed by artillery shells in the Gaza Strip,
between Beit Lahiya and Jabalya. The IDF targeted five rocketlaunchers in Beit
Hanoun. The three members were all member of the same family. Palestinians
believed Israel wanted to target a militant cell.[92]
[edit]
August 30
An elite Israel Defense Forces paratrooper unit shot and seriously wounded a
Palestinian militant in Nablus' Old City early Friday. The militant, who
belonged to a cell that operated jointly under Fatah's military wing—the Al-Aqsa
Martyrs' Brigades—and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was
taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Three Qassam rockets fired by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip struck
open areas in the western Negev. There was no damage or injuries in either of
the attacks.[93]
[edit]
September 2007
[edit]
September 6
Four Hamas militants were killed in an army operation in Southern Gaza. The
four were hit by a tankshell which exploded near to them, Palestinian sources
said. The IDF said the militants approached them but soldiers spotted them in
time, causing a burst of Israeli gunfire, causing the deaths. Ten more militants
were wounded, either by gunfire or tankshells.
IDF soldiers foiled a terror attack near the Gazan border. Two cars, filled
with 6 heavily armed Palestinian militants were driving to the fence with
automatic rifles, grenades, RPG's, suicide belts and TNT. IDF soldiers noticed
the cars came with high speed to the fence and fired at them. IAF planes also
fired at the vehicle. Palestinian reports say the vehicles made it into Israeli
territory, sparking a heavy gunbattle in which all 6 militants were killed.
Israeli reports said the vehicles did not make it into Israeli territory and
that the militants were killed inside Gazan territory. Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades
and Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility, claiming they had both 3
members involved.
An IDF soldier is lightly injured by mortars near the Gaza fence.[94]
[edit]
September 10
Two Qassamrockets are fired at the Zikim Army Base in Israel near the Gazan
Border. One of them lands safely in the Negev, but the other lands near
unfortified barracks at the base where Israeli recruits were sleeping.
Sixty-nine soldiers were wounded by the rocket, 60+ of them had only lightly-to
moderately shrapnel wounds, but four of them were injured seriously. One of the
four had to have his leg amputated and another one is still in critical
condition. Both Islamic Jihad and PRC claimed responsibility. Despite Hamas
wasn't responsible, they called the act a "Victory from God."[95][96]
In retaliation, Israeli choppers flew over the Strip, firing missiles at
militant bases, wounding four Islamic Jihad members.
[edit]
September 16
During an operation in the Nablus area, Israeli soldiers fired at two armed
members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, killing both of them.[97]
[edit]
September 18
In Hebron, two Palestinian families were fighting with each other, using
sticks and stones, but also firing bullets near the settlement, causing an IDF
patrol. In the patrol, a Palestinian family and the IDF clashed in a gunbattle,
leaving one Palestinian dead, Baha al-Ajlouni, 27.
IDF forces shot and killed Yusuf al-A'achi, a gunman from Hamas in the Nablus
area in the refugeecamp near Nablus.
Four Qassams rained down on Israeli Gaza border communities today. Nobody
claimed responsibility.[98]
In another clash in the refugeecamp, an IDF soldier Ben-Zion Haim Henman, 21,
was killed by an explosive device hurled towards him. His comrade was lightly
injured by shrapnel. The IDF forces were targeting a PFLP cell. One of the
members of the cell, Muhammad Halad, critically injuring him. He succumbed 15
minutes later to his wounds.[99]
[edit]
September 19
Israel declared the Gaza Strip as an enemy entity, declaring that it would
reduce its fuel and power supplies to the Hamas-run territory in response to
continued rocket fire from Palestinian militants. The announcement coincides
with a visit from United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. [100]
[edit]
September 26
Hours after militants launched more than twelve rockets and twenty mortar
shells at Sderot, missiles hit a jeep as it crossed a crowded intersection in
the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, killing at least five members of the Army
of Islam. The army said the jeep was carrying rockets ready for firing.
Palestinian security officials seized two homemade rockets, a possible sign
that the attack techniques of Gaza militants are spreading. The projectiles, not
yet fitted with explosives, were discovered in Bethlehem and handed over to the
Israeli army.[101]
In Beit Hanoun, a Popular Resistance Committees gunman fired at Israeli
troops. Troops fired back at his home, killing him and 3 other occupants who
were non-combatants, according to witnesses. An Israeli military spokeswoman
said she was checking the report.[102]
September 27 A Qassam launching cell was spotted in the area while Hamas militants were
preparing to fire another Qassamrocket. Soldiers opened fire and killed one of
them, the rest was able to flee. Military sources said they would keep the
pressure on the launching cells the coming days. [103]
October 2007
October 1 Two Palestinian gunmen, who were advancing to the Israeli Gaza border fence
overnight opened fire and threw a handgrenade at Israeli soldiers. The soldiers,
who were outnumbering the gunman heavily returned fire and killed both the
gunmen. Both the gunman belonged to the military wing of Hamas.[104]
October 3 In an operation in Southern Gaza, in Rafah, IDF aimed to destroy Hamas
infrastructure, two Palestinian gunman were injured critically by a missile. One
of them, Muhammad Hassan, succumbed later to his wounds and died. Both the
gunmen were member of the armed wing of Hamas.
In Khan Younis, a Palestinian, Said al-Amur, is killed by IDF gunfire who
were operating in the area. It is not known whether he was armed.
A Hamas member is killed while digging a tunnel under the Erez Crossing. The
tunnel collapsed while he was inside.
October 4 In the West Bank on Thursday night, Palestinians opened fire and hurled
Molotov cocktails on IDF troops patrolling the Balata refugee camp in Nablus. No
injuries were reported. In Hebron, an explosive device was also detonated next to a police car.
October 5 A Palestinian militant near the Israel-Gaza border fence fired at IDF troops
after they identified him, and IDF troops returned fire and killed him. A bomb
was thrown at the troops, but none were wounded in the exchange.[105][106]
October 7 After six weeks of being hospitalized in an Israeli hospital, a Palestinian
civilian of Jenin dies of his wounds inflicted by IDF fire. [107]
In a rocket barrage fired by Palestinian militants, eight mortar shells,
three Qassamrockets and one Katushya rocket landed inside Israeli territory. One
studio was completely burned down by a mortar shell in Kerem Shalom. The
Katushya rocket landed 400 meters from Netivot, 11 km away from the Gaza Strip. It was the
first rocket to hit the Netivot area. Last week ten Qassamrockets and 20 mortars
hit the Negev. Nobody was injured in the attacks.[108]
October 10 A member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades is killed in the old part of Nablus
by IDF troops operating in the area. Another member of AAMB was critically
injured. Amar al-Anabusi was shot to death and Sufian Kandil, a prominent group
member, was severely injured.[109][110]
October 11 Israeli Special Forces, operating in Jenin opened fire at a vehicle
conducting Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades members. IDF troops and Border Police killed
a senior Tanzim member in Jenin overnight Wednesday, the IDF said. The target
was identified as Mohammed Abu-Srur. Another militant was injured and arrested.
The target, who had been planning to carry out terror attacks in Israel in the
near future, aimed a pistol at the soldiers, who then shot and killed him.
However, Palestinian officials said the man killed was a Palestinian policeman
driving a wanted terror suspect. They said the Islamic Jihad operative he was
driving escaped unharmed despite efforts by undercover soldiers dressed in
civilian clothes.
October 13 Israeli aircraft fired at a group of militants busy launching Qassamrockets
near Beit Hanoun. The explosion killed one militant and injured three more. All
the militants belonged to Hamas.[111]
October 16 Two Palestinians were killed in a battle in the old quarter of Nablus a Al
Aqsa Martyrs Brigade stronghold. IDF forces, operating in the area and were
looking for wanted Palestinian militants. While detaining Palestinians, a small
firefight erupted leaving one Palestinian militant, a local commander dead and
two others wounded. A civilian was also killed as he ran out his house but was
lethally hit by a bullet. It is not sure whether the bullet was shot by an
Israeli or Palestinian. [112]
October 17 In a gunbattle in Khan Younis, a IDF soldier from the Golani forces is killed
by single bullet. Dragged away from the battle injured, he died in an ambulance
driving to the hospital in Beer Sheva. A Palestinian militant was killed by a
tank shell in the same battle. 4 other militants and 2 civilians were injured in
the battle. Hamas confirmed one of its fighters died, Hazam Asfor (20).[113]
October 19 An Islamic Jihad member and a fisherman are killed by the Israeli navy on
their vessel. The Islamic Jihad militant was known as Mizar Abu Arab.[114]
October 22 IDF undercover elite forces dressed in civilian clothes killed two
Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants in Jenin. The two were killed during an
arrest raid, when they were about to be arrested they grabbed their guns but
were killed in the firefight. An Israeli soldier was lightly injured by the two
militants. They were known as Tarek Abu Ali and Khaled Houssein.
More than fifteen Qassamrockets are fired into Israel on October 21 and 22,
according to the IDF.[115]
October 23 A PRC commander of Qassam launching cells is killed by an IAF airstrike in
the Strip. He was known as Mubarak al Hassanat and was an official in the
Hamas-led government in the Gaza Strip. He was the main target of the airstrike,
because of the large role of the PRC in the launching of mortars and Qassams on
Israel.[116] Following the death of al Hassanat, eleven Qassamrockets and eight mortars
hit the Negev.[117]
October 24 After a rocketbarrage on the Western Negev, with five Qassamrockets and
several mortars, IAF planes circled above the Gaza strip, looking for launching
cells. One of the planes found a launching cell and fired a missile at the five
militants. Two were killed and three injured. All were members of the
Palestinian Islamic Jihad. None of the rockets inflicted injuries, although a
house was burnt down and two people suffered from shock in Sderot.[118]
October 25 IDF soldiers spotted two Hamas gunman near the fence. The reserve soldiers
opened fire on them and killed both gunmen. Ten Qassamrockets are launched
causing no injuries nor damage.[119][120]
An Islamic Jihad operative is killed while trying to plant explosive devices
near the border fence. His comrade was nabbed and taken away for custody. It was
further reported that the two were identified at Mohamed al-Khourdi, 20, and
Mahmoud al-Abed, 24.[121]
October 26 Two armed gunman near the northern border are spotted by a unit of Golani
soldiers, who were operating inside the Gaza strip. In the following firefight
the gunman were killed, and two soldiers were lightly injured by the
Palestinians. After the attack, two Qassamrockets were fired into Israel,
causing neither damage nor injuries. In the Southern Strip, an Islamic Jihad gunman is taken under fire by a unit
of reserve soldiers. The gunman immediately died. A Hamas militant is killed by an IAF aerial attack. Another militant was
seriously injured by the attack. Hamas said the airstrike happened near Gaza
city.[122] Seven Qassamrockets are fired into Israel. One woman in Sderot suffers from
shock.[123]
October 28 An IDF soldier of the reserve unit is killed in battle. Ehud Efrati was
killed in the Gaza strip near the border fence in a fierce clash with
Palestinian gunman. It happened near the Sufa Crossing. The unit was surprised
by a Palestinian ambush. 2 other soldiers were injured. A Palestinian of the
Hamas branch was also killed. He was known as Mohammed Abu-Tahoon. IDF said they
shot another Palestinian, but did not know his condition. Near Beit Hanoun, Palestinians fired an anti tank rocket at Israeli soldiers,
seriously wounding a soldier. The militants were tracked by choppers and were
taken under fire by a missile. A Palestinian gunman and a civilian died. During
the operation, Palestinian gunman shelled a house were Israeli soldiers had
sought shelter, leaving several soldiers lightly injured. In the West Bank, a soldier was moderately injured by Palestinian
gunfire.[124][125]
October 30 After a barrage of mortar shells, the IAF shelled a policebuilding of Hamas
in the Abasan village. Four Hamas militants died in the attack. After four Qassams are fired into Israel, IDF soldiers entered the strip and
targeted a launching cell, but missed them. The missile slammed into a
residence, injuring six Palestinian civilians.
October 31 Mahmoud al Hajj is killed by IDF forces operating in the central Gaza Strip.
He was killed in a gunbattle near the border fence. Israeli forces often operate
near the border fence in the Strip, trying to prevent Palestinian attacks and
rocketattacks.
Eight mortars were fired into Israel. Some of them were fired from a
schoolyard. The IAF had them in sight, but could fire, an IDF statement
reported.[126][127]
November 2007
November 1 Two Hamas militants were spotted near the Northern Gazan border fence and
were killed by Israeli soldiers. An armed Palestinian was noticed near the Karni Crossing. Golani soldiers
rushed in the Gaza Strip and killed the militant. In an unprecedented rocket barrage, eight mortars and thirteen Qassamrockets
are fired at the Western Negev within an hour.[128][129]
November 3 An Israeli aircraft targets a Hamas policestation run by the Executive Force,
killing one Hamas militant. Two other were injured in the Southern Gaza aerial
attack.[130]
November 4 Three Qassams are fired into Israel causing a blackout. The Palestinian
Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility. Shortly after the firing, Israeli choppers and planes flew over the strip,
targeting a launching and fired several missiles at the cell. Three Palestinians
were killed in the attack, and several others wounded. Palestinian doctors said
all civilians, while Islamic Jihad said one of its members was killed and
another clinically dead. In a second strike, minutes later, IAF fired missiles at another launching
squad, according to the IDF. Two Palestinians died.[131][132]
November 15 Two Qassam launchers, two members of the Fatah affiliated Al Aqsa Martyrs
Brigade are killed by an IAF attack while launching Qassams.[133]
Novermber 20 An Israeli resident of the West Bank settlement of Shavei Shomron is killed by Palestinians while
driving in his car. Ivo Zoldan, 29, died in the ambulance. The militants were
able to flee the scene. A small offshoot of Fatah clamied responsibility.[134] Three Palestinian militants tried to enter Israel by sneaking over the fence
by night. They were spotted by Israeli forces, and two of them were killed. A
third was able to flee into Gaza. In the Southern Strip, two militants tried to plant explosives at the fence
but were noticed. Both were killed in the ensuing firefight by the IDF.
November 21 A rocket barrage of five Qassamrockets and eighteen mortars hit the Western
Negev, including several kibbutzim, Sderot and Ashekelon. A woman in Ashkelon
was treated for shock.[135][136]
November 24 Two brothers, both in their forties, are killed while acting suspicious near
the Israel-Gaza fence. Later, it becomes obvious that the two civilians were
killed while looking for scrap metal. They were hit by an artillery shell, meant
for Qassam rocket launchers.[137]
November 25 The IDF kills two Palestinian gunman in a clash in central Gaza near the
border. Some militants came together several hundred meters from the fence,
sparking an Israeli incursion in Gaza. A gunbattle followed, leaving two
militants dead. Both belonged to the PIJ faction.[137][138] A highly ranked commander of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades is killed after
Border Guard forces in the area tried to nab him. Another militant was wounded
in the attack. The IDF operation came after AAMB killed an Israeli settler last
week.[139]
November 26 A Hamas operative is killed as he and his cell were launching Qassams at
Sderot. Three Qassams landed inside Israeli territory, causing an IAF attack at
the launchers, killing one and injuring four more. Two Hamas militants are killed as they approach the border to plant explosive
devices. They were noticed before they could plant them.[140]
November 27 The IDF killed two Hamas militants overnight.[141] IAF helicopters and planes bombed a Hamas post in Southern Gaza, after the
militant group had fired at least 10 mortars into Israeli territory. A Hamas
militant, who was inside the building when the planes attacked was killed in the
blasts.[142][143]
November 28 Two Hamas militants are killed when the IAF fired a missile at two heavily
armed militants, who were talking with each other, not far from the border. Two more Hamas militants are killed when they were noticed while trying to
plant a bomb at the fence by IDF soldiers. In the ensuing firefight they were
killed. Both the incidents happened in the dark. [144]
December 2007
December 1 Five Hamas militants are killed in two separate airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.
After the strikes, Hamas threatened to strike deep into Israeli territory
and to fire longer-range missiles. A Palestinian gunman is killed, while crawling near the border. Three other
gunman were wounded.[145]
December 2 A mortar barrage hits a kibbutz, causing some damage.
December 3 A Hamas militant is slain after a battle with the Golani corps. The militant
crawled to the border, but was noticed by IDF forces. Three more Hamas fighters are killed while trying to launch mortars near Beit
Lahiya. They were killed by Armored Corps soldiers. Four IDF soldiers are hurt as a mortar explodes near their base, in Nahal
Oz.
December 4 Three Hamas militants are killed as their training base was attacked in Deir
el Balah by the IAF. The attack came after some mortars hit the Western Negev.
Hamas claimed to fire back at the planes with machine guns, perhaps causing some
damage. A Palestinian gunman is killed while trying to reach the Kissufim crossing,
as IDF forces noticed him. A Negev home is accidentally hit by an Israeli bullet, but no one was
injured. Later, IDF denied it had fired a bullet at Israeli territory. After
investigation it became clear that the bullet was fired from the Gaza Strip,
with a sniper rifle.[146]
December 5 Three Hamas militants are overnight killed while launching mortars at Sderot.
One of the mortars hit a residential building, causing a woman in shock and a
lot of damage.[147] A militant is killed by IDF fire. Israeli undercoverforces were operating in
Bethlehem and looking for wanted Palestinians. Milliant forces mistook them for
Hamas gunman and opened fire at the soldiers. The soldiers returned fire,
killing an officer and wounding another.[148]
December 6 A Palestinian farmer is accidentily killed by IDF fire. He was acting on his
fields near the border.
December 11 In a huge operation inside the Gaza Strip, the biggest since the Hamas
take-over in June, six Palestinians were killed and more than 60 detained. More
than 30 tanks and bulldozers entered the Southern Gaza Strip, backed by
helicopters and airplanes. Three militants of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad were
killed by an Israeli tankshell, while missiles killed two other gunman, it was
not immediately clear to what faction they belonged. Four Israeli soldiers were
injured by Palestinian gunman, who fired several RPG missiles at the Israeli
soldiers.[149]
December 12 The day after the operation, about 20 Qassams were lobbed into Israel,
causing three lightly injured Israeli civilians. Fifteen people were treated for
shock.
December 13 Two more Qassams are fired into Israel, causing a moderately injured woman in
Sderot. Palestinians fired at Israeli farmers and soldiers from the Gaza Strip,
causing no injuries. Hours after the strike, Israel retalliated with an airstrike in the Gaza
Strip, causing three deaths. IDF and Palestinian medics both confirmed all the
deaths were militants. Palestinian Islamic Jihad confirmed they lost three of
their men, but medics said the three belonged to the small Fatah offshoot which
fired two Qassamrockets into Israel hours earlier. Later it became clear, that a
top commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Sami Tafesh was killed, together
with two members of the launching rocket squad of the Al Aqsa Martyrs
Brigades.[150]
[December 16 Shrapnel from a rocket lightly to moderately wounds a 2-year-old boy. His
mother is treated for shock. The rocket scored a direct hit on a house in
Kibbutz Zikim.[151]
December 18 Three Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants are killed in two separate
airstrikes, some high ranked commanders were among the killed. In the first
attack, the target was top commander, and the chief for firing Qassam rockets in
the Strip, Majed al Harazin. He and two other PIJ militants were driving in a
vehicle, loaded with Qassam and mortars. All men inside the car died. According
to a spokesman of the PIJ, Harazin was the chief of the PIJ Qassam squads and
hadn't traveled for years because he feared an assassination. He was wanted for
nine years. The spokesman said his death would be revenged with suicide attacks
and more rockets.
The second airstrike was aimed at a cell of PIJ militants who were trying to
fire Qassam rockets into Israeli territory, to retaliate the death of their
comrades. Two people died, and a second was seriously wounded. Later it became
clear that one of the death was a top Qassam fabricater and commander, known as
Karim Dahdouh.
Despite the air attacks, militants of all groups were able to fire at least
fifteen Qassamrockets and mortars, causing only some damage.
In order to halt the rocket firing, IDF forces entered the strip looking for
launching cells, but met fierce restistance from gunman in Jabalya. In the camp,
four militants of the PIJ were killed in a fierce battle.
Another highly ranked commander from the PIJ was killed in the West Bank,
Katabya. Tarik Abu al Ra-ali was killed when IDF soldiers noticed him. He was
wanted for over five years.
In an airstrike at a Hamas post in Southern Gaza, two Hamas militants were
killed.[152][153] A mortar shell lands near an IDF base north of the Gaza Strip overnight
Tuesday, and six female soldiers are reported to have suffered from shock. One
of the soldiers fainted.[154][155] A commando operation in the West Bank leaves an Islamic Jihad gunman
dead.[156] Palestinians hurl rocks at the car of a civilian driver on route 443, which
runs from Jerusalem to Modi'in.
The man was driving a minibus used for the transport of handicapped children,
and was treated for light injuries. IDF forces fire and identify hitting Sami salid Rashid Zayud, an Islamic
Jihad militant who planned a mass terror attack on a residential building in
central Israel five years ago. He was taken to hospital for medical
treatment. A Palestinian, 17, tried to stab one of the Israel Defense Forces soldiers
stationed at the Hawara checkpoint in the West Bank.[157]
December 20 Five Qassam rockets struck Israel at open areas near Sderot and Ashkelon. One
of the rockets landed in a schoolyard in Sderot, where twelve pupils had to be
treated for shock. The Code Red alert was alarmed and children ran to shelter to
protect them from shrapnel. After the barrage, Israeli forces entered the Central Gaza Strip in search
for rocket launchers, killing six Palestinians. Palestinian gunmen launched
mortar shells at troops and fired at Israeli aircraft with machine guns as
Israeli snipers took up positions on the roofs of homes in the area. 3 militants
were from Islamic Jihad, two from Hamas, and one from the Popular Resistance
Committees. Twenty Palestinians were wounded, as well as a cameraman from
Reuters. A Palestinian anti-tank rocket severely injures an Israeli soldier. At
least three other soldiers are lightly wounded.[158][159][160][161][162][163]
December 25 Two Hamas militants are killed in their vehicle as Israeli airplanes dropped
a missile at their car. Four men were in the car, and two survived. It happened
near the al Bureijj refugeecamp.[164]
December 27 At around 1:00 PM, Israeli forces entered the Southern Gaza Strip, looking
for Qassamlaunchers and infrastructure. This action took notice of several Hamas
and Islami Jihad militants, who rushed to the scene, but were sensed by Israeli
drones. Three of them were killed in a pretty fierce battle, in which several
anti tank missiles and anti aircraft missiles were fired at Israeli forces, and
Palestinian militants were shelled by Israeli artillery. Four Palestinian
militants were wounded. All the dead belonged to the armed wing of Hamas. IAF planes fired a missile at a car fully loaded with rifles, rockets and
other weaponry. At the moment of the strike, three persons were in the car, only
one was killed. Two others were also hurt. The persons and weapons belonged to
the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, meant to be used to fire rockets at Israel and
hurting Israeli soldiers, the group said. Later another PIJ succumbed to his
wounds.[165] Another topranked commander from the PIJ is killed in a missile strike.
Muhammad Abu Abdullah was killed while driving in his car with other PIJ
militants. He was the PIJ leader of Central Gaza and was killed, together with
two of his comrades. Several other Palestinians were wounded in the attack.[166] A bodyguard of Ahmed Qurei, a top-ranked Palestinian politician, was killed
by IDF forces south of Ramallah. The bodyguard, Muatassem a-Sharif was a close
bodyguard of the IDF. the IDF reported that a-Sharif was also a weapons
smuggler. A-Sharif was killed, according to eyewitnesses, when IDF forces in the
area were looking for him for an arrest and tried to enter his house. At that
moment a-Sharif opened fire at soldiers, but was killed in returning fire.[167]
December 28 Two armed Israelis and one Palestinian gunmen die from a firefight near
Hebron. David Ruben and Ahikam Amihai were off-duty from the army but armed, and
were hiking with two other Israelis. They were attacked by four Palestinian
Islamic Jihad gunman. A firefight followed in which both armed Israelis received
mortal wounds, one of the Palestinians was killed and another wounded. After the
firefight, the two were still alive and the other hikers managed to hide them,
but both died later. After the attack, the IDF unsuccessfully searched the area
for the gunman.[168][169][170]
January 2008
January 2 Six Palestinians belonging to three terrorist factions were killed Wednesday
morning in a joint Israeli air and ground action in the Gaza Strip near Gaza
City. Five Palestinians, four from Hamas and one belonging to the Popular
Resistance Committees, died when Israeli ground forces called in air support
after the Palestinians fired anti-tank rockets at the soldiers. The sixth, a
member of Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, died in a gun battle with Israeli
troops.[171][172]
January 3 Palestinian militants fire a long-range GRAD Katyusha rocket at northern
Ashkelon, the longest reach of a Palestinian rocket (16.5 km). Israel sends aircraft and tanks to hit buildings used by extremists. Most
were in Khan Yunis. In one
clash, the IDF shelled a house in the city, killing an Islamic Jihad militant
along with his mother, sister, and daughter. His brother was also killed and
possibly affilitated with IJ. Israeli army spokeswoman Capt. Noa Meir said
militants were intentionally using civilian areas to fire at troops and blamed
them for the deaths. Nine Palestinians are killed, four of them civilians. The Palestinians responded to Israel's strikes with a barrage of Qassam
rockets, one of which hit the yard of a house in Sderot.[173] In Nablus, Israel Defense Forces troops discovered two rockets-in-process, in
an arms cache belonging to Hamas.[174][175]
January 4 Infantrymen near the Gaza-Israel border clashed with Hamas gunmen after
spotting them approach the border, and killed two of them in separate
incidents. Eight mortar shells were fired by Palestinians at southern Israel. Palestinians operating from Gaza launched six Qassam rockets at the western
Negev on Friday, one of which struck the yard of a home in the town of Sderot,
causing damage. One boy was lightly injured and evacuated to a hospital. Several
residents suffered from shock. Meanwhile, a Qassam rocket hit a western Negev open field Friday morning. No
damage or injuries were reported. [176][177]
January 17 In response to numerous attacks by Qassam rockets, Israel shut down all Gaza
Strip border crossings.[178]
January 20 The full blockade suspended deliveries of supplies, causing power outage due
to lack of fuel for generators. [179] Gaza resident
reported shortages of important materials. Israeli officials stated that the
closures were only in response to ongoing attacks, and that closures could cease
if the attacks were stopped. [178] [180]
February 2008
February 10
Some ministers in the Israeli cabinet called for the annihilation of some
neighborhoods in Gaza in retaliation for the Qassam rockets.
February 17
The Israeli Defense Forces claim to have taken about 80 Palestinians to
Israel for questioning following a ground incursion in the Gaza Strip. Four
Palestinians, including at least three militants, were killed in the operation
and an Israeli soldier was severely injured. Palestinian health officials
claimed an additional 20 Palestinian civilians were wounded in the attack.[181]
February 27
An Israeli air strike targeting a van killed five Hamas members suspected of
plotting an attack against Israel.[182] In
response, about fifty qassam rockets were launched towards the Negev, one of which struck a parking lot near Sapir
Academic College, killing a 47-year-old student there. Four long-range
rockets struck Ashkelon, causing few
wounded. The IAF
retaliated with more airstrikes in Jabalia camp and the northern part of Gaza Strip. About seven killed in
the attacks, most of whom were militants, however a six-month-old baby was also
killed after a missile struck a house in the camp.[183]
February 28
Israeli forces killed eleven Palestinians in a series of airstrikes. At least
ten civilians were killed, including four boys playing football on a waste
ground. Militants launch a qassam rocket in retaliation, which injures one
Israeli civilian.[184]
March 2008
- See also: Operation Warm Winter.
March 1 Most intense fighting between the IDF and Palestinian militants occur since
Israel withdrew from the strip in 2005. The fighting mostly took place in Jabalia camp. According to Palestinian
medical sources, at least 52 Palestinians were killed, of which 16 were
militants, while the remainder being civilians including several children. The
Washington Post Reported that 60 persons were killed, at least half were
militants and rest civilians including children[185] Two IDF
soldiers were killed in the incursion and seven were lightly injured as
well.[186] Hamas retaliates by firing over 50 Qassam rockets into southern Israel,
wounding seven. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas referred to Israel's attacks as
"more than a holocaust" while Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal descrbed
Israel's actions as the "real holocaust". Israeli
Defense Minister Ehud
Barak regrets civilian casualties but vows a serious response to Gaza rocket
fire, saying "We are not happy about civilians being hurt in Gaza... Hamas and
those who fire rockets at Israel are responsible and they will pay the
price."[186]
March 3
The two sides agreed under pressure from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to
resume the U.S.-backed talks on Wednesday after the Palestinians suspended them
in protest of an Israeli offensive in Gaza that killed more than 125 people
including 1 month old infant girl named "Amira Abu
Asr".[187][185]. Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
signalled willingness to stop attacks after the five-day offensive, which killed
many civilians in the territory, if the Islamist group Hamas stopped firing rockets into Israel. Hamas says attacks from Gaza, including rockets fired by its own militants and
others, are a response to Israeli military operations in both Gaza[188] and the occupied West Bank and would end if Israel
stopped all such activity and lifted its blockade.
November 2008
November 4 Israel breaches ceasefire by military raid into Gaza, in order to destroy a
tunnel going towards its border, killing one Palestinian. Later air strike
killed 5 more. In retaliation, 35 Qassam rockets were launched, one hitting
Ashkelon. The Israeli military said the purpose of the tunnel was to kidnap
additional Israeli soldiers and hold them as hostages.[189]
December 2008 Hamas and Israel both fail to agree on a renewal of the six-month ceasefire,
with Hamas citing the November attacks and Israel's failure to lift the blockade
as stipulated in the truce agreement, and Israel citing Hamas' rocket fire.
Emblem of "Gladio", Italian branch of the NATO "stay-behind" paramilitary organizations. The motto means "By being silent I preserve freedom".
Emblem of NATO's "stay-behind" paramilitary organizations.
Cyprus
The Turkish branch of Gladio Counter-Guerrilla formed the TMT Turkish Resistance Organisation in Cyprus in 1958 and manned it with turkish officers. The 1960 constitution of the republic of Cyprus only had provision for a very small professional army of a few hundred men from both Cypriot communities. Following the 1963-64 clashes that led to the collapse of the power sharing between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, the National Guard was created as a conscription Greek cypriot army. The officers for the National Guard where almost exclusively Greek nationals, officers of the Greek Army. LOK units were created in Cyprus modelled on the Greek LOK units, though Cyprus never joined NATO and was at the time a member of the Non-Aligned Movement. Reporter Makarios Drousiotis[82] has written about Greek officer Dimitris Papapostolou, commander of LOK in Cyprus at the time, conspiring with ex-interior minister Polykarpos Yorkatzis to kill elected presidentMakarios by attacking his helicopter, and after the failure of that attempt, being involved in the assassination of Yorkatzis. The 15 July 1974 coup d'etat against Makarios was executed by National Guard units, with the attack on the presidential palace perpetrated by 31 and 32 Moira Katadromon LOK units with the help of 21 Epilarhia Anagnoriseos tanks reconnaissance unit.[83]
Operation Gladio (Italian: Operazione Gladio) is the codename for a clandestine NATO "stay-behind" operation in Europe after World War II. Its purpose was to continue anti-communist actions in the event of a Soviet invasion and conquest. Although Gladio specifically refers to the Italian branch of the NATO stay-behind organizations, "Operation Gladio" is used as an informal name for all stay-behind organizations, sometimes called "Super NATO". The name Gladio is the Italian form of gladius, a type of Roman shortsword.[1]
Operating in many NATO and even some neutral countries,[2] Gladio was part of a series of national operations first coordinated by the Clandestine Committee of the Western Union (CCWU), founded in 1948. After the creation of NATO in 1949, the CCWU was integrated into the Clandestine Planning Committee (CPC), founded in 1951 and overseen by SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers, Europe), transferred to Belgium after France’s official withdrawal from NATO's Military Committee in 1966 — which was not followed by the dissolution of the French stay-behind paramilitary movements.
The role of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in sponsoring Gladio and the extent of its activities during the Cold War era, and its relationship to right-wing terrorist attacks perpetrated in Italy during the "Years of Lead" (late 1960s to early 1980s) and other similar clandestine operations is the subject of ongoing debate and investigation. Italy, Switzerland and Belgium have had parliamentary inquiries into the matter.[3]
The origin of Gladio can be traced to the so-called "secret anti-Communist NATO protocols", which were allegedly protocols committing the secret services of NATO member states to work to prevent communist parties from coming to power in Western Europe. According to the Italian researcher Mario Coglitore, the protocols required member states to guarantee alignment with the Western block "by any means".[citation needed] According to US journalist Arthur Rowse, a secret clause exists in the North Atlantic Treaty requiring candidate countries, before joining NATO, to establish clandestine citizen cadres standing ready to eliminate communist cells during any national emergency. These clandestine cadres were to be controlled by the country's respective security services.[4]
[edit]General stay-behind structure
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Cossiga
Francesco Cossiga
Francesco Cossiga (26 July 1928 – 17 August 2010)[1] was an Italian politician, the 43rd Prime Minister and the eighth President of the Italian Republic. He was also a professor of constitutional law at the University of Sassari.
Cossiga was born in Sassari in the north of Sardinia.[1] He started his political career during World War II. His name is now usually pronounced Italian pronunciation: [kosˈsiːɡa], but it was originally pronounced Italian pronunciation: [ˈkɔssiɡa], with the stress on the first syllable, meaning "Corsica".[2] He was the cousin of Enrico Berlinguer.[3]
After World War II, the UK and the US decided to create "stay-behind" paramilitary organizations, with the official aim of countering a possible Soviet invasion through sabotage and guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines. Arms caches were hidden, escape routes prepared, and loyal members recruited: i.e., mainly hardline anticommunists, including many ex-Nazis or former fascists, whether in Italy or in other European countries. In Germany, for example, Gladio had as a central focus the Gehlen Org — also involved in ODESSA "ratlines" — named after Reinhard Gehlen who would become West Germany's first head of intelligence, while the predominantly Italian P2 Masonic lodge was composed of many members of the neofascist Italian Social Movement (MSI), including Licio Gelli. Its clandestine "cells" were to stay behind (hence the name) in enemy controlled territory and to act as resistance movements, conducting sabotage, guerrilla warfare and assassinations.
However, Italian Gladio was more far reaching. "A briefing minute of June 1, 1959, reveals Gladio was built around 'internal subversion'. It was to play 'a determining role... not only on the general policy level of warfare, but also in the politics of emergency'. In the 1970s, with communist electoral support growing and other leftists looking menacing, the establishment turned to the 'Strategy of Tension' ... with Gladio eager to be involved."[5]
CIA director Allen Dulles was one of the key people in instituting Operation Gladio, and most of Gladio’s operations were financed by the CIA.[citation needed] The anti-communist networks, which were present in all of Europe, including in neutral countries like Sweden and Switzerland, were partly funded by the CIA.[6] Some went as far as claiming that Christian Democrat (Democrazia Cristiana) leader Aldo Moro had been the "founder of (Italian) Gladio".[7] However, whether these allegations are correct or not, his murder in 1978 put an end to the “historic compromise” (sharing of power) attempt between the Italian Communist Party (PCI) and the Christian Democrats (DC), thus accomplishing one of the alleged objectives of the strategy of tension.
Operating in all of NATO and even in some neutral countries such as Spain before its 1982 admission to NATO, Gladio was first coordinated by the Clandestine Committee of the Western Union (CCWU), founded in 1948. After the creation of NATO in 1949, the CCWU was integrated into the "Clandestine Planning Committee" (CPC), founded in 1951 and overseen by the SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe), transferred to Belgium after France’s official retreat from NATO — which was not followed by the dissolution of the French stay-behind paramilitary movements.
Daniele Ganser alleges that:[4]
Next to the CPC, a second secret army command center, labeled Allied Clandestine Committee (ACC), was set up in 1957 on the orders of NATO's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe (SACEUR). This military structure provided for significant US leverage over the secret stay-behind networks in Western Europe as the SACEUR, throughout NATO's history, has traditionally been a US General who reports to the Pentagon in Washington and is based in NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium. The ACC's duties included elaborating on the directives of the network, developing its clandestine capability, and organizing bases in Britain and the United States. In wartime, it was to plan stay-behind operations in conjunction with SHAPE. According to former CIA director William Colby, it was 'a major program'.
Coordinated by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), {the secret armies} were run by the European military secret services in close cooperation with the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the British foreign secret service Secret Intelligence Service (SIS, also MI6). Trained together with US Green Berets and BritishSpecial Air Service (SAS), these clandestine NATO soldiers, armed with underground arms-caches, prepared against a potential Soviet invasion and occupation of Western Europe, as well as the coming to power of communist parties. The clandestine international network covered the European NATO membership, including Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Turkey, as well as the neutral European countries of Austria, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland.
The Central Intelligence Agency's response to the series of accusations made by Mr. Ganser in his book regarding the CIA's involvement in Operation Gladio, deals with the fact that neither Ganser nor anyone else have solid evidence supporting their accusations. At one point in his book, Mr. Ganser even talks about the CIA's covert action policies as being "terrorist in nature" and then accuses the CIA of using their "networks for political terrorism". After being attacked by Ganser, the CIA has responded to these unfounded attacks by demonstrating that Daniele Ganser's sourcing is "largely secondary" and that Ganser himself has complained about "not being able to find any official sources to support his charges of the CIA’s or any Western European government’s involvement with Gladio".[8]
The existence of these clandestine NATO armies remained a closely guarded secret throughout the Cold War until 1990, when the first branch of the international network was discovered in Italy. It was code-named Gladio, the Italian word for a short double-edged sword [gladius]. While the press said that the NATO secret armies were 'the best-kept, and most damaging, political-military secret since World War II', the Italian government, amidst sharp public criticism, promised to close down the secret army. Italy insisted identical clandestine armies had also existed in all other countries of Western Europe. This allegation proved correct and subsequent research found that in Belgium, the secret NATO army was code-named SDRA8, in Denmark Absalon, in Germany TD BJD, in Greece LOK, in Luxemburg Stay-Behind, in the Netherlands I&O, in Norway ROC, in Portugal Aginter, in Switzerland P26, in Turkey Ozel Harp Dairesi, In Sweden AGAG (Aktions Gruppen Arla Gryning), and in Austria OWSGV. However, the code names of the secret armies in France, Finland and Spain remain unknown.
Upon learning of the discovery, the parliament of the European Union (EU) drafted a resolution sharply criticizing the fact (...) Yet only Italy, Belgium and Switzerland carried out parliamentary investigations, while the administration of President George H. W. Bush refused to comment, being in the midst of preparations for war against Saddam Hussein in the Persian Gulf, and fearing potential damages to the military alliance.
If Gladio was effectively "the best-kept, and most damaging, political-military secret since World War II",[9] it must be underlined, however, that on several occasions, arms caches were discovered and stay-behind paramilitary organizations officially dissolved – only to be created again. But it was not until the 1990s that the full international scope of the program was disclosed to public knowledge. Giulio Andreotti, the main character of Italy’s post-World War II political life, was described by Aldo Moro to his captors as "too close to NATO", Moro thus advising them to be wary. Indeed, before Andreotti’s 1990 acknowledgement of Gladio’s existence, he had "unequivocally" denied it in 1974, and then in 1978 to judges investigating the 1969 Piazza Fontana bombing. And even in 1990, "Testimonies collected by the two men (judges Felice Casson and Carlo Mastelloni investigating the 1972 Peteano fascist car bomb) and by the Commission on Terrorism on Rome, and inquiries by The Guardian, indicate that Gladio was involved in activities which do not square with Andreotti's account. Links between Gladio, Italian secret services bosses and the notorious P2 Masonic lodge are manifold (...) In the year that Andreotti denied Gladio’s existence, the P2 treasurer, General Siro Rosetti, gave a generous account of 'a secret security structure made up of civilians, parallel to the armed forces' There are also overlaps between senior Gladio personnel and the committee of military men, Rosa dei Venti (Wind Rose), which tried to stage a coup in 1970.”[5]
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/European_Parliament_resolution_on_Gladio
European Parliament resolution on Gladio
European Parliament resolution concerning Gladio
On November 22, 1990, the European Parliament passed a resolution on Operation Gladio
Joint resolution replacing B3-2021, 2058, 2068, 2078 and 2087/90
A. having regard to the revelation by several European governments of the existence for 40 years of a clandestine parallel intelligence and armed operations organization in several Member States of the Community,
B. whereas for over 40 years this organization has escaped all democratic controls and has been run by the secret services of the states concerned in collaboration with NATO,
C. fearing the danger that such clandestine network may have interfered illegally in the internal political affairs of Member States or may still do so,
D. whereas in certain Member States military secret services (or uncontrolled branches thereof) were involved in serious cases of terrorism and crime as evidenced by, various judicial inquiries,
E. whereas these organizations operated and continue to operate completely outside the law since they are not subject to any parliamentary control and frequently those holding the highest government and constitutional posts are kept in the dark as to these matters,
F. whereas the various 'Gladio' organizations have at their disposal independent arsenals and military ressources which give them an unknown strike potential, thereby jeopardizing the democratic structures of the countries in which they are operating or have been operating,
G. greatly concerned at the existence of decision-making and operational bodies which are not subject to any form of democratic control and are of a completely clandestine nature at a time when greater Community cooperation in the field of security is a constant subject of discussion,
1. Condemns the clandestine creation of manipulative and operational networks and Calls for a full investigation into the nature, structure, aims and all other aspects of these clandestine organizations or any splinter groups, their use for illegal interference in the internal political affairs of the countries concerned, the problem of terrorism in Europe and the possible collusion of the secret services of Member States or third countries;
2. Protests vigorously at the assumption by certain US military personnel at SHAPE and in NATO of the right to encourage the establishment in Europe of a clandestine intelligence and operation network;
3. Calls on the governments of the Member States to dismantle all clandestine military and paramilitary networks;
4. Calls on the judiciaries of the countries in which the presence of such military organizations has been ascertained to elucidate fully their composition and modus operandi and to clarify any action they may have taken to destabilize the democratic structure of the Member States;
5. Requests all the Member States to take the necessary measures, if necessary by establishing parliamentary committees of inquiry, to draw up a complete list of organizations active in this field, and at the same time to monitor their links with the respective state intelligence services and their links, if any, with terrorist action groups and/or other illegal practices;
6. Calls on the Council of Ministers to provide full information on the activities of these secret intelligence and operational services;
7. Calls on its competent committee to consider holding a hearing in order to clarify the role and impact of the 'Gladio' organization and any similar bodies;
8. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Secretary-General of NATO, the governments of the Member States and the United States Government."
European Parliament resolution concerning Gladio
On November 22, 1990, the European Parliament passed a resolution condemning Gladio, requesting full investigations – which have yet to be done – and total dismantlement of these paramilitary structures. In 2005, the first academic examination of Gladio was published by Swiss historian Daniele Ganser. Mr. Ganser, as of 2010, is a Senior Researcher at the Center for Security Studies at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland. His book, NATO's Secret Armies: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe, is a documented study of how Gladio operated.
British journalist Philip Willan, who, by 2010, was writing for the UK Guardian and Observer newspapers, described in the book, Puppetmasters: The Political Use of Terrorism in Italy, how the US intelligence services used their relationship with the P2 Masonic lodge to prop up Christian Democrat governments, undermining the growing political influence of the Italian Communist Party.
The 1990 European resolution condemned "the existence for 40 years of a clandestine parallel intelligence" as well as "armed operations organization in several Member States of the Community", which "escaped all democratic controls and has been run by the secret services of the states concerned in collaboration with NATO." Denouncing the "danger that such clandestine network may have interfered illegally in the internal political affairs of Member States or may still do so," especially before the fact that "in certain Member States military secret services (or uncontrolled branches thereof) were involved in serious cases of terrorism and crime," the Parliament demanded a "a full investigation into the nature, structure, aims and all other aspects of these clandestine organizations or any splinter groups, their use for illegal interference in the internal political affairs of the countries concerned, the problem of terrorism in Europe and the possible collusion of the secret services of Member States or third countries." Furthermore, the resolution protested "vigorously at the assumption by certain US military personnel at SHAPE and in NATO of the right to encourage the establishment in Europe of a clandestine intelligence and operation network," asking "the Member States to dismantle all clandestine military and paramilitary networks" and to "draw up a complete list of organizations active in this field, and at the same time to monitor their links with the respective state intelligence services and their links, if any, with terrorist action groups and/or other illegal practices." Finally, the Parliament called "on its competent committee to consider holding a hearing in order to clarify the role and impact of the 'Gladio' organization and any similar bodies," and instructed "its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Secretary-General of NATO, the governments of the Member States and the United States Government."
The first academic examination of Gladio was published in 2005 by Swiss historian Daniele Ganser. Mr. Ganser is currently a Senior Researcher at the Center for Security Studies at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland. His book, NATO's Secret Armies: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe, Gladio has been accused of trying to influence policies through the means of "false flag" operations: a 2000 Italian Parliamentary Commission report from the Olive Tree left-wing coalition concluded that the strategy of tension used by Gladio had been supported by the United States to "stop the PCI (Italian Communist Party), and to a certain degree also the PSI (Italian Socialist Party), from reaching executive power in the country".[10][11][12]
Propaganda Due (also known as P2), a quasi-freemasonic organization, whose existence was discovered in 1981, was said closely linked to Gladio[citation needed].
P2 was outlawed and disbanded in 1981, in the wake of the Banco Ambrosiano scandal, which was linked to the Mafia and to the Vatican Bank. Its Grand Master, Licio Gelli, was involved in most of Italy’s scandals in the last three decades of the 20th century: Banco Ambrosiano’s crash; Tangentopoli, which gave rise to the Mani pulite ("Clean hands") anticorruption operation in the 1990s; the kidnapping and the murder of Aldo Moro in 1978 – the head of the secret services at the time, accused of negligence, was a piduista (P2 member). Licio Gelli has often said he was a friend of Argentine President Juan Perón. In any case, some important figures of his circle were discovered to be piduista, such as José López Rega, founder of the infamous anticommunist organization Triple A and provisional president Raúl Alberto Lastiri. Some members of later Jorge Videla’s dictatorship were part of the P2 as well, such as Admiral Emilio Massera and General Guillermo Suárez Mason. The Vatican Bank was also accused of funneling covert US funds for the Solidarnosc trade union movement in Poland and the Contras in Nicaragua.[13]
Furthermore, Gladio has been linked to other events, such as Operation Condor[14][improper synthesis?] and the 1969 killing of anticolonialist/independentist Mozambican leader Eduardo Mondlane by Aginter Press, the Portuguese "stay-behind" secret army, headed by Yves Guérin-Sérac - the allegation on Mondlane's death is disputed, with several sources stating thatFRELIMO guerrilla leader Eduardo Mondlane was killed in a struggle for power within FRELIMO. In 1995, Attorney General Giovanni Salvi accused the Italian secret services of having manipulated proofs of the Chilean secret police’s (DINA) involvement in the 1975 terrorist attack on former Chilean Vice-President Bernardo Leighton in Rome. A similar mode of operation can also be recognized in various Cold War events, for example between the June 20, 1973 Ezeiza massacre in Buenos Aires (Argentina), the 1976 Montejurra massacre in Spain and the 1977 Taksim Square massacre in Istanbul (Turkey).
After Giulio Andreotti's revelations and the disestablishment of Gladio, the last meeting of the "Allied Clandestine Committee" (ACC), was held according to the Italian Prime minister on October 23 and 24, 1990. Despite this, various events have raised concerns about "stay-behind" armies still being in place. In 1996, the Belgian newspaper Le Soir revealed the existence of a racist plan operated by the military intelligence agencies. In 1999, Switzerland was suspected of again creating a clandestine paramilitary structure, allegedly to replace the former P26 and P27 (the Swiss branches of Gladio). Furthermore, in 2005, the Italian press revealed the existence of the Department of Anti-terrorism Strategic Studies (DSSA), accused of being "another Gladio".
[edit]Gladio's strategy of tension and internal subversion operations
Further information: Strategy of tension
NATO's "stay-behind" organizations were never called upon to resist a Soviet invasion, but their structures continued to exist after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Internal subversion and "false flag" operations were explicitly considered by the CIA and stay-behind paramilitaries. According to a November 13, 1990 Reuters cable,[15] "André Moyen – a former member of the Belgian military security service and of the [stay-behind] network – said Gladio was not just anti-Communist but was for fighting subversion in general. He added that his predecessor had given Gladio 142 million francs ($4.6 millions) to buy new radio equipment."[16] Ganser alleges that on various occasions, stay-behind movements became linked toright-wing terrorism, crime and attempted coups d'état:[4]
"Prudent Precaution or Source of Terror?" the international press pointedly asked when the secret stay-behind armies of NATO were discovered across Western Europe in late 1990. After more than ten years of research, the answer is now clear: both. The overview aboves shows that based on the experiences of World War II, all countries of Western Europe, with the support of NATO, the CIA, and MI6, had set up stay-behind armies as precaution against a potential Soviet invasion. While the safety networks and the integrity of the majority of the secret soldiers should not be criticized in hindsight after the collapse of the Soviet Union, very disturbing questions do arise with respect to reported links to terrorism.
There exist large differences among the European countries, and each case must be analyzed individually in further detail. As of now, the evidence suggests the secret armies in the seven countries, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Austria, and the Netherlands, focused exclusively on their stay-behind function and were not linked to terrorism. However, links to terrorism have been either confirmed or claimed in the nine countries, Italy, Ireland,[citation needed] Turkey, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and Sweden, demanding further investigation.
According to Daniele Ganser, only Italy, Belgium and Switzerland carried on parliamentary investigations, while the prosecution of various "black terrorists" (terrorismo nero, neofascist terrorism) in Italy was difficult.
A 1990 article from The Guardian featured the following quote from judge Libero Mancuso:[17]
On the eve of the 1980 Bologna bombing anniversary, Liberato [sic] Mancuso, the Bologna judge who had led the investigation and secured the initial convictions [of the Bologna bombers] broke six months of silence: "It is now understood among those engaged in the matter of democratic rights that we are isolated, and the objects of a campaign of aggression. This is what has happened to the commission into the P2, and to the magistrates. The personal risks to us are small in comparison to this offensive of denigration, which attempts to discredit the quest for truth. In Italy there has functioned for some years now a sort of conditioning, a control of our national sovereignty by the P2 – which was literally the master of the secret services, the army and our most delicate organs of state."
Examples of such alleged terrorist acts include the strategy of tension in Italy, or the Oktoberfest bomb blast of 1980 in Munich.[citation needed] A Gladio official said that "depending on the cases, we would block or encourage far-left or far-right terrorism".[18][19]
[edit]Gladio operations in NATO countries
[edit]First discovered in Italy
Main article: Gladio in Italy
The Italian NATO stay-behind organization, dubbed "Gladio", was set up under Minister of Defense (from 1953 to 1958) Paolo Taviani's (DC) supervision.[20] However, Gladio's existence came to public knowledge when Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti revealed it to the Chamber of Deputies on October 24, 1990, although far-right terrorist Vincenzo Vinciguerra had already revealed its existence during his 1984 trial. According to media analyst Edward S. Herman, "both the President of Italy, Francesco Cossiga, and Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, had been involved in the Gladio organization and coverup..."[21][verification needed]
[edit]Giulio Andreotti's October 24, 1990 revelations
Christian Democrat Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti publicly recognized the existence of Gladio on October 24, 1990. Andreotti spoke of a "structure of information, response and safeguard", with arms caches and reserve officers. He gave to the Commissione Stragi, the parliamentary commission led by senator Giovanni Pellegrino in charge of investigations on bombings committed during the Years Of Lead in Italy, a list of 622 civilians who according to him were part of Gladio. Andreotti also assured that 127 weapons' cache had been dismantled, and pretended that Gladio had not been involved in any of the bombings committed from the 1960s to the 1980s (further evidence implicated neofascists linked to Gladio, in particular concerning the 1969 Piazza Fontana bombing, the 1972 Peteano attack by Vincenzo Vinciguerra, the 1980 Bologna massacre in which SISMI officers were condemned for investigation diversion, along with Licio Gelli, head of the P2 Masonic lodge, etc.). Andreotti declared that the Italian military services (predecessors of the SISMI) had joined in 1964 the Allied Clandestine Committee created in 1957 by the US, France, Belgium and Greece, and which was in charge of directing Gladio's operations.[22] However, Gladio was actually set up under Minister of Defense (from 1953 to 1958) Paolo Taviani's supervision.[20] Beside, the list of Gladio members given by Andreotti was incomplete. It didn't include, for example, Antonio Arconte, who described an organization very different from the one brushed by Giulio Andreotti: an organization closely tied to the SID secret service and the Atlantist strategy.[23][24]According to Andreotti, the stay-behind organisations set up in all of Europe did not come "under broad NATO supervision until 1959."[25]
[edit]2000 Parliamentary report: a "strategy of tension"
In 2000, a Parliament Commission report from the "Gruppo Democratici di Sinistra l'Ulivo" concluded that the strategy of tension had been supported by the United States to "stop the PCI, and to a certain degree also the PSI, from reaching executive power in the country". A 2000 Senate report, stated that "Those massacres, those bombs, those military actions had been organized or promoted or supported by men inside Italian state institutions and, as has been discovered more recently, by men linked to the structures of United States intelligence." According to The Guardian, "The report [claimed] that US intelligence agents were informed in advance about several rightwing terrorist bombings, including the December 1969 Piazza Fontana bombing in Milan and the Piazza della Loggia bombing in Brescia five years later, but did nothing to alert the Italian authorities or to prevent the attacks from taking place. It also [alleged] that Pino Rauti [current leader of the MSI Fiamma-Tricolore party], a journalist and founder of the far-right Ordine Nuovo (new order) subversive organisation, received regular funding from a press officer at the US embassy in Rome. 'So even before the 'stabilising' plans that Atlantic circles had prepared for Italy became operational through the bombings, one of the leading members of the subversive right was literally in the pay of the American embassy in Rome,' the report says."[26]
[edit]General Maletti's testimony concerning alleged CIA involvement
General Gianadelio Maletti, commander of the counter-intelligence section of the Italian military intelligence service from 1971 to 1975, alleged in March 2001 during the eight trial for the 1969 Piazza Fontana bombings that the CIA had foreknowledge of the event.[27] According to The Guardian, he said:[28]
...his men had discovered that a rightwing terrorist cell in the Venice region had been supplied with military explosives from Germany. Those explosives may have been obtained with the help of members of the US intelligence community, an indication that the Americans had gone beyond the infiltration and monitoring of extremist groups to instigating acts of violence...
General Maletti told the Italian court that "the CIA, following the directives of its government, wanted to create an Italian nationalism capable of halting what it saw as a slide to the left and, for this purpose, it may have made use of rightwing terrorism," and continued on by declaring: "I believe this is what happened in other countries as well." Gianadelio Maletti also said to the court: "Don't forget that Nixon was in charge and Nixon was a strange man, a very intelligent politician but a man of rather unorthodox initiatives."[citation needed]
General Maletti himself in the first Piazza Fontana trial received a four year sentence for providing a false passport to one of the accused bombers, this sentence was overturned in 1985.[29] Maletti received, while in exile, a 15-years sentence in 2000 for his role in trying to cover up a 1973 bomb attack in Milan against the Interior minister, Mariano Rumor (DC - 4 killed and 45 injured), but was acquitted on appeals.[30] According to the court, General Maletti knew in advance of the plan of the attacker, Gianfranco Bertoli, allegedly an anarchist but in reality a right-wing activist and a "long-standing SID informant" according to The Guardian, but had deliberately failed to inform the interior minister of it.[28]
Responding to charges made by Maletti in La Repubblica one year earlier, the CIA called the allegation that it was involved in the attacks in Italy "ludicrous."[31]
[edit]A quick chronology of Italy's "strategy of tension"
[edit]1964 Piano Solo
In 1964, Gladio was involved in a silent coup d'état when General Giovanni de Lorenzo in the so-called Piano Solo ("Operation Alone") forced the Italian Socialists Ministers to leave the government.[32]
[edit]1969 Piazza Fontana bombing
According to Avanguardia Nazionale member Vincenzo Vinciguerra: "The December 1969 explosion was supposed to be the detonator which would have convinced the politic and military authorities to declare a state of emergency".[33]
[edit]1970 Golpe Borghese
In 1970, the failed coup attempt Golpe Borghese gathered, around fascist Junio Valerio Borghese, international terrorist Stefano Delle Chiaie and P2 grand master Licio Gelli.[citation needed]
[edit]1972 Gladio meeting
According to The Guardian, "General Geraldo Serravalle, a former head of "Office R", told the terrorism commission that at a crucial Gladio meeting in 1972, at least half of the upper echelons "had the idea of attacking the communists before an invasion. They were preparing for civil war." Later, he put it more bluntly: "They were saying this: "Why wait for the invaders when we can make a preemptive attack now on the communists who would support the invader? The idea is now emerging of a Gladio web made up of semi-autonomous cadres which – although answerable to their secret service masters and ultimately to the NATO-CIA command – could initiate what they regarded as anti-communist operations by themselves, needing only sanction and funds from the existing 'official' Gladio column (...) General Nino Lugarese, head of SISMI from 1981 to 1984 testified on the existence of a 'Super Gladio' of 800 men responsible for 'internal intervention' against domestic political targets."[5]
[edit]May 31, 1972 Peteano massacre
Magistrate Felice Casson discovered that "the explosives used in the attack came from one of 139 secret weapons depots of a secret army organized under the code name Operation Gladio".[21] Neofascist Vincenzo Vinciguerra confessed in 1984 to judge Felice Casson of having carried out the Peteano terrorist attack, in which three policemen died, and for which the Red Brigades (BR) had been blamed before. Vinciguerra explained during his trial how he had been helped by Italian secret services to escape the police and to fly away to Francoist Spain. However, he was abandoned by NATO as soon as he started talking about Gladio, declaring for example during his 1984 trial:
{{quote |with the massacre of Peteano and with all those that have followed, the knowledge should now be clear that there existed a real live structure, occult and hidden, with the capacity of giving a strategic direction to the outrages. [This structure] lies within the states itself. There exists in Italy a secret force parallel to the armed forces, composed of civilians and military men, in an anti-Soviet capacity, that is, to organise a resistance on Italian soil against a Russian army... A super-organization which, lacking a Soviet military invasion which might not happen, took up the task, on NATO's behalf, of preventing a slip to the left in the political balance of the country. This they did, with the assistance of the official secret services and the political and military forces..." He then said to The Guardian, in 1990: "I say that every single outrage that followed from 1969 fitted into a single, organised matrix... Avanguardia Nazionale, like Ordine Nuovo (the main right-wing terrorist group active during the 1970s), were being mobilised into the battle as part of an anti-communist strategy originating not with organisations deviant from the institutions of power, but from within the state itself, and specifically from within the ambit of the state's relations within the Atlantic Alliance."[4][5]
[edit]November 23, 1973 Bombing of the plane Argo 16
General Geraldo Serravalle, head of Gladio from 1971 to 1974, told a television programme that he now thought the explosion aboard the plane Argo 16 on 23 November 1973 was probably the work of gladiatori who were refusing to hand over their clandestine arms. Until then it was widely believed the sabotage was carried out by Mossad, the Israeli foreign service, in retaliation for the pro-Libyan Italian government’s decision to expel, rather than try, five Arabs who had tried to blow up an Israeli airliner. The Arabs had been spirited out of the country on board the Argo 16.[34]
[edit]1974 Piazza della Loggia bombing, Italicus Express massacre, and arrest of Vito Miceli, chief of the Army intelligence service and member of P2, on charges of "conspiracy against the state"
In 1974, a massacre committed by Ordine Nuovo, during an anti-fascist demonstration in Brescia, kills eight and injures 102. The same year, a bomb in the Rome to Munich train "Italicus Express" kills 12 and injures 48. Also in 1974, Vito Miceli, P2 member, chief of the SIOS (Servizio Informazioni), Army Intelligence's Service from 1969 and SID's head from 1970 to 1974, got arrested on charges of "conspiration against the state" concerning investigations about Rosa dei venti, a state-infiltrated group involved in terrorist acts. During his trial, he revealed the existence of the NATO stay-behind secret army.[citation needed]
[edit]1977 Reorganization of Italian secret services following Vito Miceli's arrest
In 1977, the secret services were thus reorganized in a democratic attempt. With law #801 of 24/10/1977, SID was divided into SISMI (Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare), SISDE (Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Democratica) and CESIS (Comitato Esecutivo per i Servizi di Informazione e Sicurezza). The CESIS was given a coordination role, led by the President of Council.[citation needed]
[edit]1978 Murder of Aldo Moro
Prime minister Aldo Moro was murdered in May 1978 by the Second Red Brigades (BR), headed by Mario Moretti, in obscure circumstances. The head of the Italian secret services, accused of negligence, was a P2 member. The so-called "historic compromise" between the Christian Democrats and the PCI was abandoned:[35] The Italian Government led by Prime Minister Francesco Cossiga (a member of the extreme right faction of Italy's Christian Democrat party, a pro-NATO atlantist was also suspected of involvement in the killing of Aldo Moro).[citation needed]
As the conspiracy theorists would have it, Mr. Moro was allowed to be killed either with the acquiescence of people high in Italy’s political establishment, or at their instigation, because of the historic compromise he had made with the Communist Party[citation needed].
During his captivity, Aldo Moro wrote several letters to various political figures, including Giulio Andreotti. In October 1990, "a cache of previously unknown letters written by the former Prime Minister, Aldo Moro, just prior to his execution by Red Brigade terrorists in 1978... was discovered in a Milan apartment which had once been used as a Red Brigade hideout. One of those letters made reference to the involvement of both NATO and the CIA in an Italian-based secret service, 'parallel' army."[36] "This safe house had been thoroughly searched at the time by Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa, the head of counter-terrorism. How is it that the papers had not been revealed before?"asked The Independent[35] Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa was murdered in 1982 (see below).
In May 1978, investigative journalist Mino Pecorelli thought that Aldo Moro's kidnapping had been organised by a "lucid superpower" and was inspired by the "logic of Yalta". He painted the figure of General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa as "general Amen," explaining that it was him that, during Aldo Moro's kidnap, had informed Interior Minister Francesco Cossiga of the localization of the cave where Moro was detained. In 1978, Pecorelli wrote that Dalla Chiesa was in danger and would be assassinated (Dalla Chiesa was murdered four years later). After Aldo Moro's assassination, Mino Pecorelli published some confidential documents, mainly Moro's letters to his family. In a cryptic article published in May 1978, wrote The Guardian in May 2003, Pecorelli drew a connection between Gladio, NATO's stay-behind anti-communist organisation (which existence was publicly acknowledged by Prime Minister Giulio Andreottiin October 1990) and Moro's death. During his interrogation, Aldo Moro had referred to "NATO's anti-guerrilla activities."[37] Mino Pecorelli, who was on Licio Gelli's list of P2 membersdiscovered in 1980, was assassinated on March 20, 1979. The ammunitions used, a very rare type, where the same as discovered in the Banda della Magliana 's weapons stock hidden in the Health Minister's basement. Pecorelli's assassination has been thought to be directly related to Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, who was condemned to 20 years of prison for it in 2002 before having the sentence cancelled by the Supreme Court of Cassation in 2003.[citation needed]
[edit]1980 Bologna massacre
"The makings of the bomb... came from an arsenal used by Gladio... according to a parliamentary commission on terrorism... The suggested link with the Bologna massacre is potentially the most serious of all the accusations levelled against Gladio, and comes just two days after the Italian Prime Minister, Giulio Andreotti, cleared Gladio’s name in a speech to parliament, saying that the secret army did not drift from its formal Nato military brief."[38] In November 1995, Neo-Fascists terrorists Valerio Fioravanti and Francesca Mambro, members of the Nuclei Armati Revoluzionari (NAR), were convicted to life imprisonment as executors of the 1980 Bologna massacre. The NAR neofascist group worked in cooperation with theBanda della Magliana, a Mafia-linked gang which took over Rome's underground in the 1970s and was involved in various political events of the strategy of tension, including the Aldo Moro case, the 1979 assassination of Mino Pecorelli, a journalist who published articles alleging links between Prime minister Giulio Andreotti and the mafia, as well as the assassination of "God's Banker" Roberto Calvi in 1982. The investigations concerning the Bologna bombing proved Gladio's direct influence: Licio Gelli, P2's headmaster, received a sentence for investigation diversion, as well as Francesco Pazienza and SISMI officers Pietro Musumeci and Giuseppe Belmonte. Avanguardia Nazionale founder Stefano Delle Chiaie, who was involved in the Golpe Borghese in 1970, was also accused of involvement in the Bologna massacre[19][39]
[edit]1982 murder of General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa, head of counter-terrorism
General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa's 1982 murder, in Palermo, by Pino Greco, one of the Mafia Godfather Salvatore Riina's (aka Toto Riina) favorite hitmen, is allegedly part of the strategy of tension. Alberto Dalla Chiesa had arrested Red Brigades founders Renato Curcio and Alberto Franceschini in September, 1974, and was later charged of investigation concerning Aldo Moro. He had also found Aldo Moro's letters concerning Gladio.
[edit]October 24, 1990 Giulio Andreotti’s acknowledgement of Operazione Gladio
After the discovery by judge Felice Casson of documents on Gladio in the archives of the Italian military secret service in Rome, Giulio Andreotti, head of Italian government, revealed to the Chamber of deputies the existence of "Operazione Gladio" on October 24, 1990, insisting that Italy has not been the only country with secret "stay-behind" armies. He made clear that "each chief of government had been informed of the existence of Gladio". Former Socialist Prime Minister Bettino Craxi said that he had not been informed until he was confronted with a document on Gladio signed by himself while he was Prime Minister. Former Prime Minister Giovanni Spadolini (Republican Party), at the time President of the Senate, and former Prime Minister Arnaldo Forlani, at the time secretary of the ruling Christian Democratic Party claimed they remembered nothing. Spadolini stressed that there was a difference between what he knew as former Defence Secretary and what he knew as former Prime Minister. Only former Prime Minister Francesco Cossiga (DC) confirmed Andreotti's revelations, explaining that he was even "proud and happy" for his part in setting up Gladio as junior Defence Minister of the Christian Democratic Party. This lit up a political storm, requests were made for Cossiga's (Italian President since 1985) resignation or impeachment for high treason. He refused to testify to the investigating Senate committee. Cossiga narrowly escaped hisimpeachment by stepping down on April 1992, three months before his term expired.[40]
[edit]1998 David Carrett, officer of the U.S. Navy
David Carrett, officer of the U.S. Navy, was indicted by magistrate Guido Salvini on charge of political and military espionage and his participation to the 1969 Piazza Fontana bombing, among other events. Judge Guido Salvini also opened up a case against Sergio Minetto, Italian official for the US-NATO intelligence network, and pentito Carlo Digilio. La Repubblicaunderlined that Carlo Rocchi, CIA's man at Milan, was surprised in 1995 searching for information concerning Operation Gladio, thus demonstrating that all was not over.[33]
1969 Piazza Fontana bombing, which started Italy's anni di piombo, and the 1974 "Italicus Expressen" train bombing were also attributed to Gladio operatives. In 1975, Stefano Delle Chiaie met with Pinochet during Franco's funeral in Madrid, and would participate afterward in operation Condor, preparing for example the attempted murder of Bernardo Leighton, a Chilean Christian Democrat, or participating in the 1980 'Cocaine Coup' of Luis García Meza Tejada in Bolivia. In 1989, he was arrested in Caracas, Venezuela and extradited to Italy to stand trial for his role in the Piazza Fontana bombing. Despite his reputation, Delle Chiaie was acquitted by the Assize Court in Catanzaro in 1989, along with fellow accused Massimiliano Fachini (as yet no convictions have been made for the attack). According to Avanguardia Nazionale member Vincenzo Vinciguerra: "The December 1969 explosion was supposed to be the detonator which would have convinced the political and military authorities to declare a state of emergency."[33]
[edit]The DSSA, another Gladio?
In July 2005, the Italian press revealed the existence of the Department of Anti-terrorism Strategic Studies (DSSA), a "parallel police" created by Gaetano Saya and Riccardo Sindoca, two leaders of the National Union of the Police Forces (UNPF), a trade-union present in all the state security forces. Both said they were former members of Gladio. According to the DSSA website — closed after these revelations — Fabrizio Quattrocchi, murdered in Iraq after being taken hostage, was there "for the DSSA". According to the Italian investigators, the DSSA was trying to obtain international and national recognition by intelligence agencies, in order to obtain finances for its parallel activities. Furthermore, Il Messaggero, quoted by The Independent, declared that, according to judicial sources, wiretaps suggested DSSA members had been planning to kidnap Cesare Battisti, a former communist activist. "We were seeing the genesis of something similar to the death squads in Argentina" (the AAA groups) the magistrate is reported to have said.[41][42][43][44][45]
[edit]Belgium
Main article: Belgian stay-behind network
After the 1966 retreat of France from NATO, the SHAPE headquarters were displaced to Mons in Belgium. In 1990, following France's denial of any "stay-behind" French army, Giulio Andreotti publicly said the last Allied Clandestine Committee (ACC) meeting, at which the French branch of Gladio was present, had been on October 23 and 24, 1990, under the presidency of Belgian General Van Calster, director of the Belgian military secret service SGR. In November, Guy Coëme, the Minister of the Defense, acknowledged the existence of a Belgium "stay-behind" army, lifting concerns about a similar implication in terrorist acts as in Italy. The same year, the European Parliament sharply condemned NATO and the United States in a resolution for having manipulated European politics with the stay-behind armies.[32]
New legislation governing intelligence agencies' missions and methods was passed in 1998, following two government inquiries and the creation of a permanent parliamentary committee in 1991, which was to bring them under the authority of Belgium's federal agencies. The Commission was created following events in the 1980s, which included the Brabant massacresand the activities of far right group Westland New Post.[46]
[edit]France
In 1947, Interior Minister Edouard Depreux revealed the existence of a secret stay-behind army in France codenamed "Plan Bleu". The next year, the "Western Union Clandestine Committee" (WUCC) was created to coordinate secret unorthodox warfare. In 1949, the WUCC was integrated into NATO, whose headquarters were established in France, under the name "Clandestine Planning Committee" (CPC). In 1958, NATO founded the Allied Clandestine Committee (ACC) to coordinate secret warfare.[citation needed]
The network was supported with elements from SDECE, and had military support from the 11th Choc regiment. The former director of DGSE, admiral Pierre Lacoste, alleged in a 1992 interview with The Nation, that certain elements from the network were involved with terrorist activities against de Gaulle and his Algerian policy. A section of the 11th Choc regiment split over the 1962 Evian peace accords, and became part of the Organisation armée secrète (OAS), but it is unclear if this also involved members of the French stay-behind network.[47][48]
La Rose des Vents and Arc-en-ciel ("Rainbow") network were part of Gladio. François de Grossouvre was Gladio's leader for the region around Lyon in France until his alleged suicide on April 7, 1994. Grossouvre would have asked Constantin Melnik, leader of the French secret services during the Algerian War of Independence (1954–62), to return to activity. He was living in comfortable exile in the US, where he maintained links with the Rand Corporation. Constantin Melnik is alleged to have been involved in the creation in 1952 of the Ordre Souverain du Temple Solaire, an ancestor of the Order of the Solar Temple, created by former A.M.O.R.C. members, in which the SDECE (French former military intelligence agency) was interested.[49]
[edit]Denmark
The Danish stay-behind army was code-named Absalon, after a Danish archbishop, and led by E.J. Harder. It was hidden in the military secret service Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste(FE). In 1978, William Colby, former director of the CIA, released his memoirs in which he described the setting-up of stay-behind armies in Scandinavia:[50]
"The situation in each Scandinavian country was different. Norway and Denmark were NATO allies, Sweden held to the neutrality that had taken her through two world wars, and Finland were required to defer in its foreign policy to the Soviet power directly on its borders. Thus, in one set of these countries the governments themselves would build their own stay-behind nets, counting on activating them from exile to carry on the struggle. These nets had to be co-ordinated with NATO's plans, their radios had to be hooked to a future exile location, and the specialised equipment had to be secured from CIA and secretly cached in snowy hideouts for later use. In other set of countries, CIA would have to do the job alone or with, at best, "unofficial" local help, since the politics of those governments barred them from collaborating with NATO, and any exposure would arouse immediate protest from the local Communist press, Soviet diplomats and loyal Scandinavians who hoped that neutrality or nonalignment would allow them to slip through a World War III unharmed."
On November 25, 1990, Danish daily newspaper Berlingske Tidende, quoted by Daniele Ganser (2005), confirmed William Colby's revelations, by a source named "Q":
"Colby's story is absolutely correct. Absalon was created in the early 1950s. Colby was a member of the world spanning laymen Catholic organisation Opus Dei, which, using a modern term, could be called right-wing. Opus Dei played a central role in the setting up of Gladio in the whole of Europe and also in Denmark... The leader of Gladio was Harder who was probably not a Catholic. But there are not many Catholics in Denmark and the basic elements making up the Danish Gladio were former [WW II] resistance people - former prisoners of Vestre Fængsel, Frøslevlejren, Neuengamme and also of the Danish Brigade."
[edit]Germany
Reinhard Gehlen, German military intelligence officer on the East front during the war, turned towards the US after the war, and set up the "Gehlen Organisation", which used manyformer Nazi party members for intelligence purposes during the Cold War. But alongside the Gehlen organisation, which became the nucleus of the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND, Federal Intelligence Service), West Germany's intelligence agency created in 1956, US intelligence also set up a German stay-behind network parallel (and juxtaposed) to the Gehlen Org (which also had a role in the organisation of the ODESSA network, used to exfiltrate Nazi war criminals). CIA documents released in June 2006 under the 1998 Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act, more than fifteen years after Prime minister Giulio Andreotti's revelations concerning Gladio, show that the CIA organized "stay-behind" networks of German agents between 1949 and 1955.[51]
One of these networks supported by the CIA was the Technische Dienst (TD, Technical Service) section within the Bund Deutscher Jugend (BDJ, Union of German Youth). The anti-communist BDJ was founded in 1950 by ex-Nazis Erhard Peters and CIA money-contact Paul Lüth. The existence of TD came to light, after a speech in the Hesse Landtag by PM Georg August Zinn.[52] During the investigations into BDJ, which started in September 1952, a couple of arms caches were found, including one in the Odenwald region, Hesse.[53] The claim by August Zinn that the BDJ supposedly was in the possession of a list of Social Democrats and Communists to be liquidated in case of a Soviet invasion, including leading figures of the opposition Social Democratic Party[54]) was denied by German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer.[53] The BDJ was outlawed in January 1953.[55][56]
Documents shown to the Italian parliamentary terrorism committee revealed that in the 1970s British and French officials involved in the network visited a training base in Germany built with US money.[54]
In 1976, the secret service BND secretary Heidrun Hofer was arrested after having revealed the secrets of the German stay-behind army to her husband, who was a spy of the KGB.[32]
[edit]The 1980 Oktoberfest terror attack
Main article: Oktoberfest terror attack
Revelations of a witness in the investigation of the Oktoberfest bomb blast of 1980 in Munich lead to the conclusion that the explosives might have come from the German Neo-Nazi Heinz Lembke.[57] In 1981, German police by chance found an arms cache in the Lüneburg Heath, which led to the arrest of Lembke and the discovery of other arms caches in Lower Saxony. A few days later Lembke hanged himself in his prison cell. Lembke had been questioned in Oktoberfest investigation, but the public prosecutors found no evidence that he supplied the explosives for the bombing.[58]
Lembke's arms caches were supposed to be connected to Gladio by a number of researchers and journalists.[4]
[edit]CIA's documents released in June 2006
One network included Staff Sergent Heinrich Hoffman and Lieutenant Colonel Hans Rues, and another one, codenamed Kibitz-15, was run by Lieutenant Colonel Walter Kopp, a formerWehrmacht officer, described by his own North American handlers as an "unreconstructed Nazi."[59] In an April 1953 CIA memo released in June 2006, the CIA headquarters wrote: "The present furore in Western Germany over the resurgence of the Nazi or neo-Nazi groups is a fair example — in miniature — of what we would be faced with." Therefore some of these networks were dismantled. These documents stated that the ex-Nazis were a complete failure in intelligence terms. According to Timothy Naftali, a US historian from the University of Virginia who reviewed the CIA documents then released, "The files show time and again that these people were more trouble than they were worth. The unreconstructed Nazis were always out for themselves, and they were using the West's lack of information about the Soviet Union to exploit it."[59] The US NARA Archives themselves stated in a 2002 communique, concerning Reinhard Gehlen's recruiting of former Nazis, that "Besides the troubling moral issues involved, these recruitments opened the West German government, and by extension the United States, to penetration by the Soviet intelligence services."[60]
Hans Globke, who had worked for Adolf Eichmann in the Jewish Affairs department and helped draft the 1935 Nuremberg laws, became Chancellor Konrad Adenauer's national security advisor in the 1960s, and "was the main liaison with the CIA and NATO" according to The Guardian.[59] A March 1958 memo from the German BND agency to the CIA wrote that Adolf Eichmann is "reported to have lived in Argentina under the alias CLEMENS since 1952." However, the CIA did not pass the information on to the Israeli MOSSAD, as it feared revelations concerning its use of former Nazis for intelligence purposes — Eichmann, who was in charge of the Jewish Affairs department, was abducted by the MOSSAD two years later. Among these information that might have been revealed by Eichmann were the ones concerning Hans Globke, CIA's liaison in West Germany. At the request of Bonn, the CIA persuaded Life magazine to delete any reference to Globke from Eichmann's memoirs, which it had bought from his family.[51]
[edit]Norbert Juretzko's 2004 revelations
In 2004 the German spymaster Norbert Juretzko published a book about his work at the BND. He went into details about recruiting partisans for the German stay-behind network. He was sacked from BND following a secret trial against him, because the BND could not find out the real name of his Russian source "Rübezahl" whom he had recruited. A man with the name he put on file was arrested by the KGB following treason in the BND, but was obviously innocent, his name having been chosen at random from the public phone book by Juretzko.[citation needed]
According to Juretzko, the BND built up its branch of Gladio, but discovered after the fall of the German Democratic Republic that it was 100% known to the Stasi early on. When the network was dismantled, further odd details emerged. One fellow "spymaster" had kept the radio equipment in his cellar at home with his wife doing the engineering test call every 4 months, on the grounds that the equipment was too "valuable" to remain in civilian hands. Juretzko found out because this spymaster had dismantled his section of the network so quickly, there had been no time for measures such as recovering all caches of supplies.[citation needed] Civilians recruited as stay-behind partisans were equipped with a clandestine shortwave radio with a fixed frequency. It had a keyboard with digital encryption, making use of traditional Morse code obsolete. They had a cache of further equipment for signalling helicopters or submarines to drop special agents who were to stay in the partisan's homes while mounting sabotage operations against the communists.[citation needed]
In a German documentary about the Munich massacre happening at the 1972 Summer Olympics Juretzko further claims that BND stay-behind forces were activated and on alert shortly after the hostage taking. The German police had no specially trained counter-terrorist units at hands at that time. The BND agents however, according to Juretzko, were uniquely skilled and equipped for covert operations, which included sharpshooting and helicopter insertion. Due to fears of revealing the German stay-behind operation to the public, these vital forces were ultimately not used to free the Israeli hostages, resulting in the catastrophic outcome of the crisis and subsequent formation of the GSG 9 counter-terrorism and special operations unit.[61]
[edit]Greece
The aim of British Prime minister Winston Churchill was to prevent the communist-led EAM resistance movement from taking power after the end of World War II. After the suppression of a pro-EAM uprising in April 1944 among the Greek forces in Egypt, a new and firmly reliable unit was formed, the Third Greek Mountain Brigade, which excluded "almost all men with views ranging from moderately conservative to left wing."[62] After liberation in October 1944, EAM controlled most of the country. When it organized a demonstration in Athens on December 3, 1944 , members of rightist and pro-royalist paramilitary organizations, covered by "British troops and police with machine guns... posited on the rooftops", suddenly shot on the crowd, killing 25 protesters (including a six-year-old boy) and wounding 148.[63] This marked the outbreak of the Dekemvriana, which would lead to the Greek Civil War.[citation needed]
When Greece joined NATO in 1952, the country's special forces, the LOK (Lochoi Oreinōn Katadromōn, i.e. "Mountain Raiding Companies") were integrated into the European stay-behind network. The CIA and LOK reconfirmed on March 25, 1955 their mutual co-operation in a secret document signed by US General Trascott for the CIA, and Konstantinos Dovas, chief of staff of the Greek military. In addition to preparing for a Soviet invasion, the CIA instructed LOK to prevent a leftist coup. Former CIA agent Philip Agee, who was sharply criticized in the US for having revealed sensitive information, insisted that "paramilitary groups, directed by CIA officers, operated in the sixties throughout Europe [and he stressed that] perhaps no activity of the CIA could be as clearly linked to the possibility of internal subversion."[64]
The LOK was involved in the Greek military coup d' État on April 21, 1967,[65] which took place one month before the scheduled national elections for which opinion polls predicted an overwhelming victory of the centrist Center Union of George and Andreas Papandreou. Under the command of paratrooper Lieutenant Colonel Costas Aslanides, the LOK took control of the Greek Defence Ministry while Brigadier General Stylianos Pattakos gained control over communication centers, the parliament, the royal palace, and according to detailed lists, arrested over 10,000 people. Phillips Talbot, the US ambassador in Athens, disapproved of the military coup which established the "Regime of the Colonels" (1967–1974), complaining that it represented "a rape of democracy" - to which Jack Maury, the CIA chief of station in Athens, answered: "How can you rape a whore?".[66]
Arrested and then exiled in Canada and Sweden, Andreas Papandreou later returned to Greece, where he won the 1981 election for Prime minister, forming the first socialist government of Greece's post-war history. According to his own testimony, he discovered the existence of the secret NATO army, then codenamed "Red Sheepskin", as acting prime minister in 1984 and had given orders to dissolve it.[67]
Following Giulio Andreotti's revelations in 1990, the Greek defence minister confirmed that a branch of the network, known as Operation Sheepskin, operated in his country until 1988.[68]The socialist opposition called for a parliamentary investigation into the secret army and its alleged link to terrorism and the 1967 coup d'état. Public order minister Yannis Vassiliadis declared that there was no need to investigate such "fantasies" as "Sheepskin was one of 50 NATO plans which foresaw that when a country was occupied by an enemy there should be an organised resistance. It foresaw arms caches and officers who would form the nucleus of a guerilla war. In other words, it was a nationally justifiable act."[citation needed]
In December 2005, journalist Kleanthis Grivas published an article in To Proto Thema, a Greek Sunday newspaper, in which he accused "Sheepskin" for the assassination of CIA station chief Richard Welch in Athens in 1975, as well as the assassination of British military attaché Stephen Saunders in 2000. This was denied by the US State Department, who responded that "the Greek terrorist organization '17 November' was responsible for both assassinations", and that Grivas's central piece of evidence had been the Westmoreland Field Manual which the State department, as well as an independent Congressional inquiry have alleged to be a Soviet forgery.[69] The document in question, however, makes no specific mention of Greece, November 17, nor Welch. The State Department also highlighted the fact that, in the case of Richard Welch, "Grivas bizarrely accuses the CIA of playing a role in the assassination of one of its own senior officials" while "Sheepskin" couldn't have assassinated Stephen Saunders for the simple reason that, according to the US government, "the Greek government stated it dismantled the “stay behind” network in 1988."[69]
[edit]Netherlands
A large arms cache was discovered in 1983 near the village Velp. In 1990 the government by means of then-prime-minister Ruud Lubbers was forced to confirm that the arms were related to planning for unorthodox warfare. He insisted that the Dutch organisation was, contrary to the operations in other European countries, totally independent from NATO command, and during wartime occupation would be commanded by the Dutch government in exile. The operating bureaus of the organisation would also move to safety in England or the USA at the first sign of trouble.[citation needed]
In his television show of 22 April 2007 Dutch crime journalist Peter R. De Vries revealed that weapons had been illegally supplied to Gladio well after the network was supposed to have been disbanded.[32]
A Dutch investigative television program revealed on September 9, 2007, that an arms cache that belonged to Gladio was ransacked in the 1980s. The cache was located in a forest nearScheveningen. Some of stolen weapons later turned up, including hand grenades and machine guns, when police officials arrested criminals Sam Klepper and John Mieremet in 1991. The Dutch military intelligence agency, MIVD, feared at that time that the disclosure of the Gladio history of these weapons was politically explosive.[70][71]
[edit]Norway
In 1957, the director of the secret service NIS, Vilhelm Evang, protested strongly against the pro-active intelligence activities at AFNORTH, as described by the chairman of CPC: "[NIS] was extremely worried about activities carried out by officers at Kolsås. This concerned SB, Psywar and Counter Intelligence." These activities supposedly included the blacklisting of Norwegians. SHAPE denied these allegations. Eventually, the matter was resolved in 1958, after Norway was assured about how stay-behind networks were to be operated.[72][page needed]
In 1978, the police discovered an arms cache and radio equipment at a mountain cabin and arrested Hans Otto Meyer, a businessman accused of being involved in selling illegal alcohol. Meyer claimed that the weapons were supplied by Norwegian intelligence. Rolf Hansen, defense minister at that time, stated the network was not in any way answerable to NATO and had no CIA connection.[73]
[edit]Portugal
Further information: Aginter Press
In 1966, the CIA set up Aginter Press which, under the direction of Captain Yves Guérin-Sérac (who had taken part in the founding of the OAS), ran a secret stay-behind army and trained its members in covert action techniques amounting to terrorism, including bombings, silent assassinations, subversion techniques, clandestine communication and infiltration and colonial warfare. Aginter Press was suspected of having assassinated General Humberto Delgado (1906–1965), founder of the Portuguese National Liberation Front against Salazar's dictatorship (prominent historians and several sources also claim Delgado's assassination was performed by PIDE operational Rosa Casaco), as well as anti-colonialist leader Amilcar Cabral (1924–1973), founder of the PAIGC (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde) and Eduardo Mondlane leader of the liberation movement FRELIMO (Frente de Libertação de Moçambique), in 1969 (prominent historians and several sources also claim Cabral's assassination was performed by individuals within Cabral's guerrilla movemment, thePAIGC, and Mondlane's death was work of his enemies inside FRELIMO - according to these versions, both assassinations were the result of struggles for power within the independentist movements).[32][74]
[edit]United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Winston Churchill created the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in 1940 to assist resistance movements and carry out subversive operations in enemy-held territory across occupied Europe. Guardian reporter David Pallister wrote in December 1990 that a guerrilla network with arms caches had been put in place following the fall of France. It included Brigadier "Mad Mike" Calvert, and was drawn from a special-forces ski battalion of the Scots Guards which was originally intended to fight in Nazi-occupied Finland.[25] Known as Auxiliary Units, they were headed by Major Colin Gubbins, an expert in guerrilla warfare who would later lead the SOE. The Auxiliary Units were attached to GHQ Home Forces, and concealed within the Home Guard. The units were created in preparation of a possible invasion of the British Isles by the Third Reich. These units were allegedly stood down only in 1944. Several of their members subsequently joined the Special Air Service and saw action in France in late 1944. The units' existence did not generally become known by the public until the 1990s though a book on the subject was published in 1968.[75] In fiction, Owen Sheers' Resistance (2008), set in Wales, takes as one of its central characters a member of the Auxiliary Units called to resist a successful German invasion.
After the end of World War II, the stay-behind armies were created with the experience and involvement of former SOE officers.[32] Following Giulio Andreotti's October 1990 revelations,General Sir John Hackett (1910–1997), former commander-in-chief of the British Army on the Rhine, declared on November 16, 1990 that a contingency plan involving "stay behind and resistance in depth" was drawn up after the war. The same week, Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley (1924–2006), former commander-in-chief of NATO's Forces in Northern Europe from 1979 to 1982, declared to The Guardian that a secret arms network was established in Britain after the war.[54] General John Hackett had written in 1978 a novel, The Third World War: August 1985, which was a fictionalized scenario of a Soviet Army invasion of West Germany in 1985. The novel was followed in 1982 by The Third World War: The Untold Story, which elaborated on the original. Farrar-Hockley had aroused controversy in 1983 when he became involved in trying to organise a campaign for a new Home Guard against eventual Soviet invasion.[76]
Gladio membership included mostly ex-servicemen but also followers of Oswald Mosley's pre-war fascist movement.[citation needed]
[edit]General Serravalle's revelations
General Gerardo Serravalle, who commanded the Italian Gladio from 1971 to 1974, related that "in the 1970s the members of the CPC [Coordination and Planning Committee] were the officers responsible for the secret structures of Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg, the Netherlands and Italy. These representatives of the secret structures met every year in one of the capitals... At the stay-behind meetings representatives of the CIA were always present. They had no voting rights and were from the CIA headquarters of the capital in which the meeting took place... members of the US Forces Europe Command were present, also without voting rights. ".[77] Next to the CPC a second secret command post was created in 1957, the Allied Clandestine Committee (ACC). According to the Belgian Parliamentary Committee on Gladio, the ACC was "responsible for coordinating the 'Stay-behind' networks in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Holland, Norway, United Kingdom and the United States". During peacetime, the activities of the ACC "included elaborating the directives for the network, developing its clandestine capability and organising bases in Britain and the United States. In wartime, it was to plan stay-behind operations in conjunction with SHAPE; organisers were to activate clandestine bases and organise operations from there".[78] General Serravale declared to the Commissione Stragi headed by senator Giovanni Pellegrino that the Italian Gladio members trained at a military base in Britain.[54] Documents shown to the committee also revealed that British and French officials members of Gladio had visited in the 1970s a training base in Germany built with US money.[54]
[edit]Column 88
Column 88 was a neo-nazi paramilitary organization based in the United Kingdom. It was formed in the early 1970s, and disbanded in the early 1980s. The members of Column 88 undertook military training under the supervision of a former Royal Marine Commando, and also held regular gatherings attended by neo-nazis from all over Europe. The name is code: the eighth letter of the alphabet 'HH' represents the Nazi greeting 'Heil Hitler'. Many suspected that this group were behind the arson attack that destroyed the Albany Empire in Deptford, south London in July 1978 during the Rock Against Racism campaign.[79]
In January 1991, the well known UK anti-fascist Searchlight magazine as part of a series of often contradictory articles variously alleging that C88 was the paramilitary wing of the British nationalist movement or a "honeytrap operation set up by British Intelligence, claimed that Column 88 was part of an alleged European Gladio "stay-behind" network, set up and trained by special forces units (such as the British SAS) to conduct sabotage and assassinations in the event of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe. This European-wide underground network is also alleged to have recruited neo-Nazis in Norway, Sweden, Germany, Italy and other European countries.[79]
References
- Ganser, Daniele: NATO's Secret Armies. Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe. (London: Frank Cass, 2005). ISBN 0-7146-8500-3.
[edit]The Guardian's November 1990 revelations concerning plans under Margaret Thatcher
The Guardian reported on November 5, 1990, that there had been a "secret attempt to revive elements of a parallel post-war plan relating to overseas operations" in the "early days of Mrs Thatcher's Conservative leadership". According to the British newspaper, "a group of former intelligence officers, inspired by the wartime Special Operations Executive, attempted to set up a secret unit as a kind of armed MI6 cell. Those behind the scheme included Airey Neave, Mrs Thatcher's close adviser who was killed in a terrorist attack in 1979, and George Kennedy Young, a former deputy chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, MI6." The newspaper stated that Thatcher had been "initially enthusiastic but dropped the idea after the scandal surrounding the attack by the French secret service on the Greenpeace ship, Rainbow Warrior, in New Zealand in 1985."[80] The Swiss branch, P-26, as well as Italian Gladio, had trained in the UK in the early 1970s.[80][81]
[edit]Parallel stay-behind operations in non-NATO countries
[edit]Austria
In Austria, the first secret stay-behind army was exposed in 1947. It had been set up by far-right Soucek and Rössner, who both insisted during their trial that "they were carrying out the secret operation with the full knowledge and support of the US and British occupying powers." Sentenced to death, they were then pardoned under mysterious circumstances byPresident Körner (1951–1957).
Franz Olah set up a new secret army codenamed Österreichischer Wander-, Sport- und Geselligkeitsverein (OWSGV, literally "Austrian hiking, sports and society club"), with the cooperation of MI6 and the CIA. He later explained that "we bought cars under this name. We installed communication centres in several regions of Austria", confirming that "special units were trained in the use of weapons and plastic explosives". He precised that "there must have been a couple of thousand people working for us... Only very, very highly positioned politicians and some members of the union knew about it".
In 1965, the police forces discovered a stay-behind arms cache in an old mine close to Windisch-Bleiberg and forced the British authorities to hand over a list with the location of 33 other caches in Austria.[32]
In 1990, when secret "stay-behind" armies were discovered all around Europe, the Austrian government said that no secret army had existed in the country. However, six years later, theBoston Globe revealed the existence of secret CIA arms caches in Austria. Austrian President Thomas Klestil and Chancellor Franz Vranitzky insisted that they had known nothing of the existence of the secret army and demanded that the US launch a full-scale investigation into the violation of Austria's neutrality, which was denied by President Bill Clinton. State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns - appointed in August 2001 by President George Bush as the US Permanent Representative to the Atlantic treaty organization, where, as ambassador to NATO, he headed the combined State-Defense Department United States Mission to NATO and coordinated the NATO response to the September 11, 2001 attacks - insisted: "The aim was noble, the aim was correct, to try to help Austria if it was under occupation. What went wrong is that successive Washington administrations simply decided not to talk to the Austrian government about it."[4]
[edit]Cyprus
![Emblem of Special Forces Command.]()
The Turkish branch of Gladio Counter-Guerrilla formed the TMT Turkish Resistance Organisation in Cyprus in 1958 and manned it with turkish officers. The 1960 constitution of the republic of Cyprus only had provision for a very small professional army of a few hundred men from both Cypriot communities. Following the 1963-64 clashes that led to the collapse of the power sharing between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, the National Guard was created as a conscription Greek cypriot army. The officers for the National Guard where almost exclusively Greek nationals, officers of the Greek Army. LOK units were created in Cyprus modelled on the Greek LOK units, though Cyprus never joined NATO and was at the time a member of the Non-Aligned Movement. Reporter Makarios Drousiotis[82] has written about Greek officer Dimitris Papapostolou, commander of LOK in Cyprus at the time, conspiring with ex-interior minister Polykarpos Yorkatzis to kill elected presidentMakarios by attacking his helicopter, and after the failure of that attempt, being involved in the assassination of Yorkatzis. The 15 July 1974 coup d'etat against Makarios was executed by National Guard units, with the attack on the presidential palace perpetrated by 31 and 32 Moira Katadromon LOK units with the help of 21 Epilarhia Anagnoriseos tanks reconnaissance unit.[83]
[edit]Finland
In 1944, the Swedes worked with Finnish Intelligence to set up a stay-behind network of agents within Finland to keep track of post-war activities in that country. While this network was allegedly never put in place, Finnish codes, SIGINT equipment and documents were brought to Sweden and apparently exploited until the 1980s.[84]
In 1945, Interior Minister Yrjö Leino exposed a secret stay-behind army which was closed down (so called Weapons Cache Case). This operation was organized by Finnish general staff officers (without foreign help) in 1944 to hide weapons in order to sustain a large-scale guerrilla warfare in the event the Soviet Union tried to occupy Finland in the aftermath of theContinuation War. See also Operation Stella Polaris.
In 1991, the Swedish media claimed that a secret stay-behind army had existed in neutral Finland with an exile base in Stockholm. Finnish Defence Minister Elisabeth Rehn called the revelations "a fairy tale", adding cautiously "or at least an incredible story, of which I know nothing."[32] However, in his memoirs, former CIA director William Colby described the setting-up of stay-behind armies in Scandinavian countries, including Finland, with or without the assistance of local governments, to prepare for a Soviet invasion.[50]
[edit]Spain
Main article: Montejurra Incidents
Several events prior to Spain's 1982 membership in NATO have also been tied to Gladio: In May 1976, a year after Franco's death, two left-wing Carlist members were shot down by far-right terrorists, among whom were Gladio operative Stefano Delle Chiaie and members of the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance (Triple A), demonstrating connections between Gladio and the South American "Dirty War". This incident became known as the Montejurra massacre.[85] According to a report by the Italian CESIS (Executive Committee for Intelligence and Security Services), Carlo Cicuttini (who took part in the 1972 Peteano bombing in Italy alongside Vincenzo Vinciguerra), participated in the 1977 Massacre of Atocha in Madrid, killing five people (including several lawyers), members of the Workers' Commissions trade-unions closely linked with the Spanish Communist Party. Cicuttini was naturalized Spanish and exiled in Spain since 1972 (date of the Peteano bombing)[86]
Following Andreotti's 1990 revelations, Adolfo Suárez, Spain's first democratically elected Prime minister after Franco's death, denied ever having heard of Gladio.[87] President of the Spanish government in 1981-82, during the transition to democracy, Calvo Sotelo stated that Spain had not been informed of Gladio when it entered NATO. Asked about Gladio's relations to Franquist Spain, he said that such a network was not necessary under Franco, since "the regime itself was Gladio."[88]
According to General Fausto Fortunato, head of Italian SISMI from 1971 to 1974, France and the US had backed Spain's entrance to Gladio, but Italy would have opposed its veto to it. Following Andreotti's revelations, however, Narcís Serra, Spanish Minister of Defense, opened up an investigation concerning Spain's links to Gladio.[89][90] Furthermore, Canarias 7newspaper revealed, quoting former Gladio agent Alberto Volo, who had a role in the revelations of the existence of the network in 1990, that a Gladio meeting had been organized in August 1991 in the Gran Canaria island.[91] Alberto Vollo also declared that as a Gladio operative, he had received trainings in Maspalomas, in the Gran Canaria island between the 1960s and the 1970s.[92] El País daily also revealed that the Gladio organization was suspected of having used former NASA installations in Maspalomas, in the Gran Canaria island, in the 1970s.[93]
André Moyen, former Belgian secret agent, also declared that Gladio had operated in Spain.[94] He said that Gladio had bases in Madrid, Barcelona, San Sebastián and the Canarias islands.
[edit]Sweden
In 1951, CIA agent William Colby, based at the CIA station in Stockholm, supported the training of stay-behind armies in neutral Sweden and Finland and in the NATO members Norwayand Denmark. In 1953, the police arrested right winger Otto Hallberg and discovered the preparations for the Swedish stay-behind army. Hallberg was set free and charges against him were dropped.[32]
[edit]Switzerland
Main article: Projekt-26
In Switzerland, a secret army named P26 was discovered, by coincidence months before Giulio Andreotti's October 1990 revelations. After the "secret files scandal" (Fichenaffäre), Swiss parliamentaries started investigating the Defense Department in the summer of 1990. According to Felix Würsten of the ETH Zurich, "P26 was not directly involved in the network of NATO's secret armies but it had close contact to MI6."[95] Daniele Ganser (ETH Zurich) wrote in the Intelligence and National Security review that "following the discovery of the stay-behind armies across Western Europe in late 1990, Swiss and international security researchers found themselves confronted with two clear-cut questions: Did Switzerland also operate a secret stay-behind army? And if yes, was it part of NATO's stay-behind network? The answer to the first question is clearly yes... The answer to the second question remains disputed..."[96]
Swiss Major Hans von Dach published in 1958 Der totale Widerstand, Kleinkriegsanleitung für jedermann ("Total Resistance," Bienne, 1958) concerning guerrilla warfare, a book of 180 pages about passive and active resistance to a foreign invasion, including detailed instructions on sabotage, clandestinity, methods to dissimulate weapons, struggle against police moles, etc.[97]
In 1990, Colonel Herbert Alboth, a former commander of the Swiss secret stay-behind army P26 declared in a confidential letter to the Defence Department that he was willing to reveal "the whole truth". He was later found in his house, stabbed with his own military bayonet. The detailed parliamentary report on the Swiss secret army was presented to the public on November 17, 1990.[32] According to The Guardian, "P26 was backed by P27, a private foreign intelligence agency funded partly by the government, and by a special unit of Swiss army intelligence which had built up files on nearly 8,000 "suspect persons" including "leftists", "bill stickers", "Jehovah's witnesses", people with "abnormal tendencies" and anti-nucleardemonstrators. On November 14, the Swiss government hurriedly dissolved P26 — the head of which, it emerged, had been paid £100,000 a year."[80]
In 1991, a report by Swiss magistrate Pierre Cornu was released by the Swiss defence ministry. It said that P26 was without "political or legal legitimacy", and described the group's collaboration with British secret services as "intense". "Unknown to the Swiss government, British officials signed agreements with the organisation, called P26, to provide training in combat, communications, and sabotage. The latest agreement was signed in 1987... P26 cadres participated regularly in training exercises in Britain... British advisers — possibly from the SAS — visited secret training establishments in Switzerland." P26 was led by Efrem Cattelan, known to British intelligence.[81]
In a 2005 conference presenting Daniele Ganser's research on Gladio, Hans Senn, General Chief of Staff of the Swiss Army between 1977 and 1980, explained how he was informed of the existence of a secret organisation in the middle of his term of office. According to him, it already became clear in 1980 in the wake of the Schilling/Bachmann affair that there was also a secret group in Switzerland. But former MP, Helmut Hubacher, President of the Social Democratic Party from 1975 to 1990, declared that although it had been known that "special services" existed within the army, as a politician he never at any time could have known that the secret army P26 was behind this. Hubacher pointed out that the President of the parliamentary investigation into P26 (PUK-EMD), the right-wing politician from Appenzell and member of the Council of States for that Canton, Carlo Schmid, had suffered "like a dog" during the commission's investigations. Carlo Schmid declared to the press: "I was shocked that something like that is at all possible," and said to the press he was glad to leave the "conspirational atmosphere" which had weighted upon him like a "black shadow" during the investigations.[98] Hubacher found it especially disturbing that, apart from its official mandate of organizing resistance in case of a Soviet invasion, P26 had also a mandate to become active should the left succeed in achieving a parliamentary majority.[95]
[edit]FOIA requests and US State Department's 2006 communiqué
Three Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests have been filed to the CIA, which has rejected them with the Glomar response: "The CIA can neither confirm nor deny the existence or non-existence of records responsive to your request." One request was filed by the National Security Archive in 1991; another by the Italian Senate commission headed by SenatorGiovanni Pellegrino in 1995 concerning Gladio and Aldo Moro's murder; the last one in 1996, by Oliver Rathkolb, of Vienna university, for the Austrian government, concerning the secret stay-behind armies after a discovery of an arms-cache.[32]
Furthermore, the US State Department published a communiqué in January 2006 which, while confirming the existence of stay-behind armies, in general, and the presence of the "Gladio" stay-behind unit in Italy, in particular, with the purpose of aiding resistance in the event of Soviet aggression directed Westward, from the Warsaw Pact, dismissed claims of any United States ordered, supported, or authorized skullduggery by stay-behind units. In fact, it claims that, on the contrary, the accusations of US-sponsored "false flag" operations are rehashed former Soviet disinformation based on documents that the Soviets themselves forged; specifically the researchers are alleged to have been influenced by the Westmoreland Field Manual, whose forged nature was confirmed by former KGB operatives, following the end of the Cold War. However since then counter sources from within gladio and the CIA have admitted its authenticity. The alleged Soviet-authored forgery, disseminated in the 1970s, explicitly formulated the need for a "strategy of tension" involving violent attacks blamed on radical left-wing groups in order to convince allied governments of the need for counter-action. It also rejected a Communist Greek journalist's allegations made in December 2005 (See above).[69]
[edit]Politicians on Gladio
Whilst the existence of a "stay-behind" organization such as Gladio was disputed, prior to its confirmation by Giulio Andreotti[citation needed], with some skeptics describing it as aconspiracy theory, several high-ranking politicians in NATO countries have made statements appearing to confirm the existence of something like what is described:
- Former Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti ("Gladio had been necessary during the days of the Cold War but, that in view of the collapse of the East Bloc, Italy would suggest to NATO that the organisation was no longer necessary.")[citation needed]
- Former French minister of defense Jean-Pierre Chevènement ("a structure did exist, set up at the beginning of the 1950s, to enable communications with a government that might have fled abroad in the event of the country being occupied.").[citation needed]
- Former Greek defence minister, Ioannis Varvitsiotis (Greek: Ιωάννης Βαρβιτσιώτης) ("local commandos and the CIA set up a branch of the network in 1955 to organise guerrilla resistance to any communist invader")[citation needed]
As noted above, the US has now acknowledged the existence of Operation Gladio.[citation needed]
- NATO's Secret Armies: Operation GLADIO and Terrorism in Western Europe (Contemporary Security Studies), by Daniele Ganser, 2005, ISBN 0-7146-8500-3
- Puppetmasters: The Political Use of Terrorism in Italy, by Philip Willan, 2002, ISBN 0-595-24697-4
- Alan Francovich , BBC Documentary Gladio (1992 three-part BBC documentary)
- Michele Placido, Romanzo Criminale (2005, concerning the strategy of tension and the Banda della Magliana)
- Renzo Martinelli, Five Moons Plaza at the Internet Movie Database (Piazza delle cinque lune) (2003)
- Conspirator: The Story of Licio Gelli at the Internet Movie Database (2009)
- German documentary Gladio - Geheimarmeen in Europa (Germany, 2010, 85mn), SWR © tvschoenfilm, Directors: Frank Gutermuth, Wolfgang Schoen
- Turkish fiction movie "Kurtlar Vadisi Gladyo"
- Joe Wright, Hanna at the Internet Movie Database (2011) CIA uses neo-nazi forces to capture a fugitive assassin
A precise analogue of Operation Gladio was described in the 1949 fiction novel An Affair of State by Pat Frank.[99] In Frank's version, U.S. State Dept officers recruit a stay-behind network in Hungary to fight an insurgency against the Soviet Union after the Soviet Union launches an attack on and captures Western Europe.
In the Archer episode "Lo Scandalo", the character Mallory Archer mentions having been involved in Operation Gladio when younger.
John Douglas-Gray in his thriller 'The Novak Legacy' ISBN 978-0-7552-1321-4
- Stay-behind
- Fifth column
- Counter-guerilla
- Italian Communist Party (PCI) (1921-1991)
- ^ Çelik, Serdar (February/March 1994). "Turkey's Killing Machine: The Contra-Guerrilla Force". Kurdistan Report 17. Retrieved 2008-09-20. quoting Bülent Ecevit from "a newspaper interview" (in Turkish). Milliyet. 1990-11-28. "Özel Harp Dairesinin nerede bulunduğunu sordum 'Amerikan Askerî Yardım Heyetiyle aynı binada' yanıtını aldım."
- ^ Haberman, Clyde (1990-11-16). "EVOLUTION IN EUROPE; Italy Discloses Its Web Of Cold War Guerrillas". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-10-11. "Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece and Luxembourg have all acknowledged that they maintained Gladio-style networks to prepare guerrilla fighters to leap into action in the event of a Warsaw Pact invasion. Many worked under the code name Stay Behind. Greece called its operation Red Sheepskin. News reports in recent days assert that similar programs have also existed in Britain, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Austria, Turkey and Denmark, and even in neutral countries like Switzerland and Sweden."
- ^ Belgian parliamentary report concerning the stay-behind network, named "Enquête parlementaire sur l'existence en Belgique d'un réseau de renseignements clandestin international" or "Parlementair onderzoek met betrekking tot het bestaan in België van een clandestien internationaal inlichtingenetwerk" pg. 17-22
- ^ a b c d e f Ganser, Daniele. "Terrorism in Western Europe: An Approach to NATO’s Secret Stay-Behind Armies PDF (162 KB)," Whitehead Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, South Orange NJ, Winter/Spring 2005, Vol. 6, No. 1.
- ^ a b c d Vulliamy, Ed (1990-12-05). "Secret agents, freemasons, fascists... and a top-level campaign of political 'destabilisation'". The Guardian.
- ^ Fitchett, Joseph. (1990-11-13) "Paris Says it Joined NATO 'Resistance'," International Herald Tribune
- ^ Duraud, Bernard (2005-10-07). "La critique - Récit d'un brigadiste" (in French). L'Humanité.
- ^ Peake, Hayden B.. "Intelligence in Recent Public Literature". The Intelligence Officer's Bookshelf. Central Intelligence Agency.
- ^ O’Shaughnessy, Hugh. "Gladio: Europe’s Secret Networks," The Observer, 18 November 1990.
- ^ (Italian) "Commissione parlamentare d'inchiesta sul terrorismo in Italia e sulle cause della mancata individuazione dei responsabili delle stragi (1995 Parliamentary Commission of Investigation on Terrorism in Italy and on the Causes of the Failing of the Arrests of the Responsibles of the Bombings)". 1995. Archived from the original on 2006-08-19. Retrieved 2006-05-02.
- ^ (Italian) "Strage di Piazza Fontana – spunta un agente Usa". La Repubblica. February 11, 1998. Retrieved 2006-05-02. (With links to juridical sentences and Parliamentary Report by the Italian Commission on Terrorism)
- ^ (English)/(Italian)/(French)/(German) "Secret Warfare: Operation Gladio and NATO's Stay-Behind Armies". Swiss Federal Institute of Technology / International Relation and Security Network. Archived from the original on 2006-04-25. Retrieved 2006-05-02.
- ^ "Gelli arrest is another chapter in Vatican bank scandal". American Atheists. 1998-09-16. Retrieved February 2006.
- ^ See for ex. links between Italian neofascist terroristStefano delle Chiaie, who was protected by the ItalianSISMI, and the DINA; including assassination attempts on Bernardo Leighton, Carlos Altamirano, Andrés Pascal Allende (Salvador Allende's nephew), etc. Delle Chiaie also worked with Argentine death-squad Triple A and Bolivian dictator Hugo Banzer. Las relaciones secretas entre Pinochet, Franco y la P2 , Conspiración para matar, Sergio Sorin, February 4, 1999
- ^ "Secret Cold-War Network Group Hid Arms, Belgian Member Says". Brussels: Reuters. 1990-11-13.
- ^ Pedrick, Clare; Lardner, George Jr (1990-11-14). "CIA Organized Secret Army in Western Europe".Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
- ^ Vulliamy, Ed (1990-08-03). "Grieving Bologna looks back in anger on bombing". The Guardian.
- ^ Patrice, Claude (1990-11-07). "ITALIE : face aux interrogations de l'opinion M. Andreotti lève le voile sur le passé d'une structure armée parallèle patronnée par l'OTAN et la CIA" (in French). Le Monde.
- ^ a b Gardais, Pierre (1990-11-29). "Le chef du gouvernement italien a dû reconnaître son existence"(in French). L'Humanité. Retrieved 2008-08-21. "Selon les cas, on excitait ou en empêchait le terrorisme d’extrême gauche ou d’extrême droite"[dead link] (English translation)
- ^ a b Willan, Philip. "Paolo Emilio Taviani", The Guardian, June 21, 2001. (Obituary.)
- ^ a b Herman, Edward S (June 1991). "Hiding Western Terror". Nation: 21–22.
- ^ Barbera, Myriam. "Gladio: et la France?," L'Humanité, November 10, 1990 (French).
- ^ "Caso Moro. Morire di Gladio" (in Italian). La Voce della Campania. January 2005.
- ^ Gladio e caso Moro: Arconte su morte Ferraro, "La Nuova Sardegna" (Italian)
- ^ a b Pallister, David. "How M16 and SAS Join In," The Guardian, December 5, 1990
- ^ Willan, Philip. "US 'supported anti-left terror in Italy'",The Guardian, June 24, 2000.
- ^ CIA knew, but didn't stop bombings in Italy – report. CBC
- ^ a b Willan, Philip. Terrorists 'helped by CIA' to stop rise of left in Italy, The Guardian, March 26, 2001.
- ^ "Protest marches as the Milan bomb outrage five go free". The Guardian. 1985-08-03.
- ^ "Neo-fascists Cleared of 1973 Bomb Attack for Second Time". ANSA. 2004-12-01.
- ^ "CIA rejects accusation of involvement in bombings in Italy". AFP. 2000-08-04.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Chronology, Secret Warfare: Operation Gladio and NATO's Stay-Behind Armies, ETH Zurich
- ^ a b c "Strage di Piazza Fontana spunta un agente USA" (in Italian). La Repubblica (IT). 1998-02-11. Retrieved 2006-02-02. (With original documents, including juridical sentences and the report of the Italian Commission on Terrorism.
- ^ Richards, Charles (1990-12-01). "Gladio is still opening wounds" (press cutting). The Independent(Cambridge clarion): p. 12. Retrieved 2008-07-30.
- ^ a b Charles Richards & Simon Jones, "Skeletons start emerging from Europe's closet," The Independent, November 16, 1990, quoted in (Statewatch 1991).
- ^ Agnew, Paddy (November 15, 1990), "Report of NATO-sponsored secret army shocks Italy", The Irish Times: 8. Quoted by (Statewatch 1991).
- ^ Willan, Philip. "Moro's ghost haunts political life", The Guardian, May 9, 2003.
- ^ Vulliamy, Ed. The Guardian, January 16, 1991. Quoted by (Statewatch 1991).
- ^ (in Italian) Bologna massacre Association of Victims, Italy: Stragi
- ^ Ganser, Daniele (2005-04-07). "The Secret Side of International Relations: An approach to NATO’s stay-behind armies in Western Europe" (PDF). Political Studies Association Annual Conference. Retrieved 2009-06-27.
- ^ "Italy probes 'parallel police'". BBC News. July 1, 2005. Retrieved 2008-07-30.
- ^ Philips, John (2005-07-05). "Up to 200 Italian police 'ran parallel anti-terror force'". The Independent. Retrieved 2008-07-30.[dead link]
- ^ Selvatici, Franca (2005-07-02). "Macché Gladio bis, le autorità sapevano Gaetano Saya si difende" (in Italian). La Repubblica. (Google translation available)
- ^ Ceccarelli, Filippo (2005-07-03). "Gladio, P2, falangisti l'Italia che sogna il golpe" (in Italian). La Repubblica.
- ^ Imarisio, Marco (2005-07-03). "Così reclutavano: "Facciamo un'altra Gladio"" (in Italian). Corriere della Sera.
- ^ Official site of the Belgian Permanent Committee for the Control of Intelligence Services See "history" section in the "Presentation" part.
- ^ Kwitny, Jonathan (1992-04-06). "The C.I.A.'s Secret Armies in Europe". The Nation: pp. 446–447. Quoted in Ganser's "Terrorism in Western Europe".
- ^ Cogan, Charles (2007). "'Stay-Behind' in France: Much ado about nothing?". Journal of Strategic Studies 30 (6): 937–954. doi:10.1080/01402390701676493.
- ^ Daeninckx, Didier. "Du Temple Solaire au réseau Gladio, en passant par Politica Hermetica...," February 27, 2002.
- ^ a b Colby, William. "A Scandinavian Spy," Chapter 3. (Former CIA director 's memoirs.)
- ^ a b Lee, Christopher. CIA Ties With Ex-Nazis Shown,Washington Post, June 7, 2006.
- ^ "Alleged Secret Organization". The Times. 1952-10-09.
- ^ a b "'Partisans' in Germany". The Times. 1952-10-11.
- ^ a b c d e Norton-Taylor, Richard and David Gow. Secret Italian Unit," The Guardian, November 17, 1990
- ^ "Ban In Hesse On Youth Union". The Times. 1953-01-10.
- ^ "Further Ban On Union Of German Youth". The Times. 1953-01-15.
- ^ Daniele Ganser:http://blogs.shu.edu/diplomacy/files/archives/08_ganser27.pdfTerrorism in Western Europe: An Approach to NATO’s Secret Stay-Behind Armies The Whitehead Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations
- ^ "Police say suspect committed suicide". United Press International. 1981-11-01.
- ^ a b c Why Israel's capture of Eichmann caused panic at the CIA, The Guardian, June 8, 2006
- ^ Opening of CIA Records under Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act, May 8, 2002 NARA communique(English)
- ^http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek/hauptnavigation/startseite#/beitrag/video/1597574/M%C3%BCnchen-%2772---die-Dokumentation
- ^ Peter Murtagh, The Rape of Greece. The King, the Colonels, and the Resistance (London, Simon & Schuster, 1994), p.29, quoted by Daniele Ganser (2005), p.213
- ^ Ganser (2005), pp.213-214 (his quote)
- ^ Philip Agee and Louis Wolf, Dirty Work: The CIA in Western Europe (Secaucus: Lyle Stuart Inc., 1978), p.154 (quoted by Daniele Ganser (2005) p.216
- ^ "Due to the direct involvement of the Hellenic Raiding Force the Greek military coup has been labelled 'a Gladio coup'." (NATO's Secret Armies: Operation GLADIO and Terrorism in Western Europe by Daniele Ganser, p. 221.) "In Greece, where it was given the code-name, Sheepskin, a cell was set up by the CIA in the 1950s but was dismantled in 1988, according to the government. Officers in the underground unit were involved in the Colonels' coup in 1967." (Richard Norton-Taylor, "The Gladio File: did fear of communism throw West into the arms of terrorists?", in The Guardian, December 5, 1990)
- ^ NATO's Secret Armies: Operation GLADIO and Terrorism in Western Europe by Daniele Ganser, p. 221.
- ^ NATO's Secret Armies: Operation GLADIO and Terrorism in Western Europe by Daniele Ganser, p. 223.
- ^ "NATO's secret network 'also operated in France'",The Guardian, November 14, 1990, pg.6
- ^ a b c "Misinformation about "Gladio/Stay Behind" Networks Resurfaces". United States Department of State.
- ^ "'MIVD verzwijgt wapenvondst in onderwereld'". Nu.nl. 2007-09-09. Retrieved 2007-09-09.
- ^ "GLADIO IN NEDERLAND". Retrieved 2007-09-09.
- ^ Olav Riste (1999). The Norwegian Intelligence Service: 1945-1970. Routledge. ISBN 0-7146-4900-7.
- ^ "Secret Anti-Communist Network Exposed in Norway in 1978". Associated Press. 1990-11-14.
- ^ (Ganser 2005, p. 119) Quotes Joao Paulo Guerra, "Gladio actuou em Portugal", in O Jornal, 16 November 1990 and Stuart Christie, Stefano delle Chiaie, London, 1984, p.30.
- ^ David Lampe, The Last Ditch: Britain's Resistance Plans against the Nazis Cassell 1968 ISBN 0-304-92519-5
- ^ Dan van der Vat. "Obituary: General Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley," Guardian. 15 March 2006
- ^ Gerardo Serravalle, Gladio (Rome: Edizione Associate,ISBN 88-267-0145-8, 1991), p.78-79 (Italian)
- ^ Belgian Parliamentary Commission of Enquiry into Gladio, quoted by Daniele Ganser (2005)
- ^ a b http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?sid=384
- ^ a b c Richard Norton-Taylor, "The Gladio File: did fear of communism throw West into the arms of terrorists?", in The Guardian, December 5, 1990
- ^ a b Norton-Taylor, Richard. UK trained secret Swiss force" in The Guardian, September 20, 1991, pg.7.
- ^ http://www.makarios.eu/cgibin/hweb?-A=3664,printer.html&-V=makarios
- ^ Official list of the dead of the coup from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the republic of Cyprus.http://www.mfa.gov.cy/mfa/mfa2006.nsf/All/22F188281F443892C22574E5003E1F85/$file/%CE%A0%CE%A1%CE%91%CE%9E%CE%99%CE%9A%CE%9F%CE%A0%CE%97%CE%9C%CE%91.xls?OpenElement Dead coupists at the presidential palace area are from LOK units 31 MK and 32MK and tanks unit 21 EAN
- ^ C. G. McKay, Bengt Beckman, Swedish Signal Intelligence, Frank Cass Publishers, 2002, p. 202
- ^ Crimes of Montejurra (Good Google translation)
- ^ Un informe oficial italiano implica en el crimen de Atocha al 'ultra' Cicuttini, relacionado con Gladio, El País, December 2, 1990 (Spanish)
- ^ Suárez afirma que en su etapa de presidente nunca se habló de la red Gladio, El País, November 18, 1990(Spanish)
- ^ Calvo Sotelo asegura que España no fue informada, cuando entró en la OTAN, de la existencia de Gladio,El País, November 21, 1990 (Spanish)
- ^ Italia vetó la entrada de España en Gladio, según un ex jefe del espionaje italiano, El País, November 17, 1990 (Spanish)
- ^ Serra ordena indagar sobre la red Gladio en España, El País, November 16, 1990 (Spanish)
- ^ La 'red Gladio' continúa operando, según el ex agente Alberto Volo, El País, August 19, 1991 (Spanish)
- ^ El secretario de la OTAN elude precisar si España tuvo relación con la red Gladio, El País, November 24, 1990(Spanish)
- ^ Indicios de que la red Gladio utilizó una vieja estación de la NASA en Gran Canaria, El País, November 26, 1990 (Spanish)
- ^ La red secreta de la OTAN operaba en España, según un ex agente belga, El País, November 14, 1990
- ^ a b The Dark Side of the West, Conference "Nato Secret Armies and P26," ETH Zurich, 2005. Published 10 February 2005. Retrieved February 7, 2007.
- ^ Ganser, Daniele. "The British Secret Service in Neutral Switzerland: An Unfinished Debate on NATO's Cold War Stay-behind Armies", published by the Intelligence and National Security review, vol.20, n°4, December 2005, pp.553-580 ISSN 0268–4527 print 1743–9019 online.
- ^ Major Hans von Dach, 1958. Der totale Widerstand...;Total Resistance reed. Paladin Press, 1992 ISBN 978-0-87364-021-3.
- ^ "Schwarzer Schatten" (in German). Der Spiegel 50: 194b–200a. 1990-12-10. Retrieved 2008-10-28.[verification needed]
- ^ Pat Frank. An Affair of State. J. B. Lippincott & Co. 1949
- Operation Gladio (BBC Timewatch, 1992) State-Sponsored Terrorism in Europe
- BBC 2 Gladio - 1992 tree part Documentary Video
- Bibliography
- Statewatch (January 1991). "Operation Gladio". Retrieved 2008-07-30
- Secret Warfare : Operation Gladio and NATO's Stay-Behind Armies. Edited by Daniele Ganser and Christian Nuenlist. 29 Nov 2004. Parallel History Project, ETH Zürich
- Ganser, Daniele (2005). NATO's Secret Armies: Operation GLADIO and Terrorism in Western Europe. Frank Cass Publishers. ISBN 0-7146-8500-3 (resume)
- Daniele Ganser, Les Armées Secrètes de l'OTAN, Gladio et Terrorisme en Europe de l’Ouest, ISBN 978-2-917112-00-7 éditions Demi-Lune, 2007. Same book as above, in French. (a quick resume in French)
- William Colby (former CIA director), Honorable Men (1978) extract
- David Hoffman, "The Oklahoma City bombing and the Politics of Terror", 1998 (chapter 14 online on strategy of tension
- Giovanni Fasanella and Claudio Sestieri with Giovanni Pellegrino, "Segreto di Stato. La verità da Gladio al caso Moro", Einaudi, 2000 (see civic website of Bologna) (Italian)
- Jan Willems, Gladio, 1991, EPO-Dossier, Bruxelles (ISBN 2-87262-051-6). (French)
- Jens Mecklenburg, Gladio. Die geheime Terrororganisation der Nato, 1997, Elefanten Press Verlag GmbH, Berlin (ISBN 3-88520-612-9). (German)
- Leo A. Müller, Gladio. Das Erbe des kalten Krieges, 1991, RoRoRo-Taschenbuch Aktuell no 12993 (ISBN 3499 129930). (German)
- Jean-François Brozzu-Gentile, L’Affaire Gladio. Les réseaux secrets américains au cœur du terrorisme en Europe, 1994, Albin Michel, Paris (ISBN 2-226-06919-4). (French)
- Anna Laura Braghetti, Paola Tavella, Le Prisonnier. 55 jours avec Aldo Moro, 1999 (translated from Italian: Il Prigioniero), Éditions Denoël, Paris (ISBN 2-207-24888-7)(Italian)/(French)
- Regine Igel, Andreotti. Politik zwischen Geheimdienst und Mafia, 1997, Herbig Verlagsbuchhandlung GmbH, Munich (ISBN 3-7766-1951-1). (German)
- Arthur E. Rowse, "Gladio: The Secret U.S. War to Subvert Italian Democracy" in Covert Action #49, Summer of 1994.
- Anti-Fascist Action (AFA), "Staying Behind: NATO's Terror Network" in Fighting Talk #11, May 1995.
- François Vitrani, "L’Italie, un Etat de 'souveraineté limitée' ?", in Le Monde diplomatique, December 1990. (French)
- Patrick Boucheron, "L'affaire Sofri : un procès en sorcellerie?", in L'Histoire magazine, n°217 (January 1998) Concerning Carlo Ginzburg's book The judge and the historian aboutAdriano Sofri (French)
- "Les procès Andreotti en Italie" ("The Andreotti trials in Italy") by Philippe Foro, published by University of Toulouse II, Groupe de recherche sur l'histoire immédiate (Study group on immediate history). (French)
- Angelo Paratico "Gli assassini del karma" Robin editore, Roma, 2003.
![http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/80/Cossiga_Francesco_3.jpg/200px-Cossiga_Francesco_3.jpg]()
![http://bits.wikimedia.org/static-1.21wmf1/skins/common/images/magnify-clip.png]()
Cossiga during his Presidency
Minister for the Christian-Democracy
He was a minister several times for the Democrazia Cristiana party (DC), notably during his stay at Viminale (Ministry for internal affairs) where he re-structured the Italian police, civil protection and secret services. In 1977, when Cossiga was minister of internal affairs, police squads organized by Cossiga shot against a demonstration in Rome, killing student Giorgiana Masi. Cossiga for many years stated that she was killed by her companions.[4]
He was in-charge during the kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro by Red Brigades, and he resigned when Moro was found dead in 1978.[5]According to Italian journalist Enrico Deaglio, Cossiga to justify his lack of action "accused the leaders of CGIL and of the Italian Communist Party to know the location where Moro was detained".[4] Cossiga was also minister of internal affairs when Fascist terrorists bombed Bologna station in 1980. He initially declared that it was a Fascist attack, but he later stated it was a Palestinian transport of weapons which went wrong. He also supported the innocence of Giusva Fioravanti and Francesca Mambro, who were later condemned for the bombing and for numerous murders, declaring: "They are good guys and they want me well."[4]
During the early 1980s, Cossiga attacked several times the antimafia judges and spoke in favour of judge Corrado Carnevale, a member of the Corte di Cassazione (Italy's supreme court) who had annulled numerous sentences against mafia leaders and was later tried for these actions.[4]
Cossiga was elected President of the Italian Senate 12 July 1983, a position he held until 24 June 1985, when he became the President of Italy.
[edit]Election as President of Italy
Following his resignation as president of the Senate in 1985, Cossiga was elected President of Italy (Head of State). This was the first time a candidate had won following the first ballot (where a majority of over two thirds is necessary).
It was not until his last two years as President that Cossiga began to express some unusual opinions regarding the Italian political system. He opined that the Italian parties, especially the DC (his own party) and Italian Communist Party, had to take into account the deep changes brought about by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War.[6]
These statements, soon dubbed "esternazioni", or "mattock blows" (picconate), were considered by many to be inappropriate for a President and, often, beyond his constitutional powers; also, his mental health was doubted and Cossiga had to declare "I am the fake madman who speaks the truth."[6]
Tension developed between Cossiga and the President of the Council of Ministers Giulio Andreotti. This tension emerged when Andreotti revealed the existence of Gladio, a stay-behind organization with the official aim of countering a possible Soviet invasion through sabotage and guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines. Cossiga announced his involvement in the establishment of the organization.[7][8] The Democratic Party of the Left (successor to the Communist Party) started the procedure of impeachment (Presidents of Italy can be impeached only for high treason against the State or for an attempt to overthrow the Constitution).[9][10] Although he threatened to prevent the impeachment procedure by dissolving Parliament, the impeachment request was ultimately dismissed.
Cossiga resigned two months before the end of his term, on 25 April 1992.[11]
According to the Italian Constitution, after his resignation from the office of President, Cossiga became lifetime senator, joining his predecessors in the upper house of parliament, with whom he also shared the title of President Emeritus of the Italian Republic.
In February 1998, Cossiga created the Unione Democratica per la Repubblica (a political party), declaring it to be politically central. The UDR was a crucial component of the majority that supported the D'Alema government in October 1998, after the fall of the Prodi government which lost a vote of confidence.
Cossiga declared that his support for D'Alema was intended to end the conventional exclusion of the former Communist Party (PCI) leaders from the premiership in Italy.
In 1999 UDR was dissolved and Cossiga returned to his activities as a senator, with competences in the Military Affairs' Commission.[12]
In May 2006 he brought in a bill that would allow the region of South Tyrol to hold a referendum, where the local electorate could decide whether to remain within the Republic of Italy, take independence, or become part of Austria again.[13]
On 27 November 2006, he resigned from his position as a lifetime senator. His resignation was, however, rejected on 31 January 2007 by a vote of the Senate.
Cossiga died on 17 August 2010 because of respiratory problems.
[edit]Controversial statements
In 2007, in a statement published by the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Cossiga commented on the 11 September attacks and on a video attributed to Osama Bin Laden 2001. He wrote that "all of the democratic circles of America and of Europe, especially those of the Italian centre-left, now know well that the disastrous attack was planned and realized by the American CIA and Mossad with the help of the Zionist world to place the blame on Arabic countries and to persuade the Western powers to intervene in Iraq and Afghanistan".[14][15]However, the previous year Cossiga had stated that he rejects theoretical conspiracies and that it "seems unlikely that the rather impossible September 11 was the result of an American plot."[16]
In the same statement, Cossiga claimed that a video tape circulated by Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda and containing threats against Silvio Berlusconi was "produced in the studios ofMediaset in Milan" and forwarded to the "Islamist Al-Jazeera television network." The purpose of that video tape (which was actually an audio tape) was to raise "a wave of solidarity to Berlusconi" who was, at the time, facing political difficulties.[14]
In 2008, Francesco Cossiga told about Mario Draghi: "He is a craven moneyman".[17]
As President of the Republic, Cossiga was Head (and also Knight Grand Cross with Grand Cordon) of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (from 3 July 1985 to 28 April 1992), Military Order of Italy, Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity, Order of Merit for Labour and Order of Vittorio Veneto and Grand Cross of Merit of the Italian Red Cross. He has also been bestowed honours and awards by other countries.
- ^ a b Page at Senate website (Italian).
- ^ See http://www.dizionario.rai.it/poplemma.aspx?lid=75285&r=424.
- ^ (Italian) Mio cugino Berlinguer: Cossiga racconta un leader (Cossiga talking about Enrico Berlinguer in an interview to Gian Antonio Stella – Corriere della Sera, 10 June 2004)(Italian)
- ^ a b c d Deaglio, Enrico (18 August 2010). "La lepre marzolina che attraversò la storia senza pagar dazio". L'Unità.
- ^ Sassoon, Donald (18 August 2010). "Francesco Cossiga obituary". The Guardian.
- ^ a b The Washington Post: Veteran Italian politician Cossiga dies
- ^ Bloomberg: Francesco Cossiga, Italy's Combative Former President, Dies at Age 82
- ^ ADN Kronos: Former president Francesco Cossiga dies at 82
- ^ (Italian) Il Sole 24 ore: Occhetto, lo strappo mai ricucito su Gladio
- ^ (Italian) La Repubblica: Il PDS vota l'impeachment di Cossiga (4 December 1991)
- ^ (Italian) La Repubblica: E l'uomo grigio prese il piccone (26 April 1992)
- ^ (Italian) Cossiga's activity as a Senator, on the Senate's website
- ^ Cossiga, Francesco (8 June 2006). "Riconoscimento del diritto di autodeterminazione al Land Südtyrol – Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano". Disegno di Legge Costituzionale N. 592. Senato della Repubblica XV Legislatura. Retrieved 21 February 2009.
- ^ a b "Osama-Berlusconi? "Trappola giornalistica"". Corriere della Sera. 30 November 2007. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
- ^ Scherer, Steve; Totaro, Lorenzo (17 August 2010). "Francesco Cossiga, Italy's Combative Ex-President, Dies at 82". Bloomberg. Retrieved 20 August 2010.[dead link]
- ^ http://archivio.lastampa.it/LaStampaArchivio/main/History/tmpl_viewObj.jsp?objid=7190957Sassoon, Donald (18 August 2010). "Francesco Cossiga obituary". The Guardian (London).
- ^ Francesco Cossiga told that during an interview at the morning television program "Uno Mattina", Rai Uno [1]
- "Le confessioni di Cossiga: 'Io, Gelli e la massoneria'". La Repubblica. 11 October 2003. (on links between Cossiga, Licio Gelli and Propaganda Due masonic lodge; Massera, part of Videla's junta in Argentina, is also named)
- Obituary – Fox news
- Works by or about Francesco Cossiga in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
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Political offices
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|
Preceded by
Title jointly held
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Italian Minister without portfolio
1974–1976
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Succeeded by
Title jointly held
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|
Preceded by
Luigi Gui
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Italian Minister of the Interior
1976–1978
|
Succeeded by
Virginio Rognoni
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|
Preceded by
Giulio Andreotti
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Prime Minister of Italy
1979–1980
|
Succeeded by
Arnaldo Forlani
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|
Preceded by
Vittorino Colombo
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President of the Italian Senate
1983–1985
|
Succeeded by
Amintore Fanfani
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|
Preceded by
Sandro Pertini
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President of the Italian Republic
1985–1992
|
Succeeded by
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro
|
|
Italian Senate
|
|
Preceded by
Title jointly held
|
Senator
Legislatures
IX
1983–1985
|
Succeeded by
Title jointly held
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|
Preceded by
Title jointly held
|
Lifetime Senator
Legislatures
XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI
1992–2010
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Succeeded by
Title jointly held
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Italian Chamber of Deputies
|
|
Preceded by
Title jointly held
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Member of Parliament for Sardinia
Legislatures: III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII
1958–1983
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Succeeded by
Title jointly held
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|
Honorary titles
|
|
Preceded by
Masayoshi Ohira
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Chair of the G8
1980
|
Succeeded by
Pierre E. Trudeau
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Cossiga
Mr Wijat's friend Magic Rabbit 
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Conservative Republicans, Bush has killed the Republican brand name
The director of emergency services in Gaza, Dr Muawiya Hassanein, said half of
the casualties were women and children.
Elsewhere, Palestinian medics and human rights activists accused Israeli forces
of illegally firing phosphorus shells at civilian areas, causing serious burns.
The Israeli army categorically denied their use.
Militant groups in Gaza have continued to fire rockets into southern Israel,
despite the offensive. One caused damage in the city of Ashkelon, although there
were no reports of any serious injuries.
The Israelis say they are close to what they describe as the end game, but say
they want to keep up pressure on Hamas as well as exploring a diplomatic way
out.
Israeli soldiers move in from the border of the northern
Gaza Strip Tanks and infantry units pushed into residential areas, as Israel maintains
military pressure on the Islamist group while avoiding all-out urban
warfare. Some neighbourhoods are filled with home-made bombs and booby traps, an
Israeli army spokeswoman said. Major Avital Leibovich confirmed the army is "advancing more into urban
areas".
(Bernat Armangue/AP) An Israeli army mortar squad fires a round towards a
target in the Gaza Strip
Times Archive: Foundation of Israel
War in Gaza 
The Israeli military has continued its air and ground attacks in the Gaza Strip,
with troops reported to be moving slowly into the most densely populated areas.
Black smoke was seen rising over the eastern suburbs of Gaza City, where
skirmishes
An Israeli army spokeswoman said Israeli troops were advancing more into urban
The Israeli air force has been in action close to the border crossing with
Egypt, at Rafah, targeting tunnels used for smuggling.areas, because that was where Hamas militants were mostly hiding.
Palestinian medical officials say nearly 900 people have been killed since the
conflict began on 27 December. Israel says 13 Israelis have died, three of them
civilians.
ADVISORY: This gallery contains images viewers may find
distressing. Israel's military has reportedly been involved in fierce fighting
around Gaza City, after its warplanes launched another night of air strikes
The conflict showed no sign of abating despite last
week's UN resolution - rejected by Israel and Hamas - calling for an immediate
ceasefire. Correspondents say it could well intensify before it ends. 
Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the state was
nearing its goals in Gaza, as he signalled the offensive would continue. It
comes weeks before a parliamentary election in Israel. 
Strikes took place near the Rafah refugee camps. Israel
has also been accused of using white phosphorus shells in the Gaza campaign - a
charge it denies.
But militants have still been able to fire barrages of rockets from Gaza deep
inside southern Israel.
Aid agencies say Gaza's 1.5 million residents are in
urgent need of food and medical aid. 
Thirteen Israelis - 10 soldiers and three civilians -
have died since the conflict began on 27 December.
But Palestinians have borne the brunt of the bloodshed.
Medics say the number of people killed in Gaza is now approaching 900 and
estimate nearly a third of the dead have been children.
