-Caveat Lector-
"The German government is going to disband its part of 'Operation
Gladio,' the [CIA-funded] secret resistance network, Bonn officials said.
"According to a German television report, the section consisted of
former SS and Waffen-SS officers, as well as members of an extreme
rightwing group, the Federation of German Youth. It had drawn up plans
to assassinate leading figures of the 'leftist' Social Democratic Party
in the event of a Soviet-led invasion of Europe."
(Richard Norton Taylor and David Gow, The Guardian, 17/11/90)
Subj: [CTRL] Operation GLADIO - Part Three of Four Parts
Date: 98-06-03 01:08:29 EDT
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (R. William Davis)
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
copyright StatesWatch
OPERATION GLADIO (cont'd)
15/11/90 Official Commission on Terrorism
"Italian authorities launched an official inquiry yesterday into a
clandestine NATO terror group code-named Gladio...A commission will
question senior officers about Gladio. Admiral Fulvio Marini was quizzed
by the commission..."Gladio is virtually frozen. I can guarantee that," the
admiral told [them]. (Morning Star, 16/11/90)
22/11/90 European Parliament call for enquiry into Gladio
"The European Parliament yesterday called for an investigation into secret
anti-communist organisations set up in the 1950s." (Guardian. 23/11/90) See
Appendix 2 for full text.
28/11/90 Gladio Disbanded
"Operation Gladio has been dismantled. General Paolo Inzerilli, chief of
staff of the Italian security service Sismi told the parliamentary
commission on terrorism that the Prime Minister issued the order on
Wednesday." (Charles Richards, Independent, 1/12/90)
4/12/90 President Cossiga's speech on Gladio
"In perhaps his most ill-advised intervention so far, Cossiga delivered a
eulogy on the paramilitary organisation in a speech to carabinieri cadets
at a training college in Rome. Calling members of Gladio patriots, the
President suggested the magistrate investigating the organisation was
inspired by the same subversive ideals that fuelled Italy is left-wing
movements"
(Bruce Johnston, Sunday Times, 9/12/90)
10/12/90 Judicial inquiry into Gladio
The prosecutor of Rome...begins his examination into the possible criminal
illegality of the Gladio brief. The inquiry splits into two: the Venetian
judges, Felice Casson and Marco Mastelloni, will continue to work on the
terrorist attack of 1972, in which three policemen were killed...The Rome
prosecutor, Uga Giudiceandrea, will rule on what is called "criminal
evidence", and decide whether to take legal proceedings against those
involved in setting up Gladio. Among his first witnesses will be General
Giovanni de Lorenzo, head of Sifar in 1959, who is embroiled in inquiries
into another paramilitary network called Piano Solo, declared illegal in
1970 (Ed Vulliamy, Guardian, 10/12/90)
OPERATION 'STAY-BEHIND' (THE BRITISH CONNECTION)
1940 Origins of the network?
"In Britain, a guerrilla network with arms caches was already in place
following the fall of France in 1940, according to senior military sources
who say it was disbanded after the war. Its members, including the
legendary Brigadier "Mad Mike" Calvert, were drawn from a special forces
ski battalion of the Scots Guards which was originally intended to fight
in nazi-occupied Finland." (David Pallister, Guardian 5/12/90)
1948 Operation Stay Behind is put into operation
"The stay behind groups in Europe had their origins in the fear of
communism that concentrated the minds of British and US politicians and
planners after the second world war. The plan, spearheaded by the infant
CIA as part of a huge covert action programme to assist anti-communist
organisations, had been conceived by the US Joint Chiefs of Staff,
according to the 1976 Senate report on the CIA by Frank Church which first
revealed its existence. It was put into operation in 1948 by the National
Security Council, which set up the Office of Policy Coordination, a covert
operations unit created on the recommendation of a senior state department
Soviet expert, George Keenan, the man who formulated the Marshall Plan of
economic aid to western Europe. Staffed and funded by the CIA, OPCs
central mission, according to Church, was to set up "stay behind nets in
the event of a future war" and support Nato forces against Soviet attacks."
(David Pallister, Guardian, 5/12/90)
Late 1940s-1950s M16/SAS involvement
"The British Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, and the SAS played their
part. In the British sector of Germany, the SAS dug deep secret hides with
stores of weapons. MI6 helped the CIA to recruit agents who invaded Albania
in 1949 in an operation betrayed by the double agent, Kim Philby."
1950s
"A secret arms network was set up in Britain during the Cold War as part
of a west European anti-communist organisation, a former senior British
army officer revealed to the Guardian yesterday. Plans were drawn up later
to give the organisation a "secondary use" - combating the takeover of
civil government by militant leftwing groups, other British sources
revealed. It is the first time British participation in the
Nato-orchestrated plan - which involved the arming of civilians - has been
acknowledged. The network, known as the Allied Coordination committee and
partly financed by British intelligence, ranged from Turkey to Portugal,
and has provoked a political storm in Italy...General Sir Anthony
Farrar-Hockley, a former commander-in-chief of NATO forces in northern
Europe, said the organisation was based on the idea that there should be
a secret network to engage in guerrilla warfare if Britain was overrun by
communist forces. "The original plan was to establish a network to arm
guerrillas from the civil populace while conventional forces were occupied
elsewhere," he said. Sir Anthony did not say whether the network, run by
officers from the security services and armed forces still existed."
(Richard Norton-Taylor, Guardian, 15/11/90)
"General Sir John Hackett, a former commander-in-chief of the British army
on the Rhine, said yesterday that a contingency plan involving "stay behind
and resistance in depth" was drawn up after the second world war." (Richard
Norton-Taylor, Guardian, 17/11/90)
1956 British involvement in formation of Italian Gladio
"Andreotti ... has admitted to parliament that a covert intelligence
service was set-up forty years ago, with the help of the CIA and British
agents to combat Soviet subversion or aggression." (Wolfgang Achtner,
Sunday Independent, 11/11/90)
"General sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley, a former commander-in-chief of NATO
forces in northern Europe said...that a covert intelligence service was set
up in Italy with the help of British agents and the CIA - which also partly
funded it. The Italian branch of the network was known as Operation
Gladio" (Richard Norton Taylor, Guardian, 15/11/90)
1970s British visit to German Training Camp
"Documents shown to the [Italian Committee on Terrorism revealed that in
the 1970s British and French officials involved in the network visited a
training base in Germany built with US money."
(Richard Norton-Taylor, Guardian, 17/11/90)
cl973 Gladio unit visit Britain
"Britain hosted a unit responsible for organising Operation
Gladio...General Gerardo Serraville, who said the Italians trained at a
military base in Britain, was giving evidence in Rome to a parliamentary
inquiry." (see 1990). (Richard Norton-Taylor & David Gow, Guardian,
17/11/90)
1974 British "Gladio" visit to Italy
Gladio "counterparts in Britain, where the plan was given the name
Operation Stay Behind, visited Italy in 1974, according to a senior Italian
intelligence official." (Richard norton-Taylor & David Gow, Guardian,
17/11/90)
16/11/90 Tom King denial
"The Defence secretary, Tom King, said yesterday that he had never heard
of Gladio. "I'm not sure what particular hot potato you're chasing after.
It sounds wonderfully exciting, but I'm afraid I'm quite ignorant about it.
I'm better informed on the
Gulf," Mr King said."
(Richard Norton-Taylor, Guardian, 17/11/90
OTHER "STAY BEHIND" OPERATIONS
AUSTRIA (Schwert)
"The network... in Austria is called "Schwert" (sword)"
(Richard Norton-Taylor, Guardian, 16/11/90)
BELGIUM (SDR-8)
"The Belgian government said it was investigating possible links between
its own clandestine network and a spate of particularly brutal raids on
supermarkets around Brussels in the mid 1980's, in which 28 people died.
Several policemen and well-known right-wingers were arrested after
ballistic tests, but no one was brought to trial. (Fiona Leney & Wolfgang
Achtner, Independent, 10/11/90)
"The Belgian arm now existed in "cadre form" but still operated a radio
communication system, he [Belgian defence Minister, Guy Coeme] said. "It
was a secret service in the 1950s intended for resistance, radio networks,
intelligence and - for some time a service for sabotage." The last of these
functions was closed in the 1970s and there was no evidence that it had
stored arms or ammunition. There have been allegations for more than a
year of links between elements in the Belgian secret police and an obscure
neo-nazi organisation, Westland New Post, some of whose alleged members
have been charged with stealing secret NATO documents. The leader of the
Post, Paul Latinus, was found dead - possibly from suicide - and a
subsequent reorganisation of the Belgian secret service led to the
resignation of its long term chief, Albert Rees." (John Palmer, Guardian,
10/11/90)
"The network, Belgian authorities say, held its latest coordination
committee meeting in Brussels during September." (John Palmer, Guardian,
10/11/90)
"General Major Raymond van Calster, chief of the Belgian Army's
Intelligence Service, whom some Belgian media had described as head of the
Gladio network for Belgium, in an interview to the Belgian news agency
Belga, denied on Saturday it existed in Belgium. He said he did not know
of the alleged anti-communist cells." (Associated Press, 11/11/90)
"Andre Moyen - a former member of the Belgian military security service and
of the network - said Gladio was not just anti-Communist but was fighting
subversion in general. "There were at least six hiding places for arms in
Belgium until two months ago, and it had prepared a sabatage network" he
said...[Former defence minister] de Donna said that the 17 Gladio members
in Belgium went on survival training courses. He added there was also a
network of "sleeping members"...He added that his predecessor had given
Gladio 142 million francs (4.6 million dollars) to buy new radio
equipment." (Reuter, 13/11/90)
"'Shortly after I became minister of justice on January 16, 1984 I was
informed about 'Stay Behind'', former Justice Minister Jean Gol said in an
interview with the Socialist daily 'Le Peuple'. He said Belgium's 1984
budget contained 10 million francs (328,000 dollars) to modernise the
network's sophisticated communications equipment, code-named 'Harpoon'. (P.
Neuray, Associated Press, 14/11/90)
"Gol said a total of 50 civilians were members of Stay Behind in 1984, most
of them former World War 11 resistance agents." (Associated Press,
14/11/90)
"Earlier this week, Belgium's Defence Minister, Guy Coeme, said the Belgian
arm of the network, SDRA-8, set up with British weapons in 1949, was still
active under the head of the Belgian military's intelligence service. Mr
Coeme said Nato was aware of its existence, although it was never part of
the alliance and in recent years was only a communications network..."
(Independent, 16/11/90)
DENMARK
In Oslo the Danish news agency NTB also reported that in 1978 the then
Defence Minister, Mr Rolf Hansen, had admitted in parliament to the
existence of such a network." (Paddy Agnew, Irish Times, 15/11/90)
FRANCE (Glaive)
"In Paris the defence Minister, Mr Jean-Pierre Chevenement, confirmed
French involvement in the network but said that President Mitterand had
abolished it. The agency AFP claims that the disbandment is "recent". Mr
Chevenement said in a radio interview that "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."
The group only had a "dormant and liaison role," he said. (Paddy Agnew,
Irish Times, 15/11/90)
"The French Defence Minister, Jean Pierre Chevenement, said Glaive (Sword),
the French network, had been dissolved by President Mitterand, but did not
say when. It had only been "dormant", he said." (Independent, 16/11/90)
GERMANY
"A news programme, produced by Stern magazine and to be aired Wednesday
night on the private RTL television network said there was a secret anti-
communist organisation in Germany that included former Nazis. The group had
a "death list" that targeted several prominent leftist politicians in the
event of a war with the Soviet Union, according to a summary...in advance
of the broadcast." (MS Beelman, Associated Press, 14/11/90)
"On Tuesday AFP quoted informed sources in Bonn as confirming that the
organisation existed in Germany but the former chancellor, Mr Willy Brandt,
denied any knowledge of the existence of the group. The German government
yesterday confirmed plans for covert action in the event of an invasion but
denied there were military units involved. A government spokesman said the
government knew of plans by US intelligence agencies to recruit a network
of guerrillas throughout Europe and to prepare arms caches. The plans had
been developed with the knowledge of the West German secret service
director, he said." (Paddy Agnew, Irish Times, 15/11/90)
"Yesterday, the German government admitted the network operated there.
"Precautions have been taken in West Germany, as in other NATO states,
since the 1950s to secure the flow of intelligence information in the
probable area of conflict [after a Soviet attack]," a German spokesman,
Hans Klein, said." (Richard Norton-Taylor, Guardian, 15/11/90)
"The German government is to disband its part of Gladio, the secret
resistance network, Bonn officials said yesterday. According to a German
television report, the section consisted of former SS and Waffen-SS
officers as well as members of an extreme rightwing group, the Federation
of German Youth, and drew up plans to assassinate leading figures of the
opposition Social Democratic Party in the event of a Soviet-led invasion."
(Richard Norton Taylor & David Gow, Guardian, 17/11/90)
"Documents shown to the [Italian Committee on Terrorism] revealed that in
the 1970s British and French officials involved in the network visited a
training base in Germany built with US money."
(Richard Norton-Taylor, Guardian, 17/11/90)
GREECE (Operation Sheepskin)
"In Greece, defence minister, Yannis Varvitsiotis, has said local commandos
and the CIA set up a branch of the network in 1955 to organise guerrilla
resistance to any communist invader. Known as Operation Sheepskin, it was
dismantled in 1988." (John Palmer, Guardian, 10/11/90)
"The Greek operation started in 1955 but the Socialist government that came
to power in 1981 began to dismantle it in 1985. All arms caches were dug
up and stored at a military base near Athens by 1988 when the network was
finally dismantled, officials and newspaper reports have said. (Associated
Press, 14/11/90)
"Andreas Papandreou, Greece's former Socialist prime minister, said his
government had disbanded the Greek network, which he described as a
"para-state" organisation. Known as "Red Sheepskin", it was formed in 1955
as a secret part of the agreement to set up US military bases in Greece."
(Independent, 16/11/90)
"The Athens government yesterday ordered an inquiry into a secret deal-
between the Greek military forces and the CIA, aimed at setting-up an
anti-communist guerrilla network as part of the covert operation disclosed
last month in Italy under the code name Gladio." (Richard Norton-Taylor,
Guardian, 20/11/90)
"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
Colonel's coup in 1967. (Richard Norton-Taylor, Guardian, 5/12/90)
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gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
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