DSO+Browse+report+illegal+–+JSCI,+Sapa,+Politicsweb



=DSO’s ‘Browse’ report illegal – JSCI=


 * Sapa, Politicsweb, 27 February 2008**

//Former journalist Ivor Powell outed as author of report//

CAPE TOWN (Sapa) - The Scorpions produced the "Browse Mole" report illegally and in contravention of their mandate, Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence said on Tuesday.

The Directorate of Special Operations (DSO), or Scorpions, fell prey to information peddlers, making use of informants and private intelligence companies to compile the document, according to findings the committee released to journalists.

"The DSO doesn't have the mandate to collect political intelligence. They don't even have the capacity. They fell prey to information peddlers," committee chairman Siyabonga Cwele told a press briefing.

The committee also dismissed claims by the Scorpions that they had decided the "Browse" report had no formal status and that investigators should dismiss it as the "work of sinister forces".

"The DSO had not shelved the Browse Mole Report as stated, but had in fact acted on it in order to pursue or consider prosecution... [The] DSO actually believed the intelligence which they received..."

Scorpions head advocate Leonard McCarthy had asked the unit's Western Cape boss Adrian Mopp to start an inquiry based on the "Browse" report. Senior Scorpions investigator Ivor Powell allegedly produced the final, consolidated report and leaked it.

Officially called the "Special 'Browse' Mole Consolidated Report", the 18-page top secret document was leaked into the public domain in 2007. It claimed that then ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma was involved in a conspiracy to topple President Thabo Mbeki's government. It was apparently driven by left-wing groups alienated by Mbeki's government, like the SACP, Cosatu and the ANC Youth League. The president of Angola and Libya's leader were also said to be funding and supporting Zuma's cause.

A task team appointed by the committee started its investigation in June, completing it in November last year.

"The document is extremely inflammatory, containing political intelligence and numerous allegations and unsubstantiated statements about prominent political figures in South Africa and the African continent," the task team concluded.

Cwele said the motive behind the report was not ideological, but part of efforts to get state money and contracts, especially in the mining and security industries.

He said the committee had no authority to suggest what steps should be taken against Leonard McCarthy in light of the "severe findings". He said this was up to the executive.

"We have no view on the matter," he said.

McCarthy also refused to co-operate with the task team, denying them access to computers, Powell's in particular. He also refused to reveal the "Browse" report's sources and the names of the Scorpions' investigators who worked on it.

The Scorpions also took no corrective measures after the report was produced.

"They did not take any action against the senior special investigator from whom the leak originated. They also neglected to take action against the illegal activities of those who were involved in the production of the Browse Mole report."

Cwele said there was no link between efforts to disband the Scorpions and the timing of the release of the committee's findings.

"I can't see a link. We are talking about things which didn't go right in one of our agencies. There are good individuals... and others doing things which are against the law."

The committee further recommended that the government order the DSO to stop intelligence gathering immediately. The National Intelligence Agency should also speed up the vetting of Scorpions' officials, especially those exposed to sensitive state information.

Private intelligence gathering also had to be regulated and measures put in place to reduce the risk of exposure to information peddlers. Cwele did not know how the document got its name, but suggested it was perhaps a code used to identify it.

"Even the DSO couldn't give us a clear answer. There was initial scanning [of information] but we don't know what type of mole or why it was browsing."

National Assembly speaker Baleka Mbete said there was every reason to be concerned, especially about the "information peddlers".

"They already have done serious damage in one SADC country at top level."

She wouldn't say which country.

Cwele said the peddlers had links to foreign governments and intelligence services.

According to the task team's report the peddlers mostly worked in pre-1994 covert intelligence structures or were "apartheid officers".

They were involved in disinformation campaigns and had links with foreign intelligence agencies in the UK, France, Germany and the USA.

They made use of "illegal intrusive techniques" to gather information, used selected facts and distorted the truth which they then supplied to governments.

"Their products are mainly about fabricating 'conspiracies' and 'plots' as a method of getting closer to those who hold power. The negative outcome is for their clients to view the legitimate intelligence services as useless and start relying on the peddlers," the task team's findings read.

Among the claims made in the "Browse" report was that in early 2006 a meeting was convened at the Nasrec exhibition centre outside Johannesburg. In attendance were senior Umkhonto we Sizwe leaders now part of the SA National Defence Force, as well as Great Lakes region ambassadors. Former SANDF chief Siphiwe Nyanda allegedly raised the possibility of military support for Zuma, as well as a possible military coup against Mbeki's government.

Others allegedly part of the conspiracy included lawyers for the killers of SACP general-secretary Chris Hani and people associated with slain mining magnate Brett Kebble.


 * From: http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71627?oid=86738&sn=Detail**

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