- WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- A
Pentagon analyst suspected of passing classified information to Israel
served as a U.S. Air Force reservist in Israel, The Washington Post reported
Sunday.
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- The newspaper quoted a former colleague at the Defense
Intelligence Agency who said the analyst may have been based at the U.S.
Embassy in Tel Aviv, but was never permanently assigned there.
-
- Quoting unnamed officials and others familiar with the
inquiry, the Post said an FBI investigation had been broadened in recent
days to include interviews at the State and Defense departments and with
Middle Eastern specialists outside government.
-
- Officials at the Justice and Defense departments declined
comment on the report.
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- U.S. government sources said on Friday the FBI is investigating
whether the analyst gave classified documents to Israel via the American
Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a powerful pro-Israel lobby in
Washington.
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- Israeli officials denied the allegations on Saturday
and insisted Israel had not spied on the United States since an espionage
scandal involving U.S. Navy analyst Jonathan Pollard, who was arrested
in 1985 outside the Israeli embassy.
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- The Post said the probe was focused on a career analyst
at the Defense Intelligence Agency who specializes in Iran and had risen
to the rank of colonel in the Air Force Reserve.
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- Early in the Bush administration, the analyst moved to
the Pentagon's policy branch headed by Undersecretary Douglas Feith, where
he continued his work on Iranian affairs, the newspaper said.
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- It was unclear whether the case would result in espionage
charges or lesser charges such as the improper release of classified information
or mishandling of government documents, the report said.
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- http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&n
cid=578&e=14&u=/nm/20040829/ts_nm/security_usa_israel_dc
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