FBI translator says Israel planted nuclear 'moles' in U.S.

Last update - 11:59 06/01/2008




Report: FBI translator says Israel planted nuclear 'moles' in U.S.
By Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service
Tags: Pakistan, Turkey, FBI

A Britsh newspaper on Sunday published allegations by a former FBI translator that Israel has planted "moles" in United States institutions dealing with nuclear technology.

According to the report in The Sunday Times, Sibel Edmonds worked on translating "thousands of hours of conversations by Turkish diplomatic and political targets" that had been secretly taped by the FBI.

The report says that the recordings, which go back more than 10 years, were used in an FBI investigation "into links between the Turks and Pakistani, Israeli and U.S. targets."
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The Times also says that Edmonds had claimed there were "senior officials in the Pentagon" who had provided assistance to Israeli and Turkish agents.

Edmonds also claims, according to The Sunday Times, that the "moles," mainly PhD students, received assistance from a "high-ranking State Department official" who gave them security clearance to work in "sensitive nuclear research facilities."

The paper says that among these institutions was the Los Alamos nuclear laboratory in New Mexico, which is "responsible for the security of the U.S. nuclear deterrent."

According to Edmonds, the FBI investigation also stretches to the Pentagon. She also claims the involvement of former Pentagon analyst Lawrence Franklin, jailed in 2006 for delivering U.S. defense information to lobbyists and sharing classified information with an Israeli diplomat.

The Times quotes her as saying that Franklin "was one of the top people providing information and packages during 2000 and 2001."

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