Merchant News : FBI joins investigation of MI6 agent death

FBI joins investigation of MI6 agent death

by Tom Chiltton | September 26, 2010

The FBI is the latest government organisation to join the manhunt for the couple linked to an MI6 agent that was found dead in a London safe house.

Using face recognition technology, the US Federal Investigations Bureau will determine if MI6 spy Gareth Williams at any point traveled to the US with a couple that fits the description of the two individuals being sought after by Scotland Yard. The couple, described as Mediterranean in appearance, is believed to have visited Williams’ flat in June or July.

Scotland Yard has, so far, not been able to locate the couple, but detectives maintain that they are vital to the ongoing inquiry. Williams’, a maths prodigy, made frequent trips to the US to the US National Security Agency in Maryland working on secondment. Williams arrived back in London from Washington on Tuesday 10 August and his body was found in his flat on 23 August. On the 15th of August, Williams was caught on camera shopping at Harrods. The MI6 agent’s funeral was held Friday and attended by MI6 head Sir John Sawers.

FBI agents have searched the flat that Williams used while working at the NSA in the States and have interviewed several of his colleagues. They have also taken steps to investigate whether or not the couple could be linked to Williams small group of friends in the States. According to US intelligence sources, so far nothing compromising has been turned up during the investigation.

Williams was a key player in a joint team operation put together by MI6, NSA and GCHQ. He was working on defence schemes for cyber attacks for both Britain and the US at the time of his death. According to one source, Williams clearance was so high, he had access to more than 30 different categories of NSA information.

UPI : Dead MI6 agent also worked in Washington

Dead MI6 agent also worked in Washington

September 25, 2010

LONDON, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- The FBI is helping British police in their investigation into the death of an intelligence analyst who had worked in the United States, officials say.

Sir John Sawers, the head of MI6, the British military intelligence agency, attended Gareth Williams' funeral Friday at the Bethel Methodist Chapel in Anglesey, Wales, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Williams' body was found in his London apartment locked into a sports bag on Aug. 23. Investigators had not determined a cause of death.

Williams, 31, made several trips to the United States to work with the National Security Agency at Fort Meade in Maryland, the Telegraph said. He returned from his final trip on Aug. 10.

A couple reportedly visited Williams in London. The FBI has been using face recognition technology to determine if the couple were with Williams on any of his flights into or out of the United States.

Agents have also asked baggage handlers in Washington if they remember a bag like the one where the body was found and have searched an apartment where he stayed in the city, the Telegraph said.

Metro : FBI 'joins investigation' into MI6 worker's body in a bag death

FBI 'joins investigation' into MI6 worker's body in a bag death

September 25, 2010

The FBI has joined the investigation into the mysterious death of MI6 code breaker Gareth Williams, according to a report.

Mr Williams's body was discovered inside a sports bag in the bath at his London home on August 23rd, triggering a high-profile police operation.
MI6 worker Gareth Williams was laid to rest on Friday (PA) MI6 worker Gareth Williams was laid to rest on Friday (PA)

Despite the efforts of police officers and pathologists, it is still unclear how the 31-year-old died and his funeral took place on Friday with his family in the dark about the circumstances that led to his passing.

Reports on Saturday suggested the police have finally ruled out the possibility he died alone, having previously considered whether he may have climbed into the bag by himself as part of a sex game.

According to the Sunday Telegraph, police are now focusing their attention on the hunt for a couple of Mediterranean appearance who are believed to have visited Mr Williams during the summer.

The newspaper claims that British investigators have asked the FBI for help, as Mr Williams made regular trips to the US after spending time on secondment with the National Security Agency, including one less than a fortnight before his body was found.

FBI officers are said to have searched a flat used by the MI6 worker in the US, as well as using facial recognition software to study airport CCTV tapes and questioning baggage handlers.

It is thought that investigators on both sides of the Atlantic have concluded that Mr Williams's death had nothing to do with espionage.

His funeral in Holyhead was attended by Sir John Sawers, the head of MI6, who praised the valuable work undertaken by Mr Williams during his time with the Secret Intelligence Service and GCHQ.

Telegraph : FBI joins investigation into MI6 spy's death

FBI joins investigation into MI6 spy's death

By Gordon Thomas and Patrick Sawer | September 25, 2010

The FBI has joined the hunt for the mystery 'Mediterranean' couple linked to the death of the MI6 spy found dead in his London safe house.

The bureau has employed face recognition technology at US airports in a bid to establish whether Gareth Williams travelled in and out of the US any stage with a couple answering the description of two people Scotland Yard have appealed to come forward in connection with his death.

The couple, of 'Mediterranean' appearance, were thought to have visited Mr Williams's flat in Pimlico sometime in June or July. Scotland Yard believes the pair, in their thirties, were known to Mr Williams since neighbours do not recall buzzing them into the address.

So far no trace of the couple has been found and detectives believe they could be significant to the inquiry.

Mr Williams, a computing and maths prodigy whose funeral on Friday was attended by Sir John Sawers, the head of MI6, had made regular trips to the United States, where he worked on secondment to the US National Security Agency (NSA) in Fort Meade, Maryland, helping to create defences against cyberattack on banking and infrastructure systems.

His last trip back to London from Washington was on Tuesday, August 10, following a holiday in the US. On August 15 CCTV showed him shopping at Harrods, eight days before his body was found at his flat in Pimlico.

The Sunday Telegraph understands that FBI agents have questioned baggage handlers at Washington's Dulles International Airport. None of them recall loading a large North Face holdall of the type in which Mr Williams's decomposing body was later discovered in the bath of his flat.

CCTV camera tapes at the airport have been subjected to FBI "Face Recognition" analysis to establish if Mr Williams arrived alone for his departure flight – or whether he was at any stage accompanied by the Mediterranean looking man and woman being sought by the Metropolitan Police.

Agents have also searched an apartment in the US used by Mr Williams close to the offices of the NSA, in a bid to establish if his death presents a threat to their own national security.

The 31-year-old, who had been on secondment to MI6 from the GCHQ listening centre in Cheltenham for a year, is understood to have lived in the flat while working at the NSA.

Agents have also interviewed a number of Mr Williams's colleagues and associates in the US in their attempt to discover if security has been disrupted by his death. The FBI has also checked with Internal Security at the NSA to see if the description of the couple fitted any of the small circle of friends which Williams had developed while working there.

Given his known enthusiasm for cycling the FBI has made checks along the trails through the popular Appalachian Mountains close to Washington, to see if Mr Williams had rented a bicycle in the area or travelled there during his visits.

Intelligence sources say nothing compromising has been found during either the search or the interviews, however the revelations have focused attention on Mr Williams's work in the US and his links to American security agencies.

Mr Williams is understood to have been a key member of a joint team assembled by MI6, GCHQ and the NSA at Fort Meade, where he was helping create defences for both Britain and the US against cyber attack by hostile countries.

He was given his own work station, equipped with a supercomputer with a secure link to GCHQ and MI6.

According to an intelligence source "his clearance was so high that he had access to over 30 categories of information which NSA had gathered". From Fort Meade he would also visit the Pentagon, the headquarters of the US Department of Defence.

Harry Ferguson, a former MI6 officer, said Mr Williams would have been a high-value asset if he had been recruited by a foreign agency.

It is understood that his remit at the NSA was to develop new defences that he would introduce to his post at GCHQ's Office of Cyber Security (OCS) on his return.

The FBI declined to confirm or deny whether its agents had searched Mr Williams's apartment. A spokesman at its Baltimore office, which covers the State of Maryland, said: "We don't discuss ongoing investigations."

Mr Williams's body was found in a state of advanced decomposition in the large North Face holdall, which had been padlocked from the outside and left in the bath of his flat at 23 Alderney Street, on August 23. Detectives have played down speculation that Mr Williams could have closed the padlock around the two zip handles from inside the bag. Officers are understood to believe someone else was involved in the death.

Two separate autopsies have failed to establish the cause of death and tests for other rare toxins which may evade initial examination continued last week on Mr Williams's body. A Home Office pathologist has already established that he was not stabbed, shot or strangled.

The continuing mystery over Mr Williams's death – along with the speculation, often lurid, surrounding it – has made it difficult for his parents Ian and Ellen to come to terms with the loss of their son. Mr and Mrs Williams, along with his sister Ceri, led mourners at his funeral at the Bethel Methodist Chapel in Anglesey before retreating their home in the village of Valley, overlooking the Irish Sea.

Mr Williams's uncle, William Hughes, a farmer and Plaid Cymru county councillor, said: "It's very tough for them at the moment. They are struggling to come to terms with what has happened. The fact no one yet seems to know how or why Gareth died makes it very difficult. He was a wonderful boy and Ian and Ellen were very proud of him."

Daily Rosetta : US Expert to Solve Gareth Williams Death Mystery

US Expert to Solve Gareth Williams Death Mystery

by Violeta Bahin | September 14, 2010

Concern is growing within the intelligence community that the MI6 spy Gareth Williams, who was found dead in his London flat, may have been the victim of a professional hit man by a foreign power.

Now, a leading pathologist from US may fly this week to try to unravel the mystery behind the mystery death of Williams after a post-mortem examination failed to reveal the cause of death as detectives remain puzzled over his death. The said expert has been trained in CIA and FBI techniques to look for sophisticated methods of assassinations using hard-to-detect substances.

Reports claimed that Williams had told his bosses he believed he was being followed by two men. On Monday police discarded this idea then admitted they wanted to trace the mystery couple.

“I would appeal to anyone who may have seen or had contact with Gareth in the period between August 11 and 23 to come forward and speak with us at the Incident Room on 0208 358 0200, or to remain anonymous by calling Crime stoppers on 0800 555 111,” Detective Chief Inspector Jacqueline Sebire of Homicide and Serious Crime Command, who is leading the investigation, said.

Williams was discovered dead at his home on August 23. His naked remains were found inside a locked sports bag. He was working on systems to defend British banks and transport infrastructure from cyber attack and to eavesdrop on terrorist communications. He had been on assignment with the MI6 spy agency. He also played an important role creating equipment to listen to Taliban communications in Afghanistan and had helped to fit out three aircraft with the equipment, making them airborne-listening stations.

Express : NOW US EXPERT IS CALLED IN OVER GARETH WILLIAMS DEATH MYSTERY

NOW US EXPERT IS CALLED IN OVER GARETH WILLIAMS DEATH MYSTERY

By James Murray | September 12,2010

A LEADING US pathologist may fly in this week to try to unravel the mystery behind the bizarre death of spy Gareth Williams.

A post mortem examination in London last month failed to find a cause of death of the super-fit 31-year-old code breaker who was on secondment to MI6 from the GCHQ listening post in Cheltenham.

Now baffled Scotland Yard detectives hope to bring in a medical examiner from the US who has been trained in CIA and FBI techniques to look for sophisticated methods of assassinations using hard-to-detect substances.

The decision to call for help from America is a sign of the Yard’s ­frustration.

The grieving family of bachelor Mr Williams have called for his body to be released so they can get a second post mortem examination conducted by their own pathologist. They may now hold back on that demand until they hear the findings of the US expert.

Extensive forensic tests at the flat in Alderney Street and from the samples taken at the post mortem examination are still going on.

The Yard says initial indications from the toxicology examinations show no trace of any alcohol or ­routine or recreational drugs. Testing for other substance continues.

Other lines of inquiry are proving equally unproductive.

Detectives had hoped to trace a man and woman of Mediterranean appearance seen entering the apartment block in Pimlico, London, where Mr Williams lived one night in June or July but all their inquiries so far have drawn a blank.

A source said: “It is proving to be a very complex inquiry. Some ­people are calling these people the ghost couple because they seem to have slipped into the area by ­managing to avoid being captured on CCTV.

“The longer it goes on without them being traced or coming ­forward, the more suspicion they are arousing.”

Last week the Sunday Express reported claims that Mr Williams had told his bosses he believed he was being followed by two men. On Monday police discounted this idea then admitted they wanted to trace the mystery couple.

Detectives last week released CCTV footage of Mr Williams entering Holland Park Tube station on Saturday, August 14, at 3pm.

The next day CCTV images showed him shopping in Brompton Road, south-west London. He went to a cash machine then into Harrods and was seen alone in Hans Crescent heading for Sloane Street.

He was wearing the same clothing on both days, a red T-shirt, beige trousers and white trainers, suggesting he may have spent the night somewhere other than his home.

When he failed to turn up for work at MI6, just a short walk from his home, uniformed police went to his top-floor flat on August 23.

They found his naked body in a zipped and padlocked red North Face holdall in an empty bath in the en-suite bathroom. There was no sign of a forced entry or any ­disturbance inside the flat.

Detectives are trying to establish whether it was possible for him to have got into the holdall himself then locked himself inside but they consider that unlikely.

It is understood Mr Williams was asexual and had no interest in ­unusual sexual practices. There was no indication he intended to take his own life.

Detective Chief Inspector ­Jacqueline Sebire of Homicide and Serious Crime Command, who is leading the investigation, said: “This remains a complex and unexplained death inquiry.

“I would appeal to anyone who may have seen, or had contact with Gareth in the period between August 11 and 23 to come forward and speak with us at the Incident Room on 0208 358 0200, or to remain anonymous by calling Crime­stoppers on 0800 555 111.”

Newsweek (blog) : Mystery Surrounding Death of U.K. Code Breaker Deepens

Mystery Surrounding Death of U.K. Code Breaker Deepens

by Mark Hosenball | September 7, 2010

A statement released by Scotland Yard on Monday and posted on the website of the London Metropolitan Police Service reveals more details about the peculiar death of Gareth Williams, a 31-year-old mathematics wizard who worked for Britain's electronic eavesdropping agency, Government Communication Headquarters, but sheds no light on possible causes. Officials on both sides of the Atlantic acknowledge that at the moment, they have no hard information—and no real leads—to explain the bizarre circumstances in which Williams' body was found late last month in an apartment not far from the headquarters of MI-6, Britain's foreign intelligence service, where he for the last year had been on temporary assignment.

The statement describes how Williams' body was discovered by uniformed London bobbies in his apartment—possibly an MI-6 "safe house," depending upon which British media account you believe—in the posh Pimlico neighborhood about half a mile from MI-6 on Aug. 23. The police account describes the exceptionally strange circumstances in which the body was discovered: He was "found unclothed, in a zipped and padlocked red North Face holdall which was in an empty bath," Scotland Yard said.

The police account notes that there was no sign of forced entry into the apartment, "and no signs of disturbance inside. …We do not believe there is any property missing from the flat. There is no suggestion the items within the flat were specifically posed. No drugs, or indications of drug usage were recovered."

The police statement also notes that an autopsy conducted on Aug. 25 "established no obvious cause of death." The police account says that extensive forensic examinations of the Pimlico apartment and of samples taken from Williams' body during the autopsy continue, but adds that "Initial indications from the toxicology examinations show no trace of any alcohol or routine or recreational drugs."

In the statement, the police say they have confirmed that Williams, who had been on a "planned holiday in the U.S.," had returned to London on Aug. 11; video from London's wide-ranging closed-circuit video surveillance network shows him shopping after his return in well-known London retail districts. Police say they are appealing to the public for information to help identify a man and a woman who turned up late one evening at Williams' building on an unspecified day in June or July. The cops say that the couple, who were admitted to the building through the "communal front door," were between 20 and 30 years old and were both of "Mediterranean appearance." But the statement offers no other clues as to their identity, nor any further indication as to what, if any, evidence the authorities might have to link them to the dead man.

British media have been gorging themselves on ever more baroque theories about what's behind the case. A story in the Daily Mail, one of London's most aggressive tabloids, offers a menu of conflicting speculations for possible perpetrators, ranging from Islamic or Irish terrorists to Russian spies or some sinister connection to Williams' personal life. Following the widespread publication of pictures showing a svelte Williams in a tight-fitting cycling uniform, some stories suggested a possible connection with London's gay scene, noting that at least one of London's best-known gay bars was located not far from MI-6 headquarters on the South Bank of the river Thames. Williams' family has denied that he was gay.

Among the few undisputed issues in the case are certain basic facts about Williams' background. Most accounts describe him as a youthful mathematics expert and keen cyclist who was permanently assigned to GCHQ, Britain's version of the American code breaking and eavesdropping National Security Agency, but who was just about to complete a one-year temporary assignment at MI-6 headquarters in South London.

Some accounts suggest that as part of his work for GCHQ, he made periodic trips to the headquarters of both the CIA and NSA, and that the American agencies were deeply concerned about his death. However, U.S. officials have denied British media reports that the CIA is now investigating the case, and there is little indication that the FBI or the U.S. Justice Department are in any way involved. (As is its customary practice, the N.S.A. declined to offer any comment on the case.)

Apart from the latest police statement confirming that before his death, Williams had been on vacation in the U.S., there is no confirmation that he ever paid visits—official or unofficial—to any U.S. intelligence headquarters. Moreover, several U.S. officials who should have been briefed if there was any concern inside U.S. agencies that Williams' death somehow involved the compromise of U.S. or U.K. spy secrets say that they have been given no information about the case whatsoever. Knowledgeable officials on both sides of the Atlantic do stress, however, that at this point, whatever mysteries the case does appear to present, there is no evidence that Williams was involved with a spy unit other than the British agencies that employed him, and therefore no evidence suggesting he was a double agent.

Express : MI5 CALLED IN ON MI6 SPY RIDDLE

MI5 CALLED IN ON MI6 SPY RIDDLE

By James Fielding and Jane Clinton | August 29, 2010

MI6 and MI5 have joined forces for the first time since the Cold War to solve code breaker Gareth Williams’ murder.

Security chiefs have taken the highly unusual step amid fears Mr Williams was killed by a foreign agent.

Spooks from both intelligence services are shocked that one of their own was killed in their own backyard.

Meanwhile, there was fury in the US last night after FBI attempts to quiz Mr Williams’ best friend, a 25-year-old British woman working for British security in Colorado – were blocked by UK officials.

In a covert operation separate to the official police investigation, MI6 and MI5 agents are now trawling a list of more than 150 suspected “enemy spies” hiding in Britain.

They are tracing their movements over the past fortnight and are compiling a detailed dossier on each one.

The last co-operation between the two agencies was in the Fifties when five Cambridge University-educated spies, including Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean, were found to have passed on information to the Soviet Union after the Second World War.

Agents probing Mr Williams’ death are working on the theory he was killed in a professional hit.

The Sunday Express can reveal the 31-year-old had been devising a firewall to protect British banks from computer hackers. He was based at the Government’s GCHQ ‘listening post’ in Cheltenham, where he had a flat, but was on a year’s secondment to MI6. The job often took him to the National Security Agency in Washington DC, the Pentagon’s GCHQ.

Mr Williams’ body was found on Monday in a sports holdall, which had been left in the bath at his rented £400,000 apartment in Pimlico, central London.

A post-mortem examination was inconclusive but sources close to the police investigation say he was not stabbed, shot, strangled or beaten, leaving suffocation or poisoning as the probable causes.

A source told the Sunday Express: “Mr Williams’ death sent shock-waves shuddering through both MI5 and MI6. The security service is in meltdown.

“The focus is increasingly being centred on his role for the security service and whether a foreign agent is to blame.”

Mr Williams last visited the US earlier this year and American spy chiefs fear that secret US information may have been leaked.

The source added: “The Americans want to know exactly what Mr Williams was doing in the States and whether he let slip any vital information before he died. Not being able to speak to his friends will have made things even worse.”

According to reports, Mr Williams, originally from Anglesey, North Wales, drew £6,000 from his bank account in the days before his death, which could mean he was the target of blackmail.

Mirror : Intelligence expert Crispin Black says a spy’s life includes danger, hard graft and a dash of glamour

Intelligence expert Crispin Black says a spy’s life includes danger, hard graft and a dash of glamour

By Crispin Black | August 28, 2010

Discretion and the principle of “need to know” govern every aspect of an intelligence officer’s life.

They are allowed to reveal to their families their real job although this is a relatively recent concession.Selected close friends are also allowed to be in on the secret but only in the most generalised terms.

To the rest of the world spooks assume a false identity usually pretending to work for the Foreign Office or the Ministry of Defence.

Whatever the cover story it is well backed up. If a spook is pretending to work as a commercial attaché his or her name will appear in the Diplomatic List as just that.

There are three intelligence ­agencies. The first, MI6 or the Secret Intelligence Service, deals with acquiring intelligence abroad.

Usually, they operate from “stations” inside British embassies – speaking their own jargon. The senior spook is Head of Station or H.

Sir John Scarlett, who was at the centre of the controversies over the Iraq dossiers was famously “H Moscow”, smuggling a top defector out of Russia in the boot of an embassy car under the very noses of the very angry KGB.

After the invasion of Iraq Tony Blair promoted him to be Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service or C. Its biggest stations are now in Islamabad and Kabul, where conditions are tough. Elsewhere the James Bond lifestyle is still maintained.

The second agency, MI5 or the Security Service, is responsible for security at home. The job is more high-level complex police work than anything else. The most difficult and demanding aspects of the job are the surveillance operations mounted on unfolding terrorist plots.

If an intelligence officer is part of such a team he may not see friends and family for weeks on end and will subsist on coffee and takeaways.Things have improved slightly over the past few years as MI5 has developed regional stations with proper accommodation for its agents.

The third agency, GCHQ, are the listeners – direct descendants of the talented folk who broke codes at Bletchley Park in the Second World War. They have a hi-tech headquarters in Cheltenham known as the Doughnut because of its shape.

Tasked with breaking enemy codes and protecting our own electronic secrets they stare for long hours at computer screens trying to make sense of garbled conversations in foreign languages. They are serious and secretive people but they do let their hair down at Cheltenham Races, especially on Gold Cup Day.

Life in all three agencies is about detailed hard work. On every desk there are reminders of its importance. The most secret intelligence is contained in brightly coloured folders. As in nature, where the most dangerous animals are brightly coloured, the brighter the colour the more secret the intelligence. The ones for the Prime Minister and the Queen are bound in scarlet and gold.

In the dark hours all three agencies take comfort in the reflected glory from their fictional counterparts. James Bond was/is an MI6 agent. Traditionally every Bond film has a For Spooks Eyes Only premiere.

Film magnates and spies mingle at a cocktail party beforehand. In 1999 at the first showing of The World Is Not Enough the audience cheered as their Vauxhall Cross HQ was blown up. Senior management was apparently not amused.

MI5 are lucky enough to have the BBC TV hit Spooks which has done wonders for recruitment and morale. There was always a feeling before that they were in some way “poor relations” to their counterparts south of the river.

Their real Albert Embankment HQ is even more hi-tech and glossy than the BBC studio mock up. But officers tend to dress down in case they have to drop everything and hit the street on some urgent surveillance.

GCHQ has its own heroes from the past – principally the Bletchley Park geniuses who broke the secret German codes so vividly brought to life in the film Enigma.

But it is not all hard work. One of the most glamorous parts of being a spy is the visits to the US. MI5 go to FBI headquarters in downtown Washington and MI6 to the CIA base in Langley. No alcohol is served at Langley dinners – except when the British are in town.

The closest relationship is between GCHQ and the National Security Agency who have a formal arrangement splitting responsibility for the world. There is a constant stream of British visitors to its Fort Meade HQ in Maryland, known as the Puzzle Palace.

The world’s most powerful computers are there and the most brilliant mathematical minds. Gareth Williams visited often and would no doubt have been at home with his fellow maths whizz-kids.

The exchange of information is free and frank. He would have been privy to US as well as British secrets.

That is why the Americans are taking such a strong interest in his death.