March 14,
2008: German police recently arrested a Sudanese man and accused him of spying
for the Sudanese government. The accused spy was not looking to steal German
secrets, but was trying to identify Sudanese exiles who were holding
demonstrations against the Sudanese government. This kind of espionage is
becoming increasingly common, as media coverage expands (mainly via the
Internet and more TV news channels.)
Once foreign governments identify who is organizing, or participating, in these
embarrassing actions, there are several things that can be done to deal with
it. One old tactic is to see if the demonstrators have kin back home. If so,
those family members can be threatened, until their exiled kin quiet down. More
extreme measures include threatening the demonstrators with violence, or even
killing them.
Another
use of this rather different form of espionage is for rebel movements to
identify expatriates so they can be
solicited (or sometimes just shaken down) for contributions to the
cause. These donations often support terrorist operations. Expatriates can also
be identified so they can be recruited, for espionage, or terrorism.
Counter-terror
organizations are finding that this new form of espionage is growing much
faster than the more traditional kind, and is also more dangerous to all
involved.
