greatgameindia--2020-04-01--Coronavirus Disrupts Mexican Drug Cartels Supply From China

Ever since the outbreak of COVID-19 and ensuing global lockdowns and cessation of international travel , the supply chain of global drug cartels emanating from China has been rendered dysfunctional .
China is a major source of chemicals , synthesizers and drugs for the Mexican cartels .
The global lockdown over coronavirus seems to be impacting not just the legal economy but also the illegal economy .
A FOX News report names two drug cartels , Sinaloa ( Sinaloa reportedly controls around 90 % of the entrance of synthetic drugs to the United States ) and Jalisco “ New generation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ source chemicals and synthesizers necessary to manufacture drugs such as heroin , methamphetamines and fentanyl .
Another prominent cartel is La Unión de Tepito , a group which is struggling to support its other important business – that of sourcing counterfeit goods from China and selling them in Mexican markets .
Now , the lockdown has grounded the group and its activities .
And it is not just the Chinese line , a parallel Columbian drug supply chain is also believed to be suffering .
The U.S. DEA ( Drug Enforcement Agency ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drugs and chemical manufacturing laboratories in China , who would use toys , automotive equipment , food items , fruits , packaged goods and trinkets to stuff illegal substances .
Under a lockdown in the U.S. , the cartels have also found it difficult to move money and personnel , though packages could still be moved as authorities would be looking for a “ needle in a haystack.
” The role of India as a major backup source of raw material and chemicals is also not impertinent in the supply chain of global @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Defence Department staffer and the president of a private intelligence firm , the Ulysses Group said , “ Under normal conditions , the cartels could shift to Indian suppliers to augment supply , but Indian ports are experiencing slowdowns and backlogs of containers as government directives limit port activity.
” India entered a full lockdown since the 25th of March , thus crippling the auxiliary supply line as well .
Prices of drugs spike up , though sales have crashed The Mexican cartels have raised prices of illegal drugs to 4x the regular @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stronger .
However , volumes have crashed in the U.S. by up to 80 % , partly because of economic suffering and partly because of enormous supply chain disruption .
Estimates are that the cartels have lost about 10-15 % of revenue in 2020 , which is an impact of $ 3-5 billion in absolute terms .
Darknet dealings have also declined sharply , according to a Forbes report , with weekly Bitcoin spend dropping from $ 5.5 million in the last week of December , 2019 to around $ 3 million in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
According to a report by Chainalysis , the last quarter of 2019 had seen a huge $ 600 million worth of Bitcoin transacted in Darknet market .
Necessity is the mother of all innovation , even for criminal gangs .
In Honduras , COVID-19-impacted human traffickers reportedly changed their business model to help people and contrabands get in and out of the country during the lockdown !
For Mexican cartels though , there is no evidence yet to suggest that their business model has changed .
Most experts feel that they can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a highly profitable business .
There is an opinion within the Immigration and Customs Enforcements agency , or ICE , that the cartels can shift from land crossings to more ocean crossings .
According to another international opinion , drone-based deliveries may become more popular for smaller packages such as deliveries by post from one location to another .
If the lockdown and supply chain disruptions last longer than anticipated , authorities fear that kidnappings and extortions could rise abruptly as gangs would resort to extreme means in desperation .
A Guadalajara @ @ @ @ @ @ @ either been vacating their areas or been buying bulletproof SUVs and other modes of self-protection , apparently fearing a rise in violent crimes .
Depraved clients would also end up indulging in drug overdose – over half a million Americans have died in the last decade .
In 2019 , 69,000 people in the U.S. died from drug overdose , data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) show .
For latest updates on the outbreak check out our Coronavirus Coverage .
Send in your tips and submissions by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us directly at the email provided .
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GreatGameIndia is a journal on Geopolitics and International Relations .
Get to know the Geopolitical threats India is facing in our exclusive book India in Cognitive Dissonance .
Past magazine issues can be accessed from the Archives section .
Read more on Chinese Biological and Chemical warfare activities against India in our exclusive History of Narco-Terrorism issue .

Ever since the outbreak of COVID-19 and ensuing global lockdowns and cessation of international travel, the supply chain of global drug cartels emanating from China has been rendered dysfunctional. China is a major source of chemicals, synthesizers and drugs for the Mexican cartels.
Must Watch: Would you live on 3D Printed Mars for a year for $60,000?
Drug Cartels hit by Coronavirus
The global lockdown over coronavirus seems to be impacting not just the legal economy but also the illegal economy. A FOX News report names two drug cartels, Sinaloa (Sinaloa reportedly controls around 90% of the entrance of synthetic drugs to the United States) and Jalisco “New generation” or CJNG being largely unable to source chemicals and synthesizers necessary to manufacture drugs such as heroin, methamphetamines and fentanyl.
Another prominent cartel is La Unión de Tepito, a group which is struggling to support its other important business – that of sourcing counterfeit goods from China and selling them in Mexican markets. Now, the lockdown has grounded the group and its activities. And it is not just the Chinese line, a parallel Columbian drug supply chain is also believed to be suffering.
The U.S. DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) estimates there are close to 5,000 illegal drugs and chemical manufacturing laboratories in China, who would use toys, automotive equipment, food items, fruits, packaged goods and trinkets to stuff illegal substances.
Under a lockdown in the U.S., the cartels have also found it difficult to move money and personnel, though packages could still be moved as authorities would be looking for a “needle in a haystack.”
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The role of India as a major backup source of raw material and chemicals is also not impertinent in the supply chain of global drugs. Andrew Lewis, a former Defence Department staffer and the president of a private intelligence firm, the Ulysses Group said, “Under normal conditions, the cartels could shift to Indian suppliers to augment supply, but Indian ports are experiencing slowdowns and backlogs of containers as government directives limit port activity.” India entered a full lockdown since the 25th of March, thus crippling the auxiliary supply line as well.
Prices of drugs spike up, though sales have crashed
The Mexican cartels have raised prices of illegal drugs to 4x the regular price, as underlying demand has grown stronger. However, volumes have crashed in the U.S. by up to 80%, partly because of economic suffering and partly because of enormous supply chain disruption. Estimates are that the cartels have lost about 10-15% of revenue in 2020, which is an impact of $3-5 billion in absolute terms.
Darknet dealings have also declined sharply, according to a Forbes report, with weekly Bitcoin spend dropping from $5.5 million in the last week of December, 2019 to around $3 million in the second week of March, 2020. According to a report by Chainalysis, the last quarter of 2019 had seen a huge $600 million worth of Bitcoin transacted in Darknet market.
Change in business model
Necessity is the mother of all innovation, even for criminal gangs. In Honduras, COVID-19-impacted human traffickers reportedly changed their business model to help people and contrabands get in and out of the country during the lockdown!
For Mexican cartels though, there is no evidence yet to suggest that their business model has changed. Most experts feel that they can ride this tough time out as it is a highly profitable business. There is an opinion within the Immigration and Customs Enforcements agency, or ICE, that the cartels can shift from land crossings to more ocean crossings. According to another international opinion, drone-based deliveries may become more popular for smaller packages such as deliveries by post from one location to another.
Extreme violence and abuse could spike
If the lockdown and supply chain disruptions last longer than anticipated, authorities fear that kidnappings and extortions could rise abruptly as gangs would resort to extreme means in desperation. A Guadalajara based source noted that wealthy Mexicans have either been vacating their areas or been buying bulletproof SUVs and other modes of self-protection, apparently fearing a rise in violent crimes.
Depraved clients would also end up indulging in drug overdose – over half a million Americans have died in the last decade. In 2019, 69,000 people in the U.S. died from drug overdose, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show.
For latest updates on the outbreak check out our Coronavirus Coverage.
Send in your tips and submissions by filling out this form or write to us directly at the email provided. Join us on WhatsApp for more intel and updates.
GreatGameIndia is a journal on Geopolitics and International Relations. Get to know the Geopolitical threats India is facing in our exclusive book India in Cognitive Dissonance. Past magazine issues can be accessed from the Archives section.
Read more on Chinese Biological and Chemical warfare activities against India in our exclusive History of Narco-Terrorism issue.


greatgameindia--2020-03-31--Germany’s Secret Pedophilia Experiments

Germany’s Secret Pedophilia Experiments

A sickening and bizarre sexual experiment was carried out by German government officials and a pedophile scientist that deliberately placed troubled children in the care of pedophiles to see if it had “ positive consequences.
” Victims from this utterly horrifying practice have filed a lawsuit exposing the grotesque details of this taxpayer-funded pedophilia experiment .
In 1969 , the Berlin welfare authorities assigned Dr Helmut Kentler , head of the department of social pedagogy at the Pedagogical Center , at least three homeless teenagers for foster care , who were then assigned to known pedophile parents by Kentler .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ convince the West Berlin Senate that pedophilia could have “ Positive consequences ” and could help homeless children lead “ Proper , unremarkable lives.
” These experiments , called the Kentler experiments , were carried on from 1969 to 2003 .
The U.S. Sun identifies three victims under the Kentler experiments – Ulrich , Marco and Svenalong with one abuser Fritz .
Reports detail the horrific experiences of the teenage boys at the time , who were repeatedly sexually abused by their foster guardian .
Kentler described the beginning of his sinister project @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kentler admitted before his death in 2008 that it was clear to all involved that placing youths with pedophiles broke the law , his papers described the entire experiment as a “ Success.
” Researchers into the shameful episode getting stalled In 2013 , political scientist Franz Walter from the Göttingen Institute for Democracy Research examined previous position of the German political parties the Greens and the Free Democratic Party ( FDP ) on pedophilia and assigned Kentler a key role in the networks of pedophile activists .
With rising public exposure and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ University of Göttingen was then commissioned by the Berlin State authorities in 2015 to review the city files and publish a report on the findings .
A press release by the Leibniz University Hannover acknowledges Dr. Nentwig ’ s “ Comprehensive review , ” of Helmut Kentler ’ s work at the university and admits that Kentler was a professor at the University of Hannover as late as 1996 .
An online petition of September , 2019 by Joana Hendl explains that although the matter was brought to a public debate in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an intense coverup behind the scenes .
Kentler ’ s files from his apartment , files from the youth welfare office were confiscated in order to stop the investigation .
Germany is no stranger to such horrific scandals .
The junior coalition party of Chancellor Angela Merkel ’ s ruling conservatives , Germany ’ s business-friendly Free Democratic Party ( FDP ) , has had a strong connection with pedophile movements in recent history .
This Spiegel International reports that the FDP had connections even to those highest up in the pedophilia movement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of close association between politicians and pedophilia .
At its general assembly in March 1980 , the FDP ’ s youth organization at the time , the Young Democrats , wanted to remove paragraphs 174 and 176 , which forbade sexual abuse of children and teenagers from the German Criminal Code .
A campaign ad for the FDP ahead of Berlin ’ s 1981 state parliament election obtained government funding for the General Homosexual Working Group ( AHA ) , which at the time was not just advocating for urgent decriminalization of homosexuality @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for pedophiles .
In May 1981 , the FDP ’ s parliamentary group gathered for a hearing to explore repealing paragraph 175 , which made homosexuality a crime .
11 experts were called , including Helmut Kentler , who went on to make an unopposed presentation on his pedophile fostering experiments in Berlin .
In November of 1982 , the FDP threw a party at the close of its federal convention .
The invitations promising “ Disco and discussion ” went out not only to party members who had participated in the convention @ @ @ @ @ @ @ selection of gays , lesbians and pedophiles .
The invitation bore the FDP logo , emblazoned at the bottom right , and explicitly welcomed “ Lesbians and Liberals , Gossips and Sisters , Celebrities and Pederasts.
” In 1980 , the highly active German Study and Working Group on Pedophilia ( DSAP ) shared a post office box with the Humanistic Union ( HU ) in Düsseldorf .
The HU , which describes itself as an “ independent civil rights organization , ” also had a longstanding problematic position on the issue of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Working Group on Human Sexuality ( AHS ) , which advocated the legalization of sex between adults and children .
Sociology professor RüdigerLautmann , who still serves on the board of HU and had also made a presentation in May 1981 to the FDP on repealing paragraph 175 .
Lautmann , told the parliamentarians that contemporary beliefs concerning “ Age differences , the behaviour of the younger party and the nature of the sexual contact ” were entirely incorrect .
Jurgen Trittin , a prominent Green Party member , supported pedophilia back in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ issued a grovelling apology , saying that the pedophile links had to be seen in the context of the sexual revolution of the 1970s , which encouraged a “ Fiction that there could be sexual relations between adults and children beyond violence or abuse of trust.
” Because no individual guilt could be found by law , and both Kentler and the abuser of foster children are no longer alive , the prosecutors dropped the investigation of two of the victims against the Youth Senate Department of Berlin .
According to Der Tagesspiegel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ line to receive compensation for their civil suit from the Berlin Senate , which agreed to an out-of-court settlement .
One of the victim ’ s lawyers was reportedly pressing for a lump sum of €100,000 plus a monthly pension of €2,500 .
Berlin Youth Affairs Minister , Sandra Scheeres said , “ It was a crime to put these people into this kind of care .
It is simply unimaginable that something like this happened with state oversight.
” The Berliner Zeitung daily has urged the minister to keep up the pressure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all the files on the table.
” Ms. Sandra Scheeres awarded a second research contract as the initial report had not been able to adequately clarify the problem due to the lack of the necessary rights to inspect files .
A second report was being drawn up by the University of Hildesheim .
Send in your tips and submissions by filling out this form or write to us directly at the email provided .
Join us on WhatsApp for more intel and updates .
GreatGameIndia is a journal on Geopolitics and International Relations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ India is facing in our exclusive book India in Cognitive Dissonance .
Past magazine issues can be accessed from the Archives section .

A sickening and bizarre sexual experiment was carried out by German government officials and a pedophile scientist that deliberately placed troubled children in the care of pedophiles to see if it had “positive consequences.” Victims from this utterly horrifying practice have filed a lawsuit exposing the grotesque details of this taxpayer-funded pedophilia experiment.
Must Watch: Would you live on 3D Printed Mars for a year for $60,000?
Kentler Experiments
In 1969, the Berlin welfare authorities assigned Dr Helmut Kentler, head of the department of social pedagogy at the Pedagogical Center, at least three homeless teenagers for foster care, who were then assigned to known pedophile parents by Kentler. Astonishingly, he had been able to convince the West Berlin Senate that pedophilia could have “Positive consequences” and could help homeless children lead “Proper, unremarkable lives.” These experiments, called the Kentler experiments, were carried on from 1969 to 2003.
The U.S. Sun identifies three victims under the Kentler experiments – Ulrich, Marco and Svenalong with one abuser Fritz. Reports detail the horrific experiences of the teenage boys at the time, who were repeatedly sexually abused by their foster guardian.
Kentler described the beginning of his sinister project in a magazine from 1980:
11 years ago, I was living in a group in Berlin at the time – 13-year-old Ulrich was brought to me… Ulrich’s advantage was that he looked good and that he enjoyed sex; so he could give something back to paedophile men who looked after him. We were lucky with Mr. Winter (The foster guardian assigned to Ulrich by Kentler). But surely my regular visits had a positive effect. Because relationships between adults and adolescents often suffer from the fact that they have to hide and hide.
Although Kentler admitted before his death in 2008 that it was clear to all involved that placing youths with pedophiles broke the law, his papers described the entire experiment as a “Success.”
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Researchers into the shameful episode getting stalled
In 2013, political scientist Franz Walter from the Göttingen Institute for Democracy Research examined previous position of the German political parties the Greens and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) on pedophilia and assigned Kentler a key role in the networks of pedophile activists.
With rising public exposure and pressure, Dr Teresa Nentwig of the University of Göttingen was then commissioned by the Berlin State authorities in 2015 to review the city files and publish a report on the findings.
A press release by the Leibniz University Hannover acknowledges Dr. Nentwig’s “Comprehensive review,” of Helmut Kentler’s work at the university and admits that Kentler was a professor at the University of Hannover as late as 1996.
“His statements and research conduct are inexcusable and utterly unacceptable. Leibniz University Hannover explicitly disassociates itself from Helmut Kentler and his work,” said the press release.
An online petition of September, 2019 by Joana Hendl explains that although the matter was brought to a public debate in the Berlin Senate in 2015, there was an intense coverup behind the scenes. Kentler’s files from his apartment, files from the youth welfare office were confiscated in order to stop the investigation.
A Dark Past – Pedophilia was getting institutionalized support
Germany is no stranger to such horrific scandals.
The junior coalition party of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling conservatives, Germany’s business-friendly Free Democratic Party (FDP), has had a strong connection with pedophile movements in recent history.
This Spiegel International reports that the FDP had connections even to those highest up in the pedophilia movement. There were numerous links and instances of close association between politicians and pedophilia.
At its general assembly in March 1980, the FDP’s youth organization at the time, the Young Democrats, wanted to remove paragraphs 174 and 176, which forbade sexual abuse of children and teenagers from the German Criminal Code.
A campaign ad for the FDP ahead of Berlin’s 1981 state parliament election obtained government funding for the General Homosexual Working Group (AHA), which at the time was not just advocating for urgent decriminalization of homosexuality, it was also a lobbying group for pedophiles.
In May 1981, the FDP’s parliamentary group gathered for a hearing to explore repealing paragraph 175, which made homosexuality a crime. 11 experts were called, including Helmut Kentler, who went on to make an unopposed presentation on his pedophile fostering experiments in Berlin.
In November of 1982, the FDP threw a party at the close of its federal convention. The invitations promising “Disco and discussion” went out not only to party members who had participated in the convention in Berlin, but also to a selection of gays, lesbians and pedophiles. The invitation bore the FDP logo, emblazoned at the bottom right, and explicitly welcomed “Lesbians and Liberals, Gossips and Sisters, Celebrities and Pederasts.”
In 1980, the highly active German Study and Working Group on Pedophilia (DSAP) shared a post office box with the Humanistic Union (HU) in Düsseldorf. The HU, which describes itself as an “independent civil rights organization,” also had a longstanding problematic position on the issue of pedophilia, maintaining close contact with the Working Group on Human Sexuality (AHS), which advocated the legalization of sex between adults and children.
Sociology professor RüdigerLautmann, who still serves on the board of HU and had also made a presentation in May 1981 to the FDP on repealing paragraph 175. Lautmann, told the parliamentarians that contemporary beliefs concerning “Age differences, the behaviour of the younger party and the nature of the sexual contact” were entirely incorrect.
Jurgen Trittin, a prominent Green Party member, supported pedophilia back in the day as well. Trittin later issued a grovelling apology, saying that the pedophile links had to be seen in the context of the sexual revolution of the 1970s, which encouraged a “Fiction that there could be sexual relations between adults and children beyond violence or abuse of trust.”
The Lawsuit
Because no individual guilt could be found by law, and both Kentler and the abuser of foster children are no longer alive, the prosecutors dropped the investigation of two of the victims against the Youth Senate Department of Berlin.
According to Der Tagesspiegel, the two victims are now in line to receive compensation for their civil suit from the Berlin Senate, which agreed to an out-of-court settlement. One of the victim’s lawyers was reportedly pressing for a lump sum of €100,000 plus a monthly pension of €2,500.
Berlin Youth Affairs Minister, Sandra Scheeres said, “It was a crime to put these people into this kind of care. It is simply unimaginable that something like this happened with state oversight.” The Berliner Zeitung daily has urged the minister to keep up the pressure on the Kentler affair and “Get all the files on the table.”
Ms. Sandra Scheeres awarded a second research contract as the initial report had not been able to adequately clarify the problem due to the lack of the necessary rights to inspect files. A second report was being drawn up by the University of Hildesheim.
Send in your tips and submissions by filling out this form or write to us directly at the email provided. Join us on WhatsApp for more intel and updates.
GreatGameIndia is a journal on Geopolitics and International Relations. Get to know the Geopolitical threats India is facing in our exclusive book India in Cognitive Dissonance. Past magazine issues can be accessed from the Archives section.


greatgameindia--2020-03-12--Coronavirus Cases Maybe 10 Times Higher Than Reported

Observations from the Johns Hopkins University real-time tracking dashboard indicate that Coronavirus cases maybe 10 times higher than reported .
In response to the ongoing public health emergency , Johns Hopkins University developed an interactive web-based dashboard hosted by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering ( CSSE ) at Johns Hopkins University , to visualize and track reported Coronavirus cases in real-time .
Among the serious observations available in a post under the heading “ Public Health ” dated January 31 , 2020 from Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering are two significant claims that still stand entirely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) That official China novel Coronavirus statistics were at least at that writing nearly six weeks ago only reflective of 10 % of actually occurring cases ; that is , that the figures issuing from China should be considered depressed by 90 % by whatever semantics one allows to indulge China ’ s self-exculpatory pretense of obliviousness in statistic-gathering and/or reporting strategies , and ( 2 ) That novel Coronavirus infections already had numbered in the hundreds at least in Wuhan as of November 2019 .
One may note in this regard that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Johns Hopkins real-time dashboard indicates both The World Health Organization and United States Center for Disease Control as figuring among its contributing data sources .
Altogether , the foregoing presents a peculiar disparity of figures and posturing .
On the one hand , following the first point above , it is suggested conversely that even at least as of January 31 , 2020 , cases of novel Coronavirus in Mainland China should be calculated at ten times the reported number ; from which to present at least a ten-fold assumption would hold because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ writing would be speciously based on modeling from the 90 % under-reporting that it is reasonable to impute in large measure to WHO and CDC as significant source base for Johns Hopkins , which wisely indicates the disparity for consideration .
Then , considering the second point , assuming hundreds of cases extant already in Wuhan as of any time in November , 2019 , there could be no possible way to accept China ’ s initial figures at all .
Johns Hopkins politely states the case for us and it may perhaps @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unintended favor hiding in plain sight .
This information was forwarded by the author to United States Congresswoman Judy Chu ( Democrat , California ’ s 27th Congressional District ) .
Rep. Chu currently serves on the House Ways and Means Committee , which has jurisdiction over legislation pertaining to taxes , revenues , Social Security , and Medicare .
In that Committee , Rep. Chu is a member of the Subcommittees on Health and Human Resources , Worker and Family Support , and Oversight , giving her oversight over healthcare reform and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as of this writing no reply has been forthcoming from Ms. Chu or any of her staff on the matter .
• The reference to the official January 31 , 2020 public-health posting is archived on the Johns Hopkins site : https : //systems.jhu.edu/research/public-health/ncov-model-2/ For latest updates on the outbreak check out our Coronavirus Coverage .
Join us on WhatsApp for more intel and updates .
GreatGameIndia is a journal on Geopolitics and International Relations .
Get to know the Geopolitical threats India is facing in our exclusive book India in Cognitive Dissonance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the Archives section .
Read more on Chinese Biological and Chemical warfare activities against India in our exclusive History of Narco-Terrorism issue .
Send in your tips and submissions by filling out this form or write to us directly at the email provided .
Join us on WhatsApp for more intel and updates .

Observations from the Johns Hopkins University real-time tracking dashboard indicate that Coronavirus cases maybe 10 times higher than reported. In response to the ongoing public health emergency, Johns Hopkins University developed an interactive web-based dashboard hosted by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University, to visualize and track reported Coronavirus cases in real-time.
Must Watch: Would you live on 3D Printed Mars for a year for $60,000?
Among the serious observations available in a post under the heading “Public Health” dated January 31, 2020 from Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering are two significant claims that still stand entirely neglected in media treatment:
(1) That official China novel Coronavirus statistics were at least at that writing nearly six weeks ago only reflective of 10% of actually occurring cases; that is, that the figures issuing from China should be considered depressed by 90% by whatever semantics one allows to indulge China’s self-exculpatory pretense of obliviousness in statistic-gathering and/or reporting strategies, and
(2) That novel Coronavirus infections already had numbered in the hundreds at least in Wuhan as of November 2019.
One may note in this regard that collation of Coronavirus COVID-19 cases on the Johns Hopkins real-time dashboard indicates both The World Health Organization and United States Center for Disease Control as figuring among its contributing data sources.
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Altogether, the foregoing presents a peculiar disparity of figures and posturing. On the one hand, following the first point above, it is suggested conversely that even at least as of January 31, 2020, cases of novel Coronavirus in Mainland China should be calculated at ten times the reported number; from which to present at least a ten-fold assumption would hold because currently reported decreases in cases at this writing would be speciously based on modeling from the 90% under-reporting that it is reasonable to impute in large measure to WHO and CDC as significant source base for Johns Hopkins, which wisely indicates the disparity for consideration.
Then, considering the second point, assuming hundreds of cases extant already in Wuhan as of any time in November, 2019, there could be no possible way to accept China’s initial figures at all. Johns Hopkins politely states the case for us and it may perhaps be perilous to neglect this intended or unintended favor hiding in plain sight.
This information was forwarded by the author to United States Congresswoman Judy Chu (Democrat, California’s 27th Congressional District). Rep. Chu currently serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over legislation pertaining to taxes, revenues, Social Security, and Medicare. In that Committee, Rep. Chu is a member of the Subcommittees on Health and Human Resources, Worker and Family Support, and Oversight, giving her oversight over healthcare reform and crucial safety net programs. However, as of this writing no reply has been forthcoming from Ms. Chu or any of her staff on the matter.
References:
The reference to the official January 31, 2020 public-health posting is archived on the Johns Hopkins site: https://systems.jhu.edu/research/public-health/ncov-model-2/ The live dashboard: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6
By Russell Errett, Professor Emeritus for GreatGameIndia.
For latest updates on the outbreak check out our Coronavirus Coverage. Join us on WhatsApp for more intel and updates.
GreatGameIndia is a journal on Geopolitics and International Relations. Get to know the Geopolitical threats India is facing in our exclusive book India in Cognitive Dissonance. Past magazine issues can be accessed from the Archives section.
Read more on Chinese Biological and Chemical warfare activities against India in our exclusive History of Narco-Terrorism issue.
Send in your tips and submissions by filling out this form or write to us directly at the email provided. Join us on WhatsApp for more intel and updates.


greatgameindia--2020-03-11--Companies Infecting Humans With Coronavirus For Clinical Trials

In a $ 2 billion race to find a vaccine various companies are infecting humans with Coronavirus for clinical trials .
A medical research firm based in the U.K. is offering more than $ 4,500 to individuals willing to serve as guinea pigs and be injected with two strains of Coronavirus similar to COVID-19 in a bid to find a vaccine for the new deadly virus .
In the U.S. , another firm is seeking participants for a COVID-19 vaccine study , but the pay is not as high , nor as quick , nor as risky .
The offer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is seeking 24 healthy individuals at a time to receive the weaker shots of Coronavirus before being administered vaccines in what the Times of London described as “ a $ 2 billion race to find a vaccine ” for COVID-19 .
According to the New York Post , participants would make around $ 4,588 to participate in Hvivo ’ s “ flu camp , ” which entails a two-week quarantine where they must “ eat a restricted diet and avoid human contact and exercise.
” The firm is still awaiting approval from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Regulatory Agency before trials can begin — but even if it gets clearance quickly , a cure is not expected until next winter , despite more than 20 firms participating in the race to find a shot to prevent the virus that has already taken nearly 4,000 lives globally .
In the U.S. , another firm is seeking participants for a COVID-19 vaccine study , but the pay is not as high , nor as quick , nor as risky .
Business Insider reported that Seattle ’ s Kaiser Permanente Washington research clinic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ participate in a 14-month trial to test three doses of a potential vaccine against the novel Coronavirus for safety .
However , in the Seattle study , participants would not be injected with the Coronavirus .
The researchers are offering $ 100 per visit for volunteers to show up in person 11 times , offering a total payout of $ 1,100 for those willing to serve as guinea pigs to test out the safety of what could be a life-saving vaccine .
While the outbreak has claimed more than 3000 lives officially , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Coronavirus , courtesy of their association with the biotechs working on Coronavirus vaccine development programs .
The $ 35 billion vaccine market is dominated by GlaxoSmithKline , Sanofi Adventis , Merck and Pfizer .
These 4 players represent 85 % of the vaccine market .
These are the primary players but are by no means alone because there is a global rush out there .
Three biotech stocks are surging on the possibility of coronavirus drugs and minting millions of dollars for their biggest shareholders .
Gilead , Moderna , and Novavax have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recent days as the three drug developers rush to introduce preventative vaccines and treatments .
For latest updates on the outbreak check out our Coronavirus Coverage .
Join us on WhatsApp for more intel and updates .
GreatGameIndia is a journal on Geopolitics and International Relations .
Get to know the Geopolitical threats India is facing in our exclusive book India in Cognitive Dissonance .
Past magazine issues can be accessed from the Archives section .
Read more on Chinese Biological and Chemical warfare activities against India in our exclusive History of Narco-Terrorism @ @ @ @ @ @ @ submissions by filling out this form or write to us directly at the email provided .
Join us on WhatsApp for more intel and updates .

In a $2 billion race to find a vaccine various companies are infecting humans with Coronavirus for clinical trials. A medical research firm based in the U.K. is offering more than $4,500 to individuals willing to serve as guinea pigs and be injected with two strains of Coronavirus similar to COVID-19 in a bid to find a vaccine for the new deadly virus. In the U.S., another firm is seeking participants for a COVID-19 vaccine study, but the pay is not as high, nor as quick, nor as risky.
Must Watch: Would you live on 3D Printed Mars for a year for $60,000?
Human Lab Rats Needed
The offer comes from London-based company Hvivo, which is seeking 24 healthy individuals at a time to receive the weaker shots of Coronavirus before being administered vaccines in what the Times of London described as “a $2 billion race to find a vaccine” for COVID-19.
According to the New York Post, participants would make around $4,588 to participate in Hvivo’s “flu camp,” which entails a two-week quarantine where they must “eat a restricted diet and avoid human contact and exercise.”
The firm is still awaiting approval from the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency before trials can begin — but even if it gets clearance quickly, a cure is not expected until next winter, despite more than 20 firms participating in the race to find a shot to prevent the virus that has already taken nearly 4,000 lives globally.
In the U.S., another firm is seeking participants for a COVID-19 vaccine study, but the pay is not as high, nor as quick, nor as risky.
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Business Insider reported that Seattle’s Kaiser Permanente Washington research clinic plans to enroll 45 healthy folks to participate in a 14-month trial to test three doses of a potential vaccine against the novel Coronavirus for safety.
However, in the Seattle study, participants would not be injected with the Coronavirus. The researchers are offering $100 per visit for volunteers to show up in person 11 times, offering a total payout of $1,100 for those willing to serve as guinea pigs to test out the safety of what could be a life-saving vaccine.
EXCLUSIVE#Coronavirus Bioweapon Thread How China Stole Coronavirus From Canada And Weaponized Ithttps://t.co/tc7W2DrmAA — GreatGameIndia (@GreatGameIndia) January 27, 2020
Making Millions from Coronavirus
While the outbreak has claimed more than 3000 lives officially, this small elite group made millions from Coronavirus, courtesy of their association with the biotechs working on Coronavirus vaccine development programs.
The $35 billion vaccine market is dominated by GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi Adventis, Merck and Pfizer. These 4 players represent 85% of the vaccine market. These are the primary players but are by no means alone because there is a global rush out there.
Three biotech stocks are surging on the possibility of coronavirus drugs and minting millions of dollars for their biggest shareholders. Gilead, Moderna, and Novavax have all outperformed the falling stock market in recent days as the three drug developers rush to introduce preventative vaccines and treatments.
For latest updates on the outbreak check out our Coronavirus Coverage. Join us on WhatsApp for more intel and updates.
GreatGameIndia is a journal on Geopolitics and International Relations. Get to know the Geopolitical threats India is facing in our exclusive book India in Cognitive Dissonance. Past magazine issues can be accessed from the Archives section.
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greatgameindia--2020-03-10--Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok Survives Assassination Attempt

Sudan ’ s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok on Monday survived a failed assassination attempt in the capital Khartoum , Sudan ’ s official TV reported .
The report did not give any further details about the assassination attempt .
Meanwhile , official SUNA news agency reported that Hamdok “ is well and at a safe place , ” after his motorcade came under the bombing attempt .
The incident took place at the entry of Kober bridge ( Sudanese army bridge ) at the time when Hamdok usually heads to his office , ” it added .
Eyewitnesses , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vehicles were damaged due to the explosion .
It is not yet clear whether there were victims or injured people in the explosion .
Sudan ’ s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said the assassination attempt against him on Monday will not stop the nation ’ s procession of change .
Hamdok also shared a photo of himself smiling and seated at his desk , while a TV behind him showed news coverage reporting he had survived .
Members of Hamdok ’ s office told Al Jazeera the attack happened as the prime minister @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 1956 in south-central Kordofan province , Hamdok has more than 30 years of experience as an economist and senior policy analyst specialising in economic development across Africa .

Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok on Monday survived a failed assassination attempt in the capital Khartoum, Sudan’s official TV reported. The report did not give any further details about the assassination attempt. Meanwhile, official SUNA news agency reported that Hamdok “is well and at a safe place,” after his motorcade came under the bombing attempt.
Must Watch: Would you live on 3D Printed Mars for a year for $60,000?
Exclusive: Coronavirus Bioweapon – Our controversial report on how Coronavirus was Weaponized
The incident took place at the entry of Kober bridge (Sudanese army bridge) at the time when Hamdok usually heads to his office,” it added.
Eyewitnesses, in the meantime, said a number of vehicles were damaged due to the explosion.
It is not yet clear whether there were victims or injured people in the explosion.
Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said the assassination attempt against him on Monday will not stop the nation’s procession of change.
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Hamdok also shared a photo of himself smiling and seated at his desk, while a TV behind him showed news coverage reporting he had survived.
Members of Hamdok’s office told Al Jazeera the attack happened as the prime minister was heading to his office.
Born in 1956 in south-central Kordofan province, Hamdok has more than 30 years of experience as an economist and senior policy analyst specialising in economic development across Africa.
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greatgameindia--2020-03-10--Coca Cola Accused Of Funding Colombian Death Squad

Coca Cola was accused of funding Colombian Death Squad between 1990 and 2002 to kill at least 10 trade union leaders .
U.S.-based Coca-Cola company along with more than 50 other companies were accused by Colombian courts of financing terrorism for their ties to the now-disbanded paramilitary organization , United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia , a fact trade union leaders have been denouncing for decades .
Coca-Cola was accused of hiring hitmen from the AUC between 1990 and 2002 to kill at least 10 labor union leaders who were trying to organize Coca-Cola ’ s plants .
U.K. oil company @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for its funding of AUC , along with kidnapping and human rights abuses .
Colombian trade unionist Gilberto Torres took multinational British oil giant BP to court in the U.K. over alleged human rights abuses , funding of paramilitaries , and complicity in kidnapping and torture .
Torres was seeking damages for his kidnapping , claiming the oil firm was involved in his abduction and murder plot .
Torres was captured in eastern Colombia ’ s Casanares region and released 42 days later when oil workers pressured BP with the threat of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of financing terrorism , commonly referred to as the “ para-economy , ” include Colombia ’ s largest beverage company Postobon , cement company Cementos Argos , state oil company Ecopetrol and banana distributor Chiquita Brands International .
Para–economy is a phenomenon in Colombia in which businesses use death squads to either evade labor laws , increase their assets or maximize profits .
The practice was particularly common in the 1990s and 2000s but continues to this day .
In June 2016 , families of victims killed by paramilitary groups opened a federal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ supporting the AUC .
The company was estimated to have made at least 100 payments to the group worth US $ 1.7 million between 1997 and 2004 .
The right-wing AUC coalition , deemed a terrorist organization by the Colombian government , disbanded in 2006 .
The paramilitary group was responsible for a number of massacres , human rights abuses , kidnappings and extortions that resulted in the displacement of thousands of Colombians .
Some politicians and authorities have been sentenced in relation to links with the AUC , the majority of businesses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ illegal financial activities .
GreatGameIndia is a journal on Geopolitics and International Relations .
Get to know the Geopolitical threats India is facing in our exclusive book India in Cognitive Dissonance .
Past magazine issues can be accessed from the Archives section .

Coca Cola was accused of funding Colombian Death Squad between 1990 and 2002 to kill at least 10 trade union leaders. U.S.-based Coca-Cola company along with more than 50 other companies were accused by Colombian courts of financing terrorism for their ties to the now-disbanded paramilitary organization, United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, a fact trade union leaders have been denouncing for decades.
Must Watch: Would you live on 3D Printed Mars for a year for $60,000?
Exclusive: Coronavirus Bioweapon – Our controversial report on how Coronavirus was Weaponized
Funding Colombian Death Squads
Coca-Cola was accused of hiring hitmen from the AUC between 1990 and 2002 to kill at least 10 labor union leaders who were trying to organize Coca-Cola’s plants. U.K. oil company BP has also be taken to court for its funding of AUC, along with kidnapping and human rights abuses.
Colombian trade unionist Gilberto Torres took multinational British oil giant BP to court in the U.K. over alleged human rights abuses, funding of paramilitaries, and complicity in kidnapping and torture.
Torres was seeking damages for his kidnapping, claiming the oil firm was involved in his abduction and murder plot. Torres was captured in eastern Colombia’s Casanares region and released 42 days later when oil workers pressured BP with the threat of a major labor strike.
Other companies suspected of financing terrorism, commonly referred to as the “para-economy,” include Colombia’s largest beverage company Postobon, cement company Cementos Argos, state oil company Ecopetrol and banana distributor Chiquita Brands International.
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What is Para-Economy
Para–economy is a phenomenon in Colombia in which businesses use death squads to either evade labor laws, increase their assets or maximize profits. The practice was particularly common in the 1990s and 2000s but continues to this day.
Lawsuit against Colombian Paramilitaries
In June 2016, families of victims killed by paramilitary groups opened a federal lawsuit against Chiquita in the U.S. for supporting the AUC. The company was estimated to have made at least 100 payments to the group worth US$1.7 million between 1997 and 2004.
The right-wing AUC coalition, deemed a terrorist organization by the Colombian government, disbanded in 2006. The paramilitary group was responsible for a number of massacres, human rights abuses, kidnappings and extortions that resulted in the displacement of thousands of Colombians.
Some politicians and authorities have been sentenced in relation to links with the AUC, the majority of businesses involved have not been punished for their illegal financial activities.
GreatGameIndia is a journal on Geopolitics and International Relations. Get to know the Geopolitical threats India is facing in our exclusive book India in Cognitive Dissonance. Past magazine issues can be accessed from the Archives section.
Support GreatGameIndia GreatGameIndia is being actively targeted by powerful forces who do not wish us to survive. Your contribution, however small help us keep afloat. We accept voluntary payment for the content available for free on this website via UPI, PayPal and Bitcoin.


greatgameindia--2020-03-09--How British Intelligence Use Islam To Wage War

Declassified documents reveal how British Intelligence use Islam to wage War and how the UK propaganda unit used Friday sermons , newspapers and novels to spread anti-Communist messages across Middle East .
A British government propaganda unit ran covert campaigns across the Middle East for several years at the height of the Cold War , distributing Islamic messages in a bid to counter the appeal of communism .
Recently declassified official papers show that the Information Research Department ( IRD ) , a then-secret division of the UK Foreign Office , commissioned a series of sermons that were reproduced and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ papers show that the unit also arranged for articles to be inserted in magazines published by Al-Azhar University in Cairo , “ to ensure that every student leaves the University a resolute opponent of Communism ” .
In an attempt to reach as wide an audience as possible , the IRD also published and distributed across the region a series of Arabic-language romantic and detective novels , within which anti-communist messages were embedded .
These stressed that Soviet communism was essentially atheistic in philosophy and practice , and claimed that Moscow aimed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Middle East .
The papers also shed new light on the way in which the British government covertly controlled or influenced many of the radio stations and news agencies in the Middle East from the 1940s to the late 1960s .
Some details of these operations became public after the IRD was shut down in 1977 .
However , the latest tranche of declassified papers appear to show the IRD to have been particularly sensitive about what its officials termed “ religious operations ” , in which they attempted to utilise Islam @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Secret or Top Secret , many of the papers are being declassified after 50 or 60 years ; nevertheless , some passages were blacked out by government censors before they were made public at the UK National Archives .
The IRD was set up in 1948 in order to continue the work of a wartime body called the Political Warfare Executive .
For the next 29 years it ran a number of newspapers , magazines , news agencies , radio stations and publishing houses , in order to spread unattributed anti-communist propaganda across @ @ @ @ @ @ @ method , however , was to place stories in established newspapers and to covertly brief opinion formers .
This was achieved on occasion by subterfuge or bribery , although early on , a senior IRD official , John Peck , warned that bribery might not always work .
“ I have serious doubts about the value of bribery as a means of getting anti-communist articles in the press , ” he wrote .
“ I am told that except in Jordan and possibly in Syria the circulation of those Middle East newspapers which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their individual influence negligible.
” In the same memorandum , he summed up the reason for IRD material being distributed without attribution : “ However valid our arguments may be , the fact that they are our arguments makes them suspect to the Arabs .
We can only overcome this difficulty by presenting the same arguments through an Arab intermediary.
” Despite Peck ’ s wariness , bribery continued to be used as a means of distributing propaganda material across the region .
Although financed through the same unpublished budget as Britain ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ show that the IRD also received funding from the oil industry .
“ It is true that in the last year we have been receiving clandestine financial assistance from oil companies , ” a memo to IRD director Ralph Murray , marked Top Secret , noted in 1954 .
But the Middle East was seeing “ the emergence of a state of total ideological warfare ” , the author claimed .
“ And while such help is appreciated , the amount is completely inadequate to our vital needs.
” The newly declassified papers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ religious operations ” .
Frequently these references are concerned with the financing of such propaganda campaigns , rather than the means of delivery .
“ You will note that we are including new budgetary provision for £1,000 to cover ‘ Religious Operations ’ ” is one typical entry .
Some details of the campaigns do emerge , however .
In February 1950 , for example , two years after the IRD was set up , its representative at the British embassy in Cairo informed London : “ The Friday sermon has always been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way [ sic ] of spreading propaganda in the Moslem world .
“ We have now devised a scheme for ensuring that anti-Communist themes are adequately dealt with .
A series of sermons has been written here.
” This was still happening 10 years later , as a top-secret memo from Beirut from August 1960 makes clear : “ We hope to produce two short pamphlets or sermons a month on religious subjects .
They will be written by Sheikh Saad al Din Trabulsi , formerly of the Beirut Moslem Tribunal ( sharia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who is well-known as a pious Moslem .
“ Two thousand copies of each would be distributed unattributably … throughout the Arabic-speaking world ( less Iraq ) .
Recipients will be Sheikhs , other leading Moslem personalities , Mosques and Muslim education establishments.
” The intermediary between the IRD and Trabulsi is named in the files as a man called Rivera , although this is possibly a codename .
Another intermediary between the IRD and individuals described as “ religious operators ” is named in the files as Talaat Dajani , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ later moved to London , where he received a medal of honour from the Queen in 1979 , and died in 1992 .
The whole Trabulsi operation , the IRD representative explained to London , would cost around 8,800 Lebanese pounds , or around £1,000 sterling , a year .
Although Iraq was excluded from that campaign , the country was on occasion the subject of IRD religious operations .
In 1953 , for example , IRD headquarters wrote to its man in Baghdad , saying : “ We would like to know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the covert dissemination of propaganda in the Shia holy places since it may suggest ideas which could be used outside Iraq .
“ Is the scheme connected with the working party ’ s proposal to make Friday sermons prepared in Beirut available to certain Shia divines ?
” IRD officials saw another chance to make use of “ religious operations ” in Iraq following the attempted assassination of the country ’ s prime minister , Abd al-Karim Qasim , as he was being driven through Baghdad in October 1959 .
There had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ following the attempt , the unit noted .
“ Workmen engaged in demolition work near the site of the attempted assassination had discovered the tomb of a Moslem holy man ; this story had been widely publicized and had given substance to the popular belief that the Premier had been miraculously preserved .
It was agreed that there would be an advantage in giving wider circulation to the story .
“ Religious stickers have been appearing in Baghdad and the possibility of augmenting them is to be considered.
” The following April , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was held in Beirut .
The minutes of what was described as a “ restricted session on covert propaganda ” show that Ralph Murray “ listed the targets at which we should aim to disrupt or influence ” .
Those to be disrupted included communist parties and hostile propaganda agencies .
This was at a time when printing presses inside Soviet embassies were thought to be producing 10,000 copies of a newspaper entitled Akhbar every day .
Those to be influenced , on the other hand , included young people , women , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the armed forces and religious leaders .
The representative from the British embassy in Baghdad explained that Iraq “ was now an important target for religious material ” , at which point , the minutes say , IRD officers based in Amman and Khartoum “ also pressed strongly for supplies of sermons and religious articles , which they said they could easily place ” .
The files make clear that several governments in the region connived with the IRD and would assist in the distribution of sermons and the placement of newspaper and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ man in Baghdad also “ emphasised that the Iraqi army was an important target ” and suggested that arrangements might be made for selected officers to visit the UK , with the trip appearing to be arranged by bodies with no clear connection to the British government .
He also noted that in Basra , the same press was being used to print both communist and non-communist newspapers , and said that “ the judicious use of some financial inducement would probably make it possible to put the Communist paper out of business @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” .
Delegates were briefed on the propaganda efforts of other members of the Baghdad Pact : the Cold War alliance of Iran , Iraq , Turkey , Pakistan and the UK that was dissolved in 1979 .
The IRD enjoyed extensive contacts with Baghdad Pact governments , offering both propaganda materials and technical support .
“ In practice , ” the delegates were told , “ only the Turks are really active , having achieved the publication in the Turkish press of 25-30 articles a month prepared by a writers ’ panel.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ informed that HMG [ Her Majesty ’ s Government ] was running two newspapers published in Bahrain : al Khalij and its English-language sister paper , the Gulf Times .
One paragraph in the minutes of the session notes that delegates were told that these newspapers were “ exceptional ” , in that IRD “ preferred to work through staff of established newspapers ” .
These minutes are among the papers that have been declassified and handed to the UK National Archives .
But , 60 years after the conference , the subsequent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ end of the Second World War to the late 1960s , successive British governments appear to have used intelligence and propaganda in an attempt to preserve strategic and economic interests in the Middle East at a time when they were struggling to retain influence .
Earlier disclosures about the IRD ’ s activities have shown that while some senior British diplomats in the region were highly enthusiastic , others were sceptical , fearing that exposure would exacerbate anti-British sentiment .
This is exactly what did happen , at a time and place where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ last fling of the imperial dice : in 1956 , in Egypt .
The IRD had been highly active in Egypt from the organisation ’ s inception .
As an IRD paper written in Cairo in 1950 noted : “ Conditions in Egypt are such as to make it eminently suitable breeding ground for Communism.
” The author went on to highlight “ acute maldistribution between rich and poor ” and the concentration of land in the hands of a small proportion of the population .
Nevertheless , he wrote : “ This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ propaganda .
It does not deal with the more important problem of positive action to remedy the social and economic conditions likely to assist the spread of Communism.
” Instead , the author explained , the IRD was targeting the students at Al-Azhar University on the grounds that “ from among them come the Imams who preach the Friday sermon in every Egyptian Mosque ; the teachers of Arabic in the secondary schools and all teachers in the village schools ; and the lawyers specializing in Moslem law ” .
The organisation was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drafts in English of short love or detective novels , or thrillers , embodying anti-Communist propaganda but following their local counterparts as closely as possible in presentation etc .
“ The Information Department , Cairo , would arrange for the drafts to be rewritten in Arabic by local hacks , and for them to be published locally.
” The unit would also “ investigate the feasibility of producing short love or thriller magazine stories ( of about 2,000 words ) with an anti-Communist twist ” .
The jewel in the IRD ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Agency ( ANA ) , one of several media organisations that British intelligence had set up during the Second World War .
Like other news agencies and radio stations that had been established in Beirut , Tripoli , Sharjah , Bahrain and Aden , ANA came under the control of the IRD after that organisation was founded in 1948 .
To those on the outside , ANA appeared to be part of Hulton Press , a large company owned by Edward Hulton , a Fleet Street media baron .
In fact , Hulton @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the IRD and Britain ’ s overseas intelligence agency , MI6 .
As well as distributing genuine news stories , gathered by Egyptian and British journalists , the agency disseminated propaganda produced by IRD , and became a base for MI6 officers masquerading as journalists .
In March 1956 , with relations between the UK and Egypt deteriorating sharply , the UK Foreign Office instructed the IRD to switch its focus away from communism and towards the government led by Gamal Abdel Nasser – who had been engaged in propaganda operations against @ @ @ @ @ @ @ following July , after Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal Company – taking control of the waterway that the British considered to be the jugular vein of their empire – the UK ’ s propaganda and espionage efforts under the cover of ANA rapidly picked up pace .
Anthony Eden , the British prime minister , had long been convinced that Nasser was under the influence of the Kremlin – although the British ambassador in Cairo , Humphrey Trevelyan , disagreed – and MI6 began considering whether the Egyptian president could be assassinated .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ an exploding electric razor was another .
Instead , as the Suez Crisis began to unfold , Eden vetoed the murder plot and the British decided to engage in several months of psychological warfare in Cairo , followed by military intervention .
A powerful new radio transmitter was erected in Iraq , broadcasting programmes from Arabic stations around the region that were covertly under British control , an operation that was for a while given the codename Transmission X .
As the British , French and Israelis plotted to invade Egypt and occupy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ steady stream of IRD and MI6 propaganda specialists began to appear at the ANA ’ s offices in Cairo .
This had not gone unnoticed by the Egyptian government , however , and in August , just weeks before the invasions , all of the agency ’ s operations – news reporting , spreading propaganda and gathering intelligence – were brought to an abrupt halt .
Egyptian secret police raided its offices and the homes of several of its staff .
Eleven Egyptians were accused of being spies working for MI6 officers based @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Amin Mahmoud , a teacher , was executed , and his son , a naval officer , was jailed for life .
Two MI6 agents who helped to manage the agency were subjected to lengthy interrogation and jailed .
Others were tried in their absence , and two British diplomats and four journalists were expelled .
However , the British head of the agency – who was also a correspondent for the Economist and the London-based Times newspapers , escaped arrest : it appears that the Egyptian government may have been feeding him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In the event , IRD simply set up a new Arab News Agency , from offices in Beirut , with staff in London , Cairo , Amman and Damascus .
By 1960 , according to one of the recently-declassified files , few people working at the agency ’ s Beirut headquarters were aware that it was controlled by the British government ; IRD staff were warned “ therefore to be cautious in their dealings ” with them .
In March that year the senior IRD officer at the British embassy in Beirut wrote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our secret information operations , I … attach the greatest importance to the Arab News Agency .
There is no doubt they are doing the most useful work throughout the area and they run a good office here.
” The recently declassified documents also shed new light on the way in which in the 1960s the British government persuaded Reuters , the international news agency , to take over the operations run by two IRD fronts , Regional News Service ( Middle East ) and Regional News Service ( Latin America ) .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ was first exposed in the 1980s .
The government funded these Reuters operations through the BBC .
It began paying the BBC enhanced fees for its World Service operations , and the BBC in turn paid Reuters extra sums for receiving its news feed .
While the IRD accepted that it could not exercise editorial control over Reuters , the declassified papers show it did believe that it would gain “ a measure of political influence ” .
Some of the IRD ’ s Cold War activities in the Middle East and North @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many of its old files remaining classified on national security grounds .
Not all of the papers on Reuters and the Arab News Agency have been transferred to the UK National Archive , for example .
One dating from 1960 , with the catalogue description “ renegotiation of contract between Reuters and the Arab News Agency ” , is among the IRD files that remain classified .
Another that has been withheld by the UK Foreign Office is known to contain papers from 1960 and is entitled “ Information Research Department : Jordanian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ efforts to distribute IRD material through the Maghreb Arab Press news agency after it was set up in 1959 , or have titles like “ Information Research Department : Arab trade unions ” .
Many of the titles of the classified IRD files are themselves classified : the UK National Archives catalogue simply lists them as “ Title withheld ” .
The United States was also an enthusiastic purveyor of propaganda in the Middle East throughout the Cold War .
Material created and distributed by the US Information Service tended to promote the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rather than attack Communism .
The recently declassified files are all concerned with British campaigns , however .
With the IRD being shut down in 1977 – in part , because too many people had become aware of its existence and activities – two questions remain .
The first is : did their campaigns have an impact on people ’ s attitudes and behaviour ?
Throughout the Cold War , many British diplomats in the Middle East were sceptical about the IRD ’ s efforts .
Some argued repeatedly that communism had only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Arab nationalism posed a greater threat to the UK ’ s interests than Moscow .
Even in Iraq – which the IRD appears to have believed to be more susceptible to communist influence than Egypt – some of Britain ’ s envoys had their doubts .
One diplomat wrote from Baghdad to the IRD in 1955 to explain : “ The Arabs have no means of checking the accuracy of our allegations about the iniquities of the Communist system … but they have the means , as they believe , of checking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the Persian Gulf and North Africa .
“ In our experience , it is barely possible to interest the politically conscious Iraqi in the Communist system at all.
” Vyvyan Kinross , author of Information Warriors , a forthcoming book about the battles for hearts and minds in the Middle East , believes that Eden ’ s attempts to demonise Nasser in 1956 left him looking hopelessly out of touch , and propelled Britain into disastrous military action .
The failed propaganda war contributed to “ a general collapse of Britain ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the region ” , Kinross says .
James Vaughan , lecturer in international history at Aberystwyth University in Wales , who has extensively studied western Cold War propaganda in the Middle East , concludes : “ The history of British propaganda in Egypt demonstrates how the decline of British influence was a well-advanced phenomenon , several years before Nasser ’ s decision to nationalise the Suez Canal Company.
” The second question is : what happened after the IRD was closed in 1977 ?
An intriguing answer to this question was provided @ @ @ @ @ @ @ information minister in the government of King Hussein of Jordan .
Abu-Odeh would have been on MI6 ’ s radar at the time .
He was Palestinian who had risen through the ranks of the Jordanian secret police and been handpicked for the job by the king .
At the time the kingdom was going through a major crisis , which became known as Black September , when the Jordanian Armed Forces attacked and expelled the PLO under the leadership of Yasser Arafat from the refugee camps in Jordan .
The crisis was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fedayeen were escorted to Syria .
In an interview with Middle East Eye in 2018 , Abu-Odeh explained how he was sent to England in the early 1970s , to be trained by the IRD .
While working as an intelligence officer , Abu-Odeh said , he was approached by the country ’ s newly-appointed director of intelligence .
“ He said to me : ‘ His Majesty wants you to go on a course in London at the IRD.
’ “ I said to him : ‘ What is the IRD ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he was sent back to England to study psychological warfare at a military academy .
“ The king was preparing me to become minister of information , on the advice of MI6 .
The IRD taught me their tactics and methods .
“ When I became minister of information , I trained one or two people how to do it.
” Although there is no confirmation in the recently declassified IRD files , it seems entirely possible that before it was disbanded , the organisation trained other government officials across the region @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and International Relations .
Get to know the Geopolitical threats India is facing in our exclusive book India in Cognitive Dissonance .
Past magazine issues can be accessed from the Archives section .

Declassified documents reveal how British Intelligence use Islam to wage War and how the UK propaganda unit used Friday sermons, newspapers and novels to spread anti-Communist messages across Middle East.
Must Watch: Would you live on 3D Printed Mars for a year for $60,000?
Exclusive: Coronavirus Bioweapon – Our controversial report on how Coronavirus was Weaponized
Use Islam to wage War
A British government propaganda unit ran covert campaigns across the Middle East for several years at the height of the Cold War, distributing Islamic messages in a bid to counter the appeal of communism.
Recently declassified official papers show that the Information Research Department (IRD), a then-secret division of the UK Foreign Office, commissioned a series of sermons that were reproduced and distributed throughout the Arabic-speaking world.
The papers show that the unit also arranged for articles to be inserted in magazines published by Al-Azhar University in Cairo, “to ensure that every student leaves the University a resolute opponent of Communism”.
In an attempt to reach as wide an audience as possible, the IRD also published and distributed across the region a series of Arabic-language romantic and detective novels, within which anti-communist messages were embedded.
Subscribe to GreatGameIndia
These stressed that Soviet communism was essentially atheistic in philosophy and practice, and claimed that Moscow aimed to sow political disorder and economic chaos in the Middle East.
The papers also shed new light on the way in which the British government covertly controlled or influenced many of the radio stations and news agencies in the Middle East from the 1940s to the late 1960s. Some details of these operations became public after the IRD was shut down in 1977.
However, the latest tranche of declassified papers appear to show the IRD to have been particularly sensitive about what its officials termed “religious operations”, in which they attempted to utilise Islam as a bulwark against communism.
Marked Secret or Top Secret, many of the papers are being declassified after 50 or 60 years; nevertheless, some passages were blacked out by government censors before they were made public at the UK National Archives.
Subterfuge, Bribery and Sermons
The IRD was set up in 1948 in order to continue the work of a wartime body called the Political Warfare Executive. For the next 29 years it ran a number of newspapers, magazines, news agencies, radio stations and publishing houses, in order to spread unattributed anti-communist propaganda across much of the world.
Its favoured method, however, was to place stories in established newspapers and to covertly brief opinion formers. This was achieved on occasion by subterfuge or bribery, although early on, a senior IRD official, John Peck, warned that bribery might not always work.
“I have serious doubts about the value of bribery as a means of getting anti-communist articles in the press,” he wrote.
“I am told that except in Jordan and possibly in Syria the circulation of those Middle East newspapers which are open to bribery is small and their individual influence negligible.”
In the same memorandum, he summed up the reason for IRD material being distributed without attribution: “However valid our arguments may be, the fact that they are our arguments makes them suspect to the Arabs. We can only overcome this difficulty by presenting the same arguments through an Arab intermediary.”
Despite Peck’s wariness, bribery continued to be used as a means of distributing propaganda material across the region.
Although financed through the same unpublished budget as Britain’s intelligence services, the newly-released papers show that the IRD also received funding from the oil industry.
“It is true that in the last year we have been receiving clandestine financial assistance from oil companies,” a memo to IRD director Ralph Murray, marked Top Secret, noted in 1954.
But the Middle East was seeing “the emergence of a state of total ideological warfare”, the author claimed. “And while such help is appreciated, the amount is completely inadequate to our vital needs.”
The newly declassified papers contain a number of references to “religious operations”. Frequently these references are concerned with the financing of such propaganda campaigns, rather than the means of delivery. “You will note that we are including new budgetary provision for £1,000 to cover ‘Religious Operations’” is one typical entry.
Some details of the campaigns do emerge, however. In February 1950, for example, two years after the IRD was set up, its representative at the British embassy in Cairo informed London: “The Friday sermon has always been recognised as one of the most important way [sic] of spreading propaganda in the Moslem world.
“We have now devised a scheme for ensuring that anti-Communist themes are adequately dealt with. A series of sermons has been written here.”
This was still happening 10 years later, as a top-secret memo from Beirut from August 1960 makes clear: “We hope to produce two short pamphlets or sermons a month on religious subjects. They will be written by Sheikh Saad al Din Trabulsi, formerly of the Beirut Moslem Tribunal (sharia) and now of Zahle Moslem Tribunal, who is well-known as a pious Moslem.
“Two thousand copies of each would be distributed unattributably … throughout the Arabic-speaking world (less Iraq). Recipients will be Sheikhs, other leading Moslem personalities, Mosques and Muslim education establishments.”
The intermediary between the IRD and Trabulsi is named in the files as a man called Rivera, although this is possibly a codename.
Another intermediary between the IRD and individuals described as “religious operators” is named in the files as Talaat Dajani, a Palestinian refugee living in Beirut. Dajani later moved to London, where he received a medal of honour from the Queen in 1979, and died in 1992.
The whole Trabulsi operation, the IRD representative explained to London, would cost around 8,800 Lebanese pounds, or around £1,000 sterling, a year.
Although Iraq was excluded from that campaign, the country was on occasion the subject of IRD religious operations. In 1953, for example, IRD headquarters wrote to its man in Baghdad, saying: “We would like to know more about your ‘pilot’ scheme for the covert dissemination of propaganda in the Shia holy places since it may suggest ideas which could be used outside Iraq.
“Is the scheme connected with the working party’s proposal to make Friday sermons prepared in Beirut available to certain Shia divines?”
IRD officials saw another chance to make use of “religious operations” in Iraq following the attempted assassination of the country’s prime minister, Abd al-Karim Qasim, as he was being driven through Baghdad in October 1959.
There had been a “remarkable religious revival” following the attempt, the unit noted. “Workmen engaged in demolition work near the site of the attempted assassination had discovered the tomb of a Moslem holy man; this story had been widely publicized and had given substance to the popular belief that the Premier had been miraculously preserved. It was agreed that there would be an advantage in giving wider circulation to the story.
“Religious stickers have been appearing in Baghdad and the possibility of augmenting them is to be considered.”
Disruption and Influence Operations
The following April, a conference of Middle East-based IRD officers was held in Beirut. The minutes of what was described as a “restricted session on covert propaganda” show that Ralph Murray “listed the targets at which we should aim to disrupt or influence”.
Those to be disrupted included communist parties and hostile propaganda agencies. This was at a time when printing presses inside Soviet embassies were thought to be producing 10,000 copies of a newspaper entitled Akhbar every day.
Those to be influenced, on the other hand, included young people, women, trades unions, teachers’ organisations, the armed forces and religious leaders.
The representative from the British embassy in Baghdad explained that Iraq “was now an important target for religious material”, at which point, the minutes say, IRD officers based in Amman and Khartoum “also pressed strongly for supplies of sermons and religious articles, which they said they could easily place”.
The files make clear that several governments in the region connived with the IRD and would assist in the distribution of sermons and the placement of newspaper and magazine articles.
The IRD’s man in Baghdad also “emphasised that the Iraqi army was an important target” and suggested that arrangements might be made for selected officers to visit the UK, with the trip appearing to be arranged by bodies with no clear connection to the British government.
He also noted that in Basra, the same press was being used to print both communist and non-communist newspapers, and said that “the judicious use of some financial inducement would probably make it possible to put the Communist paper out of business if that were thought to be desirable”.
Delegates were briefed on the propaganda efforts of other members of the Baghdad Pact: the Cold War alliance of Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan and the UK that was dissolved in 1979. The IRD enjoyed extensive contacts with Baghdad Pact governments, offering both propaganda materials and technical support.
“In practice,” the delegates were told, “only the Turks are really active, having achieved the publication in the Turkish press of 25-30 articles a month prepared by a writers’ panel.”
Finally, the secret conference was informed that HMG [Her Majesty’s Government] was running two newspapers published in Bahrain: al Khalij and its English-language sister paper, the Gulf Times.
One paragraph in the minutes of the session notes that delegates were told that these newspapers were “exceptional”, in that IRD “preferred to work through staff of established newspapers”.
These minutes are among the papers that have been declassified and handed to the UK National Archives. But, 60 years after the conference, the subsequent paragraph remains blacked out.
Nasser and the Suez Crisis
From the end of the Second World War to the late 1960s, successive British governments appear to have used intelligence and propaganda in an attempt to preserve strategic and economic interests in the Middle East at a time when they were struggling to retain influence.
Earlier disclosures about the IRD’s activities have shown that while some senior British diplomats in the region were highly enthusiastic, others were sceptical, fearing that exposure would exacerbate anti-British sentiment.
This is exactly what did happen, at a time and place where the British were about to take their last fling of the imperial dice: in 1956, in Egypt.
The IRD had been highly active in Egypt from the organisation’s inception. As an IRD paper written in Cairo in 1950 noted: “Conditions in Egypt are such as to make it eminently suitable breeding ground for Communism.”
The author went on to highlight “acute maldistribution between rich and poor” and the concentration of land in the hands of a small proportion of the population.
Nevertheless, he wrote: “This paper deals with the use of British-inspired propaganda. It does not deal with the more important problem of positive action to remedy the social and economic conditions likely to assist the spread of Communism.”
Instead, the author explained, the IRD was targeting the students at Al-Azhar University on the grounds that “from among them come the Imams who preach the Friday sermon in every Egyptian Mosque; the teachers of Arabic in the secondary schools and all teachers in the village schools; and the lawyers specializing in Moslem law”.
The organisation was also arranging for “the production in drafts in English of short love or detective novels, or thrillers, embodying anti-Communist propaganda but following their local counterparts as closely as possible in presentation etc.
“The Information Department, Cairo, would arrange for the drafts to be rewritten in Arabic by local hacks, and for them to be published locally.”
The unit would also “investigate the feasibility of producing short love or thriller magazine stories (of about 2,000 words) with an anti-Communist twist”.
The jewel in the IRD’s crown in Cairo was the Arab News Agency (ANA), one of several media organisations that British intelligence had set up during the Second World War.
Like other news agencies and radio stations that had been established in Beirut, Tripoli, Sharjah, Bahrain and Aden, ANA came under the control of the IRD after that organisation was founded in 1948.
To those on the outside, ANA appeared to be part of Hulton Press, a large company owned by Edward Hulton, a Fleet Street media baron. In fact, Hulton had allowed his company to give cover to the IRD and Britain’s overseas intelligence agency, MI6.
As well as distributing genuine news stories, gathered by Egyptian and British journalists, the agency disseminated propaganda produced by IRD, and became a base for MI6 officers masquerading as journalists.
In March 1956, with relations between the UK and Egypt deteriorating sharply, the UK Foreign Office instructed the IRD to switch its focus away from communism and towards the government led by Gamal Abdel Nasser – who had been engaged in propaganda operations against the British for some years.
The following July, after Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal Company – taking control of the waterway that the British considered to be the jugular vein of their empire – the UK’s propaganda and espionage efforts under the cover of ANA rapidly picked up pace.
Anthony Eden, the British prime minister, had long been convinced that Nasser was under the influence of the Kremlin – although the British ambassador in Cairo, Humphrey Trevelyan, disagreed – and MI6 began considering whether the Egyptian president could be assassinated.
Poison gas was one favoured option; an exploding electric razor was another.
Instead, as the Suez Crisis began to unfold, Eden vetoed the murder plot and the British decided to engage in several months of psychological warfare in Cairo, followed by military intervention.
A powerful new radio transmitter was erected in Iraq, broadcasting programmes from Arabic stations around the region that were covertly under British control, an operation that was for a while given the codename Transmission X.
As the British, French and Israelis plotted to invade Egypt and occupy the area around the canal, a steady stream of IRD and MI6 propaganda specialists began to appear at the ANA’s offices in Cairo.
This had not gone unnoticed by the Egyptian government, however, and in August, just weeks before the invasions, all of the agency’s operations – news reporting, spreading propaganda and gathering intelligence – were brought to an abrupt halt.
Egyptian secret police raided its offices and the homes of several of its staff. Eleven Egyptians were accused of being spies working for MI6 officers based at the agency; one, Sayed Amin Mahmoud, a teacher, was executed, and his son, a naval officer, was jailed for life.
Two MI6 agents who helped to manage the agency were subjected to lengthy interrogation and jailed. Others were tried in their absence, and two British diplomats and four journalists were expelled.
However, the British head of the agency – who was also a correspondent for the Economist and the London-based Times newspapers, escaped arrest: it appears that the Egyptian government may have been feeding him disinformation, and wished to continue.
In the event, IRD simply set up a new Arab News Agency, from offices in Beirut, with staff in London, Cairo, Amman and Damascus.
By 1960, according to one of the recently-declassified files, few people working at the agency’s Beirut headquarters were aware that it was controlled by the British government; IRD staff were warned “therefore to be cautious in their dealings” with them.
In March that year the senior IRD officer at the British embassy in Beirut wrote to London to say: “Of our secret information operations, I … attach the greatest importance to the Arab News Agency. There is no doubt they are doing the most useful work throughout the area and they run a good office here.”
Reuters and the BBC
The recently declassified documents also shed new light on the way in which in the 1960s the British government persuaded Reuters, the international news agency, to take over the operations run by two IRD fronts, Regional News Service (Middle East) and Regional News Service (Latin America). The relationship between Reuters and the IRD was first exposed in the 1980s.
The government funded these Reuters operations through the BBC. It began paying the BBC enhanced fees for its World Service operations, and the BBC in turn paid Reuters extra sums for receiving its news feed.
While the IRD accepted that it could not exercise editorial control over Reuters, the declassified papers show it did believe that it would gain “a measure of political influence”.
Some of the IRD’s Cold War activities in the Middle East and North Africa remain secret, however, with many of its old files remaining classified on national security grounds.
Not all of the papers on Reuters and the Arab News Agency have been transferred to the UK National Archive, for example. One dating from 1960, with the catalogue description “renegotiation of contract between Reuters and the Arab News Agency”, is among the IRD files that remain classified.
Another that has been withheld by the UK Foreign Office is known to contain papers from 1960 and is entitled “Information Research Department: Jordanian television”.
Other withheld files concern efforts to distribute IRD material through the Maghreb Arab Press news agency after it was set up in 1959, or have titles like “Information Research Department: Arab trade unions”.
Many of the titles of the classified IRD files are themselves classified: the UK National Archives catalogue simply lists them as “Title withheld”.
Reputational damage?
The United States was also an enthusiastic purveyor of propaganda in the Middle East throughout the Cold War. Material created and distributed by the US Information Service tended to promote the idea of common western and Islamic values rather than attack Communism.
The recently declassified files are all concerned with British campaigns, however.
With the IRD being shut down in 1977 – in part, because too many people had become aware of its existence and activities – two questions remain.
The first is: did their campaigns have an impact on people’s attitudes and behaviour?
Throughout the Cold War, many British diplomats in the Middle East were sceptical about the IRD’s efforts. Some argued repeatedly that communism had only limited appeal in the region, and that Arab nationalism posed a greater threat to the UK’s interests than Moscow.
Even in Iraq – which the IRD appears to have believed to be more susceptible to communist influence than Egypt – some of Britain’s envoys had their doubts.
One diplomat wrote from Baghdad to the IRD in 1955 to explain: “The Arabs have no means of checking the accuracy of our allegations about the iniquities of the Communist system … but they have the means, as they believe, of checking Russian propaganda about French and British wickedness in the Persian Gulf and North Africa.
“In our experience, it is barely possible to interest the politically conscious Iraqi in the Communist system at all.”
Looking back, a number of historians remain equally sceptical.
Vyvyan Kinross, author of Information Warriors, a forthcoming book about the battles for hearts and minds in the Middle East, believes that Eden’s attempts to demonise Nasser in 1956 left him looking hopelessly out of touch, and propelled Britain into disastrous military action.
The failed propaganda war contributed to “a general collapse of Britain’s reputation for honesty and fair dealing in the region”, Kinross says.
James Vaughan, lecturer in international history at Aberystwyth University in Wales, who has extensively studied western Cold War propaganda in the Middle East, concludes: “The history of British propaganda in Egypt demonstrates how the decline of British influence was a well-advanced phenomenon, several years before Nasser’s decision to nationalise the Suez Canal Company.”
The second question is: what happened after the IRD was closed in 1977?
An intriguing answer to this question was provided by Adnan Abu-Odeh, who served as information minister in the government of King Hussein of Jordan.
Abu-Odeh would have been on MI6’s radar at the time. He was Palestinian who had risen through the ranks of the Jordanian secret police and been handpicked for the job by the king.
At the time the kingdom was going through a major crisis, which became known as Black September, when the Jordanian Armed Forces attacked and expelled the PLO under the leadership of Yasser Arafat from the refugee camps in Jordan.
The crisis was resolved when Palestinian fighters known as the fedayeen were escorted to Syria.
In an interview with Middle East Eye in 2018, Abu-Odeh explained how he was sent to England in the early 1970s, to be trained by the IRD.
While working as an intelligence officer, Abu-Odeh said, he was approached by the country’s newly-appointed director of intelligence. “He said to me: ‘His Majesty wants you to go on a course in London at the IRD.’
“I said to him: ‘What is the IRD? I didn’t know.”
Later, he was sent back to England to study psychological warfare at a military academy.
“The king was preparing me to become minister of information, on the advice of MI6. The IRD taught me their tactics and methods.
“When I became minister of information, I trained one or two people how to do it.”
Although there is no confirmation in the recently declassified IRD files, it seems entirely possible that before it was disbanded, the organisation trained other government officials across the region.
Ian Cobain for the Middle East Eye
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