Germany arrests three Ukrainians suspected of spying in exploding parcel plot
BERLIN: Germany has arrested three Ukrainian nationals on suspicion of foreign agent activity linked to the shipment of parcels containing explosive devices, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
The suspects are believed to have been in contact with individuals working for Russian state institutions, federal prosecutors said in a statement.
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Arab News
16 hours ago
- Arab News
Senior official says Home Office staff alarmed by ‘absurd' Palestine Action ban
LONDON: A senior British civil servant has described a 'tense atmosphere' inside the Home Office department following Home Secretary Yvette Cooper's recent announcement that the protest group Palestine Action is to be banned under anti-terror laws, it was reported on Saturday. Cooper on Monday confirmed plans to proscribe the group under the Terrorism Act, a move that would make membership or support a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. It would mark the first time a non-violent protest movement is classified alongside banned terrorist organizations such as Daesh and Al-Qaeda and some far-right groups. A senior Home Office official, speaking anonymously, said concern over the decision was widespread within the department, The Guardian newspaper reported. 'My colleagues and I were shocked by the announcement,' they said. 'All week, the office has been a very tense atmosphere, charged with concern about treating a non-violent protest group the same as actual terrorist organisations like Isis (Daesh), and the dangerous precedent this sets. 'From desk to desk, colleagues are exchanging concerned and bemused conversations about how absurd this is and how impossible it will be to enforce. Are they really going to prosecute as terrorists everyone who expresses support for Palestine Action's work to disrupt the flow of arms to Israel as it commits war crimes? 'It's ridiculous and it's being widely condemned in anxious conversations internally as a blatant misuse of anti-terror laws for political purposes to clamp down on protests which are affecting the profits of arms companies,' they added. The decision to proscribe comes after four people were arrested following a break-in at RAF Brize Norton airbase, where Palestine Action activists sprayed red paint on two military aircraft. The group said the protest was in response to Britain's role in 'sending military cargo, flying spy planes over Gaza and refuelling US and Israeli fighter jets.' In a statement, Cooper said the protest was part of a 'long history of unacceptable criminal damage committed by Palestine Action.' Palestine Action responded by saying: 'Proscription is not about enabling prosecutions under terrorism laws — it's about cracking down on non-violent protests which disrupt the flow of arms to Israel during its genocide in Palestine.' The move comes amid wider civil service unrest over UK policy on Gaza. Earlier this month, more than 300 Foreign Office officials signed a letter warning the government risked complicity in Israeli war crimes. In response, the department's top civil servants told signatories: 'If your disagreement with any aspect of government policy or action is profound, your ultimate recourse is to resign from the civil service. This is an honourable course.' The proscription order will be laid before Parliament on Monday and could come into effect by the end of the week. When asked for comment by The Guardian, the Home Office referred to Cooper's original statement.
Arab News
a day ago
- Arab News
UK distances new spy chief from ‘Nazi' grandfather
LONDON: The British government has distanced the incoming head of its foreign intelligence service from her grandfather following reports he was a Nazi spy known as 'the butcher.'Blaise Metreweli will in the autumn become the first woman to lead MI6 in its 116-year-old history, the British government announced earlier this Daily Mail newspaper reported this week that her grandfather Constantine Dobrowolski defected from the Soviet Union's Red Army to become a Nazi informant in the Chernigiv region of modern-day newspaper said German archives showed Dobrowolski was known as 'the Butcher' or 'Agent No 30' by Wehrmacht commanders.'Blaise Metreweli neither knew nor met her paternal grandfather,' a Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement.'Blaise's ancestry is characterised by conflict and division and, as is the case for many with eastern European heritage, only partially understood.'It is precisely this complex heritage which has contributed to her commitment to prevent conflict and protect the British public from modern threats from today's hostile states, as the next chief of MI6.'The Daily Mail said Dobrowolski had a 50,000 ruble bounty placed on him by Soviet leaders, and was dubbed the 'worst enemy of the Ukrainian people.'He also sent letters to superiors saying he 'personally' took part 'in the extermination of the Jews,' the newspaper head of MI6 is the only publicly named member of the organization and reports directly to the foreign 47, will be the 18th head of her predecessors she will be referred to as 'C,' not 'M' as the chief is called in the James Bond film franchise.
Al Arabiya
a day ago
- Al Arabiya
Justice Department abruptly fires 3 prosecutors involved in Jan. 6 criminal cases, AP sources say
The Justice Department fired at least three prosecutors involved in US Capitol riot criminal cases on Friday–the latest moves by the Trump administration targeting attorneys connected to the massive prosecution of the January 6, 2021, attack, according to two people familiar with the matter. Those dismissed include two attorneys who worked as supervisors overseeing the January 6 prosecutions in the US attorney's office in Washington, as well as a line attorney who prosecuted cases stemming from the Capitol attack, the people said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters. A letter that was received by one of the prosecutors was signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi. The letter did not provide a reason for their removal, effective immediately, citing only Article II of the United States Constitution and the laws of the United States, according to a copy seen by The Associated Press. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment Friday evening. The terminations marked yet another escalation of norm-shattering moves that have raised alarm over the Trump administration's disregard for civil service protections for career lawyers and the erosion of the Justice Department's independence from the White House. Top leaders at the Justice Department have also fired employees who worked on the prosecutions against Trump and demoted a slew of career supervisors in what has been seen as an effort to purge the agency of lawyers seen as insufficiently loyal. Trump's sweeping pardons of the January 6 rioters have led to worries about actions being taken against attorneys involved in the massive prosecution of the more than 1,500 Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol as lawmakers met to certify President Joe Biden's election victory. Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of all of them on his first day back in the White House, releasing from prison people convicted of seditious conspiracy and violent assaults on police. During his time as interim US attorney in Washington, Ed Martin in February demoted several prosecutors involved in the January 6 cases, including the attorney who served as chief of the Capitol Siege Section. Others demoted include two lawyers who helped secure seditious conspiracy convictions against Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio. In January, then-acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove ordered the firings of about two dozen prosecutors who had been hired for temporary assignments to support the January 6 cases but were moved into permanent roles after Trump's presidential win in November. Bove said he would not tolerate subversive personnel actions by the previous administration.
