what in retardation…
Ukraine’s Zelensky secretly met with CIA boss – media
The head of America’s Central Intelligence Agency, William Burns, met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and representatives of Kiev's intelligence services last week, CNN reported on Monday.
According to the American outlet, Burns’ secret trip had been planned long in advance and was not an emergency meeting based on the current tensions between Ukraine and Russia, which some analysts believe may lead to war.
The meeting between Washington’s chief spook and the Ukrainian president came at the same time as a group of US senators from both the Democratic and Republican parties also visited Kiev.
According to CNN, citing anonymous courses, Burns “consulted with intelligence counterparts amid concerns of a further invasion of Ukraine by Russia.” They also “discussed current assessments of risk to Ukraine” and “had the opportunity to discuss the current situation with President Zelensky and efforts to de-escalate tensions.”
In recent months, Western media outlets, officials, and analysts have suggested that a Russian invasion of Ukraine is around the corner. This has been exacerbated in recent weeks by claims that 100,000 Russian soldiers are currently on the frontier, preparing for military action.
The Kremlin has repeatedly denied any plan to attack and has suggested that NATO is invoking the specter of “Russian aggression” as a pretext to deploy more military equipment in the region.
Last week, Yahoo News reported that the CIA is overseeing a secret intensive training program for Ukrainian special forces, which allegedly began in 2015, and is based in the southern US.
Yahoo says “the covert program, run by paramilitaries working for the CIA’s Ground Branch — now officially known as Ground Department — was established by the Obama administration,” and further expanded during the presidencies of Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
https://www.rt.com/russia/546394-zelensky-met-cia-boss/
Interdasting..
Texas synagogue attacker was previously known to British security services
BLACKBURN, England — The armed British man who took four hostages inside a Texas synagogue during Saturday services was known to security officials in Britain, two officials told The Washington Post, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.
The BBC reported Tuesday that MI5, Britain’s counterintelligence and security agency, investigated Malik Faisal Akram in 2020 and had him on a watch list as a “subject of interest” but concluded that he no longer posed a threat. Britain’s Home Office declined on Tuesday to comment on the investigation.
The FBI is investigating the attack in Colleyville, Tex., as terrorism. Questions remain about how Akram was able to enter the United States and purchase a weapon.
The hostages, who included a rabbi and three worshipers at Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in the suburb of Dallas and Fort Worth, escaped, and Akram was confirmed dead after an 11-hour standoff with law enforcement. It remains unclear whether Akram was killed by police or took his own life.
Akram repeatedly referred to Aafia Siddiqui — an American-educated Pakistani woman widely known as “Lady al-Qaeda,” who was convicted on terrorism charges in 2010 — and called for her release from prison.
People who heard him on the live stream of services, which carried part of the ordeal, said Akram chose the synagogue because it appeared to be the closest gathering of Jews to a federal prison in Fort Worth where Siddiqui is being held on an 86-year sentence for trying to kill U.S. soldiers.
Akram, who is originally from Blackburn in the English county of Lancashire, grew up in a family well-known in his community, his father the founder of a small mosque. He had struggled with mental illness, according to his brother, Gulbar Akram, who declined to elaborate.
Britain’s Greater Manchester Police said Sunday that two teenagers were taken into custody for questioning by counterterrorism officers and that the department would assist U.S. officials with their inquiry, but declined to share further details.
Biden on Sunday said that the suspect was believed to have purchased the weapons when he landed “on the street” but cautioned that officials did not yet have “all the facts.”
“Allegedly, he purchased it on the street. Now what that means, I don’t know. Whether he purchased it from an individual in a homeless shelter or a homeless community … because that’s where he said he was. It’s hard to tell.”
Akram arrived at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport on Dec. 29, officials have said. In a live stream of Saturday morning’s service, Akram said he had spent 16 hours somewhere in the synagogue’s area, “walking around with what I have in my bag, and with my ammo.” Law enforcement officials did not say what explosive devices they found but ordered evacuations in the area while officers disposed “of some ordnances on the scene.”
sauce: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/01/18/texas-attacker-malik-faisal-akram-british-security-mi5/
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