Bundesnachrichtendienst
The Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) is the foreign intelligence service of the Federal Republic of Germany.[1]
Contents
History
The BND was formed in 1956 on the basis of the Organisation Gehlen controlled by former Nazi General Reinhard Gehlen, who remained as head until 1968.[2]
Iraq
Curveball
The BND was responsible for briefing the Iraqi defector known as Curveball after he claimed asylum in Germany in 1999. His stories would form the basis of a claim in George W. Bush's 2003 state of the union address that Iraq had mobile biological weapons labs .[3]
Syria
In a secret briefing to on 1 September 2013, reported by Der Spiegel, BND chief Gerhard Schindler told German lawmakers, that although there was no incontestible proof, the BND analysis was that the Assad regime was responsible for a chemical weapons attack in the Damascus area the preceding month:
- He said that the BND listened in on a conversation between a high-ranking member of the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, which supports Assad and provides his regime with military assistance, and the Iranian Embassy. The Hezbollah functionary, Schindler reported, seems to have admitted that poison gas was used. He said that Assad lost his nerves and made a big mistake by ordering the chemical weapons attack.[4]
People
Presidents
- Reinhard Gehlen 1956-1968
- Gerhard Wessel 1968-1978
- Dr Klaus Kinkel 1979-1982
- Eberhard Blum 1982-1985
- Heribert Hellenbroich August 1985
- Dr Hans-Georg Wieck 1985-1990
- Konrad Porzner 1990-1996
- Dr Hansjörg Geiger 1996-1998
- Dr August Hanning 1998-2005
- Ernst Uhrlau 2005[5]-2011
- Gerhard Schindler 2012-
Vice Presidents
- Dr. Arndt Freiherr Freytag von Loringhoven Vice President
- Maj. Gen. Armin Hasenpusch Vice president for Military Affairs
- Werner Ober Vice President for Central Functions and Modernization
Structure
- Directorate GL: Situation Centre
- Directorate UF: Specialised Supporting Services
- Directorate EA: Areas of Operation/Liason
- Directorate TA: Signals Intelligence
- Directorate LA: Region A Countries
- Directorate LB: Region B Countries
- Directorate TE: Terrorism and International Organised Crime
- Directorate TW: Proliferation, NBC Weapons
- Directorate SI: Security
- Directorate TU: Technical Support
- Directorate TK: Technical Development
- Directorate ZY: Central Services
- Directorate UM: Relocation[6]
External resources
- Snowden Interview: NSA 'In Bed Together with the Germans', Spiegel Online, 7 July 2013.
- 'Prolific Partner': German Intelligence Used NSA Spy Program, Spiegel Online, 20 July 2013.
- 'Key Partners': Secret Links Between Germany and the NSA, Spiegel Online, 22 July 2013.
- Klaus Wiegrefe, Files Uncovered: Nazi Veterans Created Illegal Army, Spiegel Online, 14 May 2014.
Notes
- ↑ About BND, Bundesnchrichtendienst, accessed 5 September 2009.
- ↑ Daniele Ganser, NATO's Secret Armies: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe, Frank Cass, 2005, pp.200-201.
- ↑ Bob Drogin, Curveball, Ebury Press, pp.366-367.
- ↑ Matthias Gebauer, Gas Attack: Germany Offers Clue in Search for Truth in Syria, SpiegelOnline, 3 September 2013.
- ↑ Die Präsidenten des Bundesnachrichtendienstes, Das Bundesarchiv, accessed 5 September 2009.
- ↑ Structure, Bundesnachrichtendienst, accessed 5 September 2009.
