64 EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 115 2018THE PACKAGE HAS BEEN DELIVERED
Intel analysts question signal
confirmation of Skripal sanction
signals unit which secured the Russian
message. How that leak occurred is bizarre
and it simply does not make sense.The thrust of the story implies British
Intelligence signals elements linked the
communication to the assassination attempt,
proving Moscow was responsible. However,
Eye Spy associate editor and signals authority
Paul Beaumont also raised serious doubts. His
knowledge of the Cyprus base and its
electronic capability is extensive. “The
message suggested by the Daily Express and
later repeated with some cerebral input in the
Observer raises serious concerns as to
source. Given the air of secrecy at the base,
would an insider blow the whistle and give
details of another’s intercept, and rank and
service - or was this information released for
its propaganda wor th - not only amongst the
British public but also internationally?n the very same day as the Skripals
were attacked, Britain’s Daily Express
newspaper repor ted that the RAF
Olistening post in Cyprus intercepted
messages from Syria to Moscow - ‘the
package has been delivered’ and ‘two
individuals had made a successful egress’.
However, intelligence analysts have cast
serious doubts about the validity of the alleged
communications.
Alex Thomson, who served at GCHQ from
2001-2009, said it was unlikely local officers
at RAF listening stations had the capability of
piecing together, let alone deciphering, highly
encrypted communications. Thomson said:
“RAF signals intelligence officers do exist and
include some skilled cryptologists and
linguists, but - unless something radical has
changed in the past few years, which I doubt -
they are focused upon intercepting military
radio communications. The Express’ source
mentions an
‘electronic
message’ [and]
implies what
Siginters call
C2C (computer-
to-computer
communica-
tions) - an
umbrella term
for emails and(packets of) all Internet protocols, such as
instant messaging. Now, are we supposed to
believe that a crucial ‘the deed is done’
message regarding a GRU assassination in
Britain was sent in the clear or in a low-grade,
locally-crackable cipher from a Russian
military operative in Syria to a Russian MOD
staff officer?”Craig Murray, former British Ambassador to
Uzbekistan, also questioned the report. “If you
were sending a cryptic message back from
Salisbury to Moscow, you wouldn’t route it
back via Syria, in the certain knowledge that
all such calls from Syria are picked up...”He also deconstructs the account from a
linguistic point of view. “As for the phrase ‘two
people have made their egress’, presumably
this was said in Russian and I cannot
understand the translation at all. Exit, egress,
go out, leave to go outside - there is only one
Russian word to express all of these and that
is phonetically from the stem ‘vihod’, either as
noun or verb. There is no egress/exit choice in
Russian.”The intercepts, we are led to believe, were
made by Britain’s SIGINT centre based near to
Famagusta, southern Cyprus in Sovereign
Base Areas (SBA).* And in other press
coverage, MI6 Chief Alex Younger is said to
have sent a “well done” message to the RAFUS Marine Corps Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion - RAF Akrotiri, CyprusBBC World Service
transmitter facility -
AkrotiriCraig Murray* See Paul Beaumont’s indepth reporting on
the capabilities of Britain’s spy facilities in
Cyprus - Eye Spy 81 and 87.