Secret documents show Qatar spy equipment.
Plans for a drone program, for WLAN surveillance and cell phone hacking: Qatar has equipped itself with spy equipment. Even their own spies feared surveillance in the desert state. What does that mean for visitors to the World Cup?
Anyone who sees a van parked in front of their hotel at the World Cup in Qatar should watch out for surveillance. Secret documents available to „SRF Investigativ“ show details of the Qatari state’s espionage equipment. Underneath camouflaged high-tech spy vehicles.
The vans, code-named „Mystery“ for the project, serve as mobile surveillance platforms. They can intercept signals from wireless WLAN networks, secretly record videos and automatically recognize license plates of cars. They are also capable of monitoring cell phone data traffic and phone calls in the vicinity.
The document now unveiled, titled „Enabling Qatar,“ lists a whole series of programs designed to make Qatar more powerful in intelligence missions.
SRF research shows that Qatar did indeed buy the vans mentioned.
Neither the Qatari embassy in Bern, nor the communications office of the Qatari government in Doha responded to an inquiry from SRF. Global Risk Advisors did not respond to a question about whether the programs were proposed or actually implemented. A spokesman for the security firm claimed the documents were forged and the allegations „completely false.“ The company had previously denied spying for Qatar and cast doubt on the authenticity of documents.
SRF has taken several steps to verify the authenticity of the relevant documents. The Associated Press news agency also reported last year that it agreed with SRF about some of the spying programs described in the document.
Full statement from Global Risk Advisors
Brian Glicklich, Digital Strategy Ltd, spokesperson for Global Risk Advisors (GRA) and Kevin Chalker:
„These new allegations are completely false and based on documents that appear to have been forged as part of a foreign influence campaign in which Mr. Chalker and his company have become collateral damage. It is disturbing that SRF continues to accept these claims as true without actually investigating the implausible allegations they make. It is also remarkable that this story is being pursued at the same time that a reputable media outlet in the U.S. has analyzed an intelligence report detailing how and by what means journalists are used to promote nation-state influence.
The false SRF documents allegedly demonstrate a wide-ranging intelligence campaign targeting multiple governments, including illegal hacking, a fleet of „black“ vehicles, drones, and intelligence operations in many areas of government. However, SRF has not provided any evidence of such vehicles, drones, or government witnesses, let alone GRA involvement in such efforts. Such evidence would be easy to find if this massive intelligence operation were real, but it is not. Instead, SRF relies on patently false documents to make uncorroborated and fictitious claims.“
Continue reading the full text from Swiss Radio and Television here.
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