10 famous double agents in the world
(Baonghean.vn) - On the occasion of the poisoning of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in England, let's look back at famous double agents such as: Mata Hari, Oleg Penkovsky, Kim Philby, Robert Hanssen, Aldrick Ames...
1. Agent Humam Khalil Abu Mulal al-Balawi
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| Humam Khalil Abu Mulal al-Balawi. Photo: ABC News |
The Jordanian intelligence doctor who carried out a suicide bombing that killed seven CIA agents is the latest in a string of world-famous double agents.
Jordanian intelligence hired 36-year-old doctor al-Balawi and sent him to find Ayman al-Zawahiri, deputy to terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.
On December 30, 2009, al-Malawi was invited to a US military base in Afghanistan to give a presentation to CIA agents about the al-Qaeda terrorist network.
During the meeting, al-Malawi detonated explosives hidden in his vest, killing seven CIA agents and a relative of Jordan's King Abdullah II.
This was the deadliest suicide bombing for the CIA since the war on terror launched after the events of September 11, 2001.
2. Spy Benedict Arnold
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Benedict Arnold. Photo: Corbis |
However, his ego and greed led Arnold to betray the interests of his nation. He seized West Point, New York, intending to sell it to the British for £6,000, a pension of £300 a year, and command in the British army.
3.SpyMata Hari
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| SpyMata Hari |
Mata Hari was known as the “Queen of Spies”. She was a Dutch national and a dancer. In 1917, French intelligence discovered that Mata was a German spy operating during World War I.
Hari was famous as a provocative dancer in the 1900s. She traveled throughout Europe and had affairs with a series of powerful gentlemen.During World War I, she worked and took money from both the Germans and the French. When the affair was exposed, Hari was prosecuted by the French and executed in 1917 at the age of 41.
4.SpyEddie Chapman
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| SpyEddie Chapman |
The Nazis hired Chapman as a spy and dug information out of his own country. They sent him back to England, but he immediately reported it to the authorities.
After a conversation, MI5 intelligence agency recruited Chapman as a spy with the code name Zigzag. They also carried out a fake attack on the Havilland aircraft factory to complete Chapman's mission with the Germans.After returning to Germany, Chapman was awarded a medal, a yacht, and 100,000 marks. He continued to provide disinformation to the Nazis while on missions in Oslo and London.
5.SpyDusko Popov
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| SpyDusko Popov |
During the early days of World War II, Dusko Popov was recruited by the German Secret Service. He accepted the offer but immediately joined the British Army to fight the Nazis. Popov provided false intelligence to the Germans while traveling around Europe and America as a courtesan.
In 1974, he published a book recounting his wartime experiences titled Spy/Counterspy: The Autobiography of Dusko Popov.
6. Spy Oleg Penkovsky
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| Spy Oleg Penkovsky |
Originally a Soviet intelligence officer (colonel), Penkovsky attempted to sell information to Britain and the United States in 1962.
Codenamed Agent Hero, Penkovsky informed the United States of details of the Soviet nuclear arsenal and of Soviet plans to deploy ballistic missiles in Cuba before the missile crisis. Another double agent in the United States turned Penkovsky in, and he was indicted and convicted of treason in 1963.
7.SpyKim Philby
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| Spy Kim Philby |
In 1941, Kim Philby joined British intelligence, although he had worked for Soviet intelligence since 1933.
Over the next 20 years, Philby rose through the ranks of British intelligence, only to be exposed in 1963. Philby fled to Moscow and was hailed as a hero in the Soviet Union. He died in 1988.8. Spy Ashraf Marwan
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| Multi-agent Ashraf Marwan |
Marwan was the son-in-law of Egyptian President Gamal Nasser and worked for Israel. In the 1960s, Israel hired Marwan to provide them with information before the Yom Kippur War.
Despite the revelations, Egypt still regards Marwan as a patriot and gave him a hero's funeral after his mysterious death in 2007 in London.9. Agent Aldrick Ames
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| Agent Aldrick Ames |
This former CIA agent earned about $4.6 million selling information to the Soviet Union. While in high school, Ames worked odd jobs for the Central Intelligence Agency and began working full-time for the agency after graduating from college.
Ames fell into poverty and was forced to work for the Soviet Union after a costly divorce from his first wife. Ames was exposed in 1994 and is now serving a life sentence.10. Spy Robert Hanssen
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| Spy Robert Hanssen |
Just three years after joining the FBI, Hanssen shook hands with the Soviet Union in 1979. Hanssen continued to sell American secrets after the Soviet Union collapsed.
An FBI agent and spy for the Soviet Union for 22 years from 1979, Robert Philip Hanssen was charged with selling information for more than $1.4 million.
In 2001, Hanssen was caught selling US intelligence information. Hanssen is currently serving a life sentence in the US.
