EMBASSY SECURITY: PROBLEMS EXIST FOR U.S. AROUND THE WORLD
Document Type:
Collection:
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST):
CIA-RDP90-00965R000705970003-4
Release Decision:
RIPPUB
Original Classification:
K
Document Page Count:
2
Document Creation Date:
December 22, 2016
Document Release Date:
December 12, 2011
Sequence Number:
3
Case Number:
Publication Date:
April 22, 1987
Content Type:
OPEN SOURCE
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STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/12 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000705970003-4
ON PAGE 22 Apri 1 1987-
embassy Security: Problems Exist
for U.S. Around the World
By ELAINE SCIOLINO
Spedal to The New YOAt Tlmee
WASHINGTON, April 21 - Some of
the security problems that have arisen
at the American Embassy in Moscow
are present in a number of other Amer-
Ican missions around the world, ac-
cording to Administration officials, in-
telligence experts and current and for-
mer American ambassadors.
' Missions .in China, Eastern Europe
and other areas with a large Soviet
presence have been particularly vul-
aerable, American security officials
>jaid. But they said there were also
problems in certain Middle Eastern
nd African countries.
a Americans serving in friendly coun-
Cries where internal security regula-
ons are more relaxed are also suscep-
?Qble to Soviet and other subversion,
they said.
Security lapses elsewhere have not
;drawn the same attention as those in
Moscow, the specialists acknowledged,
although many of the problems have
1 existed for decades and are considered
,as serious. Nor has the attention di-
rected at the problem in Moscow been
deplicated elsewhere.
'Problems Are Widespread'
i "What the incident in Moscow should
,awaken us to is that the problems and
- vulnerabilities are widespread," said-
:Adm. 19ft R. Ingnon, catired, a for-
imer Deputy-Director of Central Intelli-
gence, who headed a special State De-
partment advisory panel that investi-
,g*ted embassy security in 1985.
e "While the Soviets most skillfully ex-
ploit them, they are not the only ones
trying." he added, "and vulnerabilities
ire at least as large if not larger in
other places where the guard is not so
high "
- An Assistant Secretary of State for
biplomatic Security, Robert E. Lamb,
acknowledged that hostile espionage is
a :global -problem confronting United
States diplomatic facilities.
"Moscow has a threat level un-
matched in the world, but there are
other places that are just as vulner-
able," he said. "Espionage Is a world-
wide problem and not confined to just-
hostile countries."
In discussing security problems in
Eastern Europe, the officials said that
embassy buildings in Prague, Buda-
pest, East Berlin and Sofia, Bulgaria,
are next to buildings that is some cases
are owned by the host government.
American investigators have turned up
evidence of break-ins in buildings in,
Eastern Europe and electronic bug.
g Outside the Eastern bloc. the least
acknowledged but the most serious se-
cunt problems are at American fa-
cilities in China, according to intelli-
When Senate Forei Relations
Committee vest ators v s t the
rt~~e n em ass buildings last
year, ey_ scover a maze of un-
nefsTrom the basements to Otner ouuo-
ed
in s. Doors to a tunes were
but did not have alarms- one tunnel lec
into the basement of the os ov
Em ass said one commUftC si-aff
e
6.
o`- n
en
r
t
ie t
mem r w _o_w
The consuTn Canton, meanwhile,
is considered impossible to protect,
since it is situated on several floors of a
high-rise hotel and even "secure
areas" where only Americans are al-
edged by many officials.
"The basic rule, especially in the.
lowed are guarded by the Chinese po-
lice, not American marines. Eastern bloc, where there is
American installations are also ency to be less suspicous and a
made vulnerable by the extensive use cializing may not be forbidden.
of local employees. While West Germa- Bill Would Ban Locals
ny, France and Britain hire an average
of one local employee for every three of
its own officials, the average number of
local employees at American posts far
exceeds the number of Americans.
Last December there were 10,766
Americans and 15,327 local employees
working full-time at American posts
around the world. In some countries,
the difference was dramatic. In Japan,
for example, local employees num-
bered 407, compared with 269 Amer-
icans. In France there were 583 local
employees and 291 Americans, and in
Morocco 268 locals and 96 ouAmericans.
tnumbered
Local employees
Americans even in some posts in East-
ern Europe. In Czechoslovakia, for ex they prohibit socializing.
ample, 46 locals worked for 27 Amer- Reducing the number of local em-
locals while er cad there were 119 ployees would require budgeting enor
to and 52 A mRuns. m resources to substitute Amer-
Ins
the Moscow, 210 Russians worked a . icons in many jobs. It would also shrink
the American Embassy, but all have e significantly the services offered to
been withdrawn Americans abroad.
Because of language and cultural s Called Vital
barriers, American posts in China em-Locals ployed 336 locals and 155 Americans. Extensive renovation or replace-
The United States can hire its own ment of more than 100 embassies to
local employees in countries with large deter terrorism and espionage, as
numbers of Soviet officials, such as recommended by the Inman panel,
Cuba, Nicaragua, Iraq and Syria, but it would be even more expensive.
is assumed that some of them are intel- But despite the concern about the
ligence agents and that all must report widespread use of locals, many diplo-
to their governments. mats argue that on the whole they
In November 1985, for example, the benefit the Foreign Service.
State Department issued a strong pro- They provide valuable services that
test when Nicaragua subjected local in some cases could not be duplicated
employees of the American Embassy by American contract employees, ac-
in Managua to several hours of intense cording to state Department officials.
interrogation. American diplomats in And without local employees, they say,
both Baghdad, Iraq, and Damascus, American embassies could turn into
Syria, have reported problems with closed fortresses with"little connection
electronic surveillance. to the populace.
Government investigators assert The officials say that native employ-
that the problem of socializing between ees know how to resolve problems with
American embassy staff members and local bureauctacies, know the lan-
local employees and residents is more' guage and dialects and often provide
widespread than is generally acknowl- I insight into culture and politics.
salaries are low, local employees have
been particularly susceptible to offers
to spy for Soviet-bloc governments and,
to a lesser extent, ostensibly friendly
i countries.
This month, Representative Jim
Courter. Republican of New Jersey,
submitted a bill that would ban all local
workers from American posts in East-
ern Europe.
Although the State Department op-
poses the bill, it is working on a plan
that would eliminate local employees
from sensitive areas of American Of-
fices in Eastern Europe. It is also in-
i .
ulatio ns that would fur-
l
tt..s re
t
ga
g
Continued
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/12 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000705970003-4
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/12 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000705970003-4
'Tremendous Benefits'
"There are tremendous benefits to
being surrounded by foreign nationals,
and if one is careful the benefits out-
weigh the liabilities," one Foreign,
Service officer said.
"There's a lot of sentiment in Con-
gress for building new embassies when
you're saving lives, but not for espio-
nage, Mr. Lamb said, referring to the
readiness of Congress to make embas-
sies more secure against terrorism. "If
this Government is going to make em-
bassy security a priority, this Congress
can help."
Mr. Lamb is expected to raise this
and other issues in testimony before
the House Foreign Affairs Subcommit-
tee on International Operations on
Wednesday.
a
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/12 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000705970003-4