← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Gabrielle
Thread ID: 20568 | Posts: 2 | Started: 2005-10-08
2005-10-08 14:54 | User Profile
By DOUG MELLGREN Associated Press Writer
October 6, 2005, 2:56 PM EDT
OSLO, Norway -- In a rare public claim, a leading Norwegian pro-Palestinian activist said Thursday she infiltrated the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad as a double agent in the 1980s.
Karin Linstad was a founding member of the Norwegian Palestine Committee and is married to a high-profile Norwegian Muslim, Trond Ali Linstad, who converted to Islam in the 1980s.
"I can't go into detail about the people and the organizations," she told The Associated Press. "My starting point and my loyalty has always been with the Palestinian side."
Norway, the home of the Nobel Peace Prize, has been a key player in seeking Middle East peace, especially in secretly brokering the now-tattered 1993 Oslo Agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Linstad said she decided to reveal her former role because she is being identified as an agent in the Norwegian book "War and Diplomacy" being published next week.
According to the Norwegian media, the book by state television NRK Middle East correspondent Odd Karsten Tveit identifies Linstad as a former Mossad agent but does not address any role as a double agent.
Both the Israeli prime minister's office and the Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the matter. The prime minister's office said Mossad does not respond to reports in the media.
Linstad's husband of 32 years said he had been unaware of his wife's activities, but her being an agent could explain some past incidents.
"Karin came to me once and asked if someone came to her and asked her to be part of the underground intelligence, what should she do," he told the AP by telephone. "I said if we can serve the Palestinian cause, it's right."
Linstad refused to give any details of her work for Mossad or as a pro-Palestinian double agent, and she would not say how long it lasted. Nor would she confirm that she worked for the Palestinians, saying only "there are others who also sympathize with the Palestinians."
The Oslo newspaper Aftenposten said Mossad had been skeptical of Linstad's offer to act as an agent but was drawn in by her claims of tight contact with leading Palestinians.
The newspaper, without citing sources, said she provided information about Palestinians in Beirut, Lebanon, ahead of Israel's 1982 invasion.
Eldbjoerg Holte, who helped found the Norwegian Palestine Committee with the Linstads, said she was shocked by the revelation.
"Giving information about Palestinians, or me and my comrades in the Palestine Committee ... is rotten regardless of the motive," she was quoted as telling the Norwegian news agency NTB.
[url]http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-norway-mossad-agent,0,312140.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines[/url]
2005-10-08 18:17 | User Profile
I'm sure Ms. Lindstad's coming from a pro-brown place, not an anti-Jewish place, so call me unimpressed if she's as fair-skinned as I imagine. On the other hand, it is funny how the Israelis always seem to find a use for blonde women.