May 22, 2013                            
Dossier: Maher Assad


Report credits Assad's kid brother for turnaround by Syrian military


BACKGROUNDER
Compiled by Miles Yu

Russia's counter-intelligence arrests, turns over CIA agent in Moscow

Russia's Federal Security Service [FSB] announced on May 14 that it had caught a CIA agent in Moscow red-handed in the process of recruiting a Russian man who was in fact a FSB undercover agent.

The FSB building in Moscow.   
"The FSB's counterintelligence service detained a CIA agent, who was working in Moscow as third secretary of the U.S. Embassy's Political Department," according to a statement issued by the FSB.

The CIA agent identified by the FSB but was soon handed over to the U.S. embassy officials "following formal procedures," the FSB statement said.



Israel successful strikes said to show no-fly zone over Syria feasible
WASHINGTON - Israel's repeated air strikes against the regime of President Bashar Assad have demonstrated the feasibility of a no-fly zone over Syria, a report said. The Center for Strategic and International Studies asserted that the Israeli air-to-ground missile strikes on May 3-5 have shown Syria's military weakness. In a report, author Anthony Cordesman, a former Defense Department official, warned that Assad, however, could decide to resist any Western-led effort to impose a no-fly zone over Syria.
Military Technology
U.S. developing laser weapon to destroy short-range missiles   


Lockheed Martin said ADAM was designed to counter missile threats to Israel, particularly from the Gaza Strip.



The ADAM system shown engaging an unmanned aerial system target in flight at a range of approximately 1.5 kilometers.   Lockheed Martin Videos

Focus on Terrorism
U.S. tracks Al Qaida in Djibouti, most important base in Horn of Africa
Focus on Iran
U.S. cites key Iranian, 4 firms in 'convoluted schemes' for enrichment
Northeast Asia Report
Russian Patriarch visits China, plays Putin's enthusiastic 2nd fiddle
Focus on the Persian Gulf States
U.S. intel: Gulf Arab states schims makes Palestinian plan impossible
East-Asia-Intel.com
China upstages U.S. carrier-based drone with own new 'Sharp Sword'
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