Hi All,

Canada - Canadian Press 
 
 
Inquiries turn up no proof so far suspected spy is using Canadian passport


JIM BRONSKILL 

OTTAWA (CP) - Federal officials have so far found no evidence to confirm
suggestions a suspected Israeli agent is using a stolen Canadian passport. 

Inquiries by several agencies about the international movements of Zev
William Barkan helped ease fears that Israel's spy service, the Mossad, had
resumed the practice of abusing Canadian travel documents. "At the
moment we do not have any credible evidence that would constitute a
sufficient ground to make representations to the Israeli authorities,"
said Reynald Doiron, a Foreign Affairs Department spokesman. 

Additional information expected next week could help settle the matter more
definitively, Doiron said Friday. 

The intriguing case, which hinges on a sensational New Zealand spy drama,
leaves many questions unanswered. 

Foreign Affairs, the Immigration Department, the RCMP and Canadian Security
Intelligence Service have been probing reports that Barkan was travelling
in Asia on a Canadian passport issued in the name of Kevin William Hunter. 

A Canadian by that name did report losing his passport in the Chinese city
of Guangzhou in mid-April, The Canadian Press has confirmed. 

But a government source familiar with the file said a check of entry and
exit records provided by various countries showed no indication Barkan had
used the document in question for travel purposes. 

"Did he have that Canadian passport? No one will be able to say." 

Barkan, 37, is wanted by New Zealand police for allegedly trying to help
illegally obtain a passport from that country. 

He is accused of assuming the identity of a wheelchair-bound man with
cerebral palsy in an effort to secure the document. 

Barkan is said to have fled New Zealand after two men with alleged Mossad
ties were arrested in the matter. 

Canadian officials were probing a report Barkan was recently seen in
Pyongyang, North Korea (news - web sites), where he had supposedly flown
from Beijing using Hunter's passport. 

Interpol, the international police organization, has alerted agencies
around the world to be on the lookout for Hunter's travel document. 

However, officials now believe it's unlikely Barkan could actually have
used the passport. 

A major problem is the fact Barkan, described as having thick black hair,
does not resemble the photo in the Canadian passport. 

"He doesn't even look like Kevin William Hunter," one source said. 

Canada has added security features to its passport in recent years to make
it difficult to tamper with a photo, increasing the risk of destroying the
whole document in the process or of being caught. 

In addition, Barkan is believed to have both Israeli and U.S. citizenship,
reducing the likelihood he would require a third passport. 

The findings have left Canadian investigators puzzled about the reported
link between Barkan and Hunter's passport. 

"So where the connection was made, no one can say," a source
said. "We don't know where the dot-connecting was done." 

It is believed that Hunter is still in China. Canadian officials cannot
discuss his whereabouts for privacy reasons. 

Canada has thoroughly explored the allegations of passport misuse given
that two Mossad operatives were caught seven years ago in Jordan with fake
Canadian passports following a bungled attempt to assassinate a Hamas
leader. 

Canada later received assurances from Israel that its passports would not be abused. 


 


From the desk of...


   Michael
... Florida can be explained, defined, encapsulated, summarized,
characterized, wrung out and hung up to dry in one short sentence: The only
thing Florida has going for it is the Canadian winter.
- Joey Slinger, columnist, The Saturday Night Traveller, 1990



--- Devil's Point System 6.66