Sharing Secrets

By Michele Orecklin

CANADA The Canadian Security Intelligence Service has close U.S. ties (its intercept helped trigger last week's terrorism warning). But Canada's open-immigration policy has led some to suggest the place is a haven for al-Qaeda sympathizers who then cross the U.S. border

BRITAIN Not everyone is James Bond, but MI5 (domestic) and MI6 (foreign) are very good at human intelligence, notably in Britain's former Middle East colonies. Fighting Irish terrorists has helped agents become adept at tracking other terrorist cells within Britain

FRANCE French-U.S. relations have been prickly in the past, but are warming. Low tech by U.S. standards, the French rely on human intelligence. They can operate within regimes hostile to the U.S., like Iran. France's agents are less constrained by law than the U.S.'s

RUSSIA Through sources in the republics of the former U.S.S.R., Russia has garnered info on Islamic radicals near its borders. But it has relatively poor intelligence outside its sphere of influence. Russia and the U.S. have been sharing intelligence on drugs and nukes

GERMANY A strong German-American relationship was fostered during the cold war. "They have modern technology, and it's very high-quality stuff," says an FBI veteran who worked with the Germans. They overheard bin Laden associates gloating over the Sept. 11 attacks

INDIA It is focused mostly on Pakistan, the neighbor it says supports terrorism in Kashmir. It has good information on camps run by Pakistan inside its own territory and in Afghanistan that are in close proximity to al-Qaeda camps

PAKISTAN Intelligence agency ISI includes some Taliban supporters. The U.S. has griped recently that Pakistan hasn't shared much info, particularly on bin Laden. Last month the top ISI officer was replaced by a moderate, who promised full cooperation with the U.S.

ISRAEL The champion of intelligence, Israel's Mossad, is ruthless and efficient, with great human intelligence on the Middle East. The U.S. and Mossad are sharing information, and Mossad has sent two dozen agents to Washington to help the CIA

JORDAN Strong Jordanian-U.S. links have been reinforced by the WTC attack. Jordan provided a treasure trove of material confiscated from millennium-plot conspirators. Jordanian agents can be overzealous, using threats and torture to get info

SAUDI ARABIA The U.S. and the Saudis have quarreled in the past over Saudi reluctance to provide data on attacks that killed American troops there. The Saudis have significant stuff on al-Qaeda that the Bush Administration says they are sharing--but are they?

CZECH REPUBLIC Its intelligence agency has been trying to shed its secretive-commie rep. It is good at straightforward intelligence gathering but has trouble with the big picture. It provided info that hijacker Atta met with an Iraqi officer