Rocco Martino (born September 20, 1938) is an Italian secret agent. He was born in Tropea, province of Catanzaro.

Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi ordered Nicolò Pollari to disseminate the fake documents and on October 18, 2001, Pollari sent a one and a half page letter to the CIA indicating that "the news about Niger comes from a reliable source, even if it is not possible to assess its quality" (Italian: "le notizie sul Niger arrivano da una fonte affidabile, anche se non si è grado di valutarne la qualità").[1][2]

During the summer of 2001, Alain Chouet and others with France's DGSE investigated an alleged deal known later as Nigergate in which Iraq was trying to obtain yellowcake from a country in Africa and, by May and June 2002, they investigate any connection with Niger but find that the rumours are entirely false.[3] Furthermore, in July 2002, the Italian SISMI and the United States CIA are informed by the French DGSE that Rocco Martino, a former Italian intelligence agent, is trying to pass fake documents about Iraq obtaining yellowcake from Niger.[3] However, the SISMI report that a lady, who is controlled by SISMI's Antonio Nucera, in the Niger embassy at Rome presents the fake documents in July 2002.[3] Later, in March 2003, George Tenet incorrectly states that Iraq, who has large quantities of yellowcake, is obtaining yellowcake from Niger.[3]

In late February 2002, Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, the husband of Valerie Plame and the last senior United States state department official to meet with Saddam Hussien, travelled to Niger and confirmed that the Niger-Gate documents were fake.[4]

Martino played a major role in the fabrication and the dissemination of the Yellowcake Forgery,[3][5][6][7][8][9][10] when he approached CIA Rome station chief Jeffrey W. Castelli with documents on Niger government letterhead describing secret plans for the sale of uranium to Iraq. Reportedly, Castelli dismissed the documents right off as forgeries, and never bothered passing them to Langley.

Although claiming to be an intelligence/disinformation conduit on his own account, it is likely Martino was deliberately deployed as a double agent by SISMI, Italian military intelligence, originally to spy on the French.

According to Nicholas Ruffard of the Sunday Times, Giacomo admitted that he received documents from the Nigerian embassy.[11] Carlo Rossella, the editor of Panorama, had the documents during the third week of September 2002 and passed the documents to the American embassy in Rome on October 9, 2002.[12] Elisabetta Burba was the author of an article about the documents which was never published in Panorama and was the person that gave the documents to the American embassy in Rome.[13][14] Burba traveled to Niger and verified that the documents were fake.[1] Although Michael Ledeen, who had been a frequent contributor to Panorama, allegedly was involved, Ledeen denied it.[13][15][16] However, Philip Giraldi inferred to Scott Horton that Ledeen was involved and had received compensation.[16][17][18][19] Vincent Cannistraro confirmed that Ledeen was involved with the forged documents.[16] The Italian magazine Panorama was owned by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore which was controlled by the family of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.[1][13]

On Sept. 9, 2002, Nicolò Pollari gave the forged documents directly to Stephen Hadley, who was the United States deputy national security advisor.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Wilkinson, Tracy (October 28, 2005). "Italians Debate Role in Operative's Saga". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 3, 2005. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  2. ↑ Unger, Craig (July 2006). "The War They Wanted, The Lies They Needed". Vanity Fair. p. 5. Archived from the original on 6 March 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Bonini, Carlo [in Italian]; D'Avanzo, Giuseppe [in Italian] (December 1, 2005). "Alain Chouet, ex numero 2 dei servizi segreti transalpini racconta il ruolo di Parigi nell'affare del falso traffico di uranio: Nigergate, lo 007 francese che smonta la tesi del Sismi" [Alain Chouet, former number 2 of the transalpine secret services, talks about the role of Paris in the affair of the false uranium trafficking: Nigergate, the French 007 that dismantles the thesis of the SISMI]. la Repubblica (in Italian). Archived from the original on December 3, 2005. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  4. ↑ Wilson 4th, Joseph C. (July 6, 2003). "What I Didn't Find in Africa". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 23, 2011. Retrieved September 7, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ↑ Bonini, Carlo [in Italian]; D'Avanzo, Giuseppe [in Italian] (October 24, 2005). "Doppiogiochisti e dilettanti, tutti gli italiani del Nigergate" [Double agents and amateurs all the Italians of the Nigergate]. la Repubblica (in Italian). Archived from the original on October 27, 2005. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  6. ↑ Gellman, Barton (October 30, 2005). "A Leak, Then a Deluge (page 1)". Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 8, 2012. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  7. ↑ Gellman, Barton (October 30, 2005). "A Leak, Then a Deluge (page 2)". Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  8. ↑ Gellman, Barton (October 30, 2005). "A Leak, Then a Deluge (page 3)". Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 24, 2016. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  9. ↑ Gellman, Barton (October 30, 2005). "A Leak, Then a Deluge (page 4)". Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 24, 2016. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  10. ↑ Gellman, Barton (October 30, 2005). "A Leak, Then a Deluge (page 5)". Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 24, 2016. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  11. ↑ Rufford, Nicholas (August 1, 2004). "Italian spies 'faked documents' on Saddam nuclear purchase". Sunday Times. Archived from the original on December 5, 2005. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  12. ↑ Luttazzi, Daniele (November 2004). "Interviste random 2" [Random Interviews 2]. Rolling Stone (in Italian). Archived from the original on October 12, 2006. Retrieved September 7, 2021 – via danieleluttazzi.it. See Intervista a Rolling Stone (novembre 2004) or Rolling Stone interview (November 2004).
  13. 1 2 3 Eisner, Peter (April 3, 2007). "How Bogus Letter Became a Case for War: Intelligence Failures Surrounded Inquiry on Iraq-Niger Uranium Claim". Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 21, 2007. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  14. ↑ Morley, Jefferson (October 29, 2005). "The Niger Papers: Obstacles to Coverage". Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 29, 2005. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  15. ↑ Alexandrovna, Larisa (January 17, 2006). "American who advised Pentagon says he wrote for magazine that found forged Niger documents". The Raw Story. Archived from the original on January 27, 2006. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  16. 1 2 3 Masters, Ian (April 3, 2005). "Who Forged the Niger Documents: Interview of Vincent Cannistaro, the former CIA head of counterterrorism operations and intelligence director at the National Security Council under Ronald Reagan". KPFK. Los Angeles. Archived from the original on April 8, 2005. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  17. ↑ Neal, Terry M. (November 3, 2005). "Questions Remain About the Arguments for War (page 1)". Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 11, 2012. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  18. ↑ Neal, Terry M. (November 3, 2005). "Questions Remain About the Arguments for War (page 2)". Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 13, 2014. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  19. ↑ Morley, Jefferson (October 28, 2005). "DSM Sequel: Roots of a Scandal". Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 29, 2005. Retrieved September 7, 2021.

Further reading


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