Saudi Arabia, Syria
Moscow fails to reconcile Damascus and Riyadh

Saudi Arabia, Syria
Saudi Arabia's earthquake aid reveals Riyadh's changing posture towards Syria

Saudi Arabia and Syria's secret normalisation process has been brought into the open by recent Saudi deliveries of humanitarian aid to areas of Syria controlled by Assad, an initiative that paves the way for more direct diplomatic contact.

The Intelligence Gazette
Hossam Louka in Riyadh, State Department's generosity to Chisinau, France's Zahra center

Appointments, reforms and the issues at stake: every Monday, Intelligence Online serves up snippets big and small from the global intelligence community from Riyadh to Washington, and Paris to Tehran.

Syria/Saudi ArabiaHossam Louka pops up in Riyadh.

United States/MoldovaChisinau biggest receiver of US fund to counter Russian influence.

France/IranFormer pro-Iranian Centre Zahra France official fails to block asset freeze.

The Intelligence Gazette
Saudi GIP, Jeremy Wright, Hidalgo, Georgian National Security Council

Appointments, reforms, issues of concern: every Monday, Intelligence Online serves up a miscellany of news items great and small from the global intelligence community. This week, they come from Paris, Saudi Arabia, London and Tbilisi.

Saudi Arabia/IraqThe General Intelligence Presidency reopens talks with the Anbar tribes to try to block Iran.

FranceIntelligence expert Floran Vadillo is advising French presidential candidate Anne Hidalgo.

United KingdomTelecommunications surveillance champion Jeremy Wright joins the ISC as it battles for greater powers

GeorgiaThe National Security Council gets a new chief of staff

Spotlight | Israel, Syria
Israel walks a fine line on Ukraine to preserve its freedom to operate in Syria

The Ukrainian crisis has Israel between a rock and a hard place as its juggles its strategic alliance with Washington and its necessary Syrian coordination with Moscow.

Saudi Arabia
Riyadh counts on restored alliance with Islamabad to boost nuclear counter-espionage capacities

Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, which is useful to Riyadh as a channel of communication with the Talibans in Afghanistan, is also of interest because of its know-how in the nuclear field. Saudi Arabia plans to provide Pakistan's military industrial complex with fresh financing in return for more help in the development of its own nuclear sector.

Spotlight | Syria
Spymaster Ali Mamlouk has slipped from public view

Syria's spymaster in chief during the civil war, Ali Mamlouk, has been active in all the country's intelligence campaigns since 2012, both internal and external. Although no official announcement has been made and there has been no major incident, he looks to have been sidelined in favour of rising star Hussam Luka.

Egypt, Syria
Hossam Louka's star ascends within Syrian intelligence

Syrian spymaster Ali Mamlouk was noticably absent from the Arab Intelligence Forum, a major regional security meeting held in Cairo in November that was overseen by Abbas Kamel. But Mamlouk's absence was to Hossam Louka's advantage.