WikiLeaks Posts CIA Travel Tips

WikiLeaks posted two classified CIA documents on Sunday giving spies advice on avoiding blowing their cover while traveling through international airports with a false ID, including how to do it in the European Union. One document, “Surviving Secondary,” offers tips on handling a secondary screening if the agent is on a watchlist, is found with something considered contraband, or even if the security inspector sniffs something is amiss. The manual suggests having a “consistent, well-rehearsed and plausible cover,” and suggests creating an online person via LinkedIn or Twitter in advance. The second PDF, “Schengen Overview,” details steps to take when infiltrating the European Union, also known as the Schengen Area. The main threat to an agent’s cover story here is the number of border guards encountered, as well as the number of electronic border-control systems. Julian Assange, WikiLeaks’ editor in chief, said his organization published the documents becaue, “The CIA has carried out kidnappings from European Union states, including Italy and Sweden, during the Bush administration. These manuals show that, under the Obama administration, the CIA is still intent on infiltrating European Union borders and conducting clandestine operations in EU member states.” Assange has often remarked that he is concerned that the CIA would like to kill or kidnap him to bring him back to the United States for prosecution. He has been granted asylum by Ecuador and is holed up in its embassy in London avoiding possible prosecution for sex offenses in Sweden.