Herman Simm - Super Spy in Talinn - but who for ? Russia ? US ? Israel ?

Herman Simm, 61, a high-ranking official in the Estonian Defense Ministry in Tallinn,and his wife Heete a lawyer at Estonia's National Police Board were arrested in Tallin ,Estonia (pop 1.3 Mn.) on September 21st. it was an event that received little publicity. Kommersant 23rd September 2008 IHT 2nd September 2008

It appears that Simm had access to nearly all documents exchanged within the EU and NATO and it is assumed that every document that circulates between EU member states was passed on to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVR -- including confidential analyses by NATO on the Kosovo crisis, the war in Georgia and even the missile defense program.

Teams from NATO and the EU are said to be investigating this spy scandal which is said to be the equivalent of the breaches undertaken by Aldrich Ames, a former CIA agent who for years funneled information to the Russian intelligence service, then called the KGB.

A US official from NATO heads the teams as they are unearthing the enormity of the betrayal. A German government official has called the situation a "catastrophe," and Jaanus Rahumägi, a member of Estonia's national parliament who heads the parliamentary oversight committee for the government security agency, fears "historic damage."

It appears that Simm started his contact with the Russian intelligence service as early as the late 1980s. When Estonia's NATO membership was first discussed "in the mid-1990s, Simm was officially recruited by the Russian government," claims Rahumägi. There is evidence indicating that the relationship was fairly loose to begin with. It's possible the KGB successor organization, the SVR, kept Simm as a "sleeper."

Simm rise in the small government service was rapid and in 1994 he became the Estonian chief of police in the new democratic government headed by Mart Laar. Later, he was transferred as a department head to the Defense Ministry, where he was responsible for the secret coordination with NATO and the EU - which also invloved extensive EU travel using a diplomatic passport.

Simm's principal motivation appears to have been financial, as he owns several plots of land and properties around Tallin in Raplamaa, Suure-Jaani, Ida-Virumaa, Padise and Pärnu with family members (Paul and Martin Künnap, the sons of his stepsister) and a smart lavishly renovated, whitewashed residence in the small city of Saue near Tallinn. Visited it appears by an SVR contact believed to have been travelling on a bogus Spanish passport.

Estonia's spy scandal hits relatives of Herman Simm Estonian business channel 17th October 2008

Now the hunt is on for other active agents - it can only be assumed that the Russian intelligence apparatus maintains a number of Simms in the Baltic States.

Jutta Rabe, a German journalist says Simm was involved in the cover-up of the evidence about weapons smuggling from Russia to Israel.

The Estonia was a Swedish and Estonian joint-venture ferry that operated between Stockholm and Tallinn and sunk on September 27th 1994 and was regularly used to transport military contraband with the approval of the Swedish state, led by Carl Bildt. In the weeks prior to the sinking, contraband military shipments from Russia had been transported on the ferry and taken to Arlanda airport where they had been flown to a third country with the knowledge and support of the Swedish state. The third country was Israel. Over 1,000 people died.
See - War materials smuggled on Estonia 12th February 2004

Rabe, speaking on 14th anniversary of the sinking at an event at the Estonian National Library in Tallinn , days after the Simms arrest told the audience of relatives and news reporters that Simm had been on the "dive platform" during the first official dive to the wreck after being "exchanged" at the last minute for another person.

This was not reported in Estonian papers but was published published in the Finnish newspaper, Turun Sanomat published in Turku on the 2nd October.

If Simm did not work for the Russians in 1994 - who was he working for ? The US ? Israel ?

Rabe says that at the time of the dive, Simm was the highest officer of the Estonian secret police, and he requested that divers go to the cabin of Captain Avo Piht and search for the pilot's case belonging to a certain Aleksandr Voronin. Voronin is suspected of being involved in shipping hi-tech military contraband from Russia to Israel.

The divers on the wreck that day worked for Rockwater, a subsidiary of Brown & Root Energy Services (BRES). Each diver had signed a lifetime agreement obliging them to remain silent about what they did on the wreck some 200 feet below the surface. BRES is a subsidiary of Halliburton.

Copies of the diving logs, show that the sought-after case was finally found in Cabin 6230, the cabin usually reserved for VIP guests or the relief captain [Avo Piht], who was also on board.

Aleksandr Voronin was traveling on Estonia with Vassili, his 15-year-old son, and his father-in-law, Vassili Kruchkov. After being rescued, they told the press they were on a business trip to Denmark.

It is interesting to note that the much sought-after and recovered pilot's case belonging to Voronin and was in the hands of the Swedish and Finnish authorities, disappeared and has not been seen or heard of again. Who wanted it recovered and disappeared ?

The first independent Estonian government was headed by Mart Laar (1991-94) who had close Zionist connections. Laar, for example, was one of the three people involved in Estonia's first purchase of weapons – a very bad $50 million deal with Israel. It later became evident that Israel had sold Estonia very poor quality weapons captured in Lebanon, most of which did not even function in cold temperatures. Estonia was compelled to sue Israel as a result of the fiasco.

Laar was also involved in financial scandals concerning transfers of Russian rubles to Chechnya In a 1994 no-confidence vote, parliament removed Laar from office amid opposition accusations of lying to the people, following sale of billions of rouble notes collected during the 1992 Estonian monetary reform to the cash-deprived Chec hen Republic of Iskeria instead of delivering them for free to Russian fedeartion, as the latter had demanded. He did however return as Premier March 25th 1999 to January 28th 2002.

Andrus Öövel, a former Estonian defense minister, said: "As far as I can recall, Herman Simm was advanced rapidly to his high position during Mart Laar's first government."

After the Rose revolution in Georgia, Laar became advisor to US educated puppet , President Saakashvilli .

Simm, it appears, was a key agent of Laar, who, in turn, was a big friend of Israel. This is a key point, because the evidence indicates that the Russian military contraband being carried on Estonia was bound for Israel.

Andrus Öövel, a former Estonian defense minister, and now Head of the Border Security Programme at the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) is quoted in Der Spoegel : "As far as I can recall, Herman Simm was advanced rapidly to his high position during Mart Laar's first government."