The US Central Intelligence Agency and the South African secret services worked together to obtain up to date information on the Mozambican armed forces and on liberation movements which have representatives in Mozambique.

This information was revealed after the breaking up of a CIA spy network based in the American embassy in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. In March this year the country's foreign ministry announced the expulsion of six American citizens, four of them full time staff members of the embassy.

They were Frederick Lundahl, the embassy's Second Secretary; Louis Olliver, Second Secretary; Arthur Russel, communications officer; and Patricia Russel, secretary of the embassy's political section. Karen Lundahl and Ginger Ollivier, wives of the two Second Secretaries, though not part of the embassy staff, were also expelled because they took part in support operations.

The Foreign Ministry communique said the US diplomats had 48 hours to leave Mozambique because of "proven activities in espionage, subversion and interference in the internal affairs of the People's Republic of Mozambique".

The charge d'affaires of the US embassy was notified of the decision by Foreign Minister Joaquim Chissano who strongly condemned such "blatant interference by the CIA in the internal affairs" of Mozambique.

Commenting on the government action Maputo's daily 'Noticias' said in an editorial that the expulsion of CIA officers from Mozambique was "one of the most important exposures ever in Africa of the activities of the largest and best organised international subversive organisation".

How the CIA Operated

Speaking to more than 100 Mozambican and foreign reporters, Minister of Information Jose Luis Cabaco said that "in collaboration with the South African secret services", the CIA officers "had as a priority the recruitment of individuals working in the General Staff of the Armed Forces, with the aim of obtaining information concerning types of weaponry, personnel numbers, the localization of refugee camps, ZANLA training camps and the residences of leaders of the Patriotic Front, the ANC, SWAPO, Fretilin, the Polisario Front and the PLO".

Cabaco claimed that "the CIA looked for the most detailed information possible on the types and quantities of weapons, their location, troop numbers and the level of combat preparation of the Mozambican Armed Forces".

He added that at the same time, "the CIA tried to obtain up to date information on the movements of President Samora Machel and the type of transport used by him". Recruitment of pilots and crew members who normally accompany the president was also one of the aims of the CIA. The CIA's interest in the President went as far as the attempt to obtain information about his "personality, tastes, friendships, lifestyle and the people closest to him". Similar information was sought about members of the Frelimo Party's Standing Political Committee as well as other party and state leaders. Jose Luis Cabaco said that "the objectives and methodology of the CIA actions indicate that it was preparing for the economic and political destabilization of our people's state and political assassinations".

He added that during investigation on CIA activities it was confirmed that the information gathered was "channelled to the secret services of the racist, minority regime of South Africa and the military intelligence services who used it to commit acts of aggression against our country".

The Minister of Information said that one of the CIA's activities was recruitment of foreigners resident in Mozambique "in clear violation of Mozambican laws."

He added that in its statement the US State Department "did not deny the espionage activities of the CIA" in Mozambique.

Spying Preceded South African Raid

A month before the South African attack on the township of Matola, in which twelve members of the African National Congress were murdered, the CIA was collecting information about ANC residences in Mozambique.

One of the CIA officers expelled from Mozambique, Louis Ollivier, attempted to recruit agents from among ANC refugees licing in Maputo. An agent infiltrated into Frelimo many years ago, Jose Massinga, introduced Ollivier to an ANC militant called Mussa. Ollivier presented himself as an American liberal and pretended that he was sympathetic to the struggle of the South African people against apartheid. Several times he invited Mussa to his house for lunch or dinner, and always directed the conversation towards the situation in South Africa, and the activities of the ANC. He loaned Mussa books on South Africa, and arranged private showings of films that dealt with apartheid from a liberal perspective.

At the end of 1980, Ollivier believed that he had won the confidence of Mussa and that he could now recruit him for the CIA. He therefore offered Mussa regular payments of 300 dollars a time, plus a radio and other consumer goods, in exchange for information. Among the things Ollivier wanted to know were: Who were the members of the ANC Executive? Who were the ANC representatives in Maputo? What were the addresses of ANC members in Mozambique? What assistance did Mozambique give the ANC? Did the ANC have any weaponry hidden in Mozambique? Where were the clandestine bases of the ANC inside South Africa?

How the Spy Ring was Broken

The man who turned the tables on the CIA by infiltrating their espionage network in Mozambique was introduced at a press conference held by [unclear: Mozambique's] Ministry of Information to present nationals who have been detained as CIA agents.

Flight Captain Joao Carneiro Goncalves of the Mozambican Air Force, introducing himself as a member of the Frelimo Party, told the crowd of journalists and diplomats that he had spent more than three years as a counter spy feeding the CIA information provided by the Mozambican Ministry of Security (SNASP).

He also said that he had been told by his CIA contact that the United States was in a position to arrange a coup d'etat in Mozambique through South Africa, and that should he be in danger of discovery, he was to take a flight to South Africa where he would be "very warmly received".

The young officer, codenamed "Magalhaes" by Mozambique security forces, was first contacted at a private party

But Ollivier had miscalculated. Mussa went straight to the Mozambican authorities and told them what happened.

Ollivier had also invited other ANC members to his house, and had even visited the ANC offices in Maputo on the pretext of being interested in ANC literature.

CIA Informer in Guard Force

One of the CIA's informers in Mozambique was the chief of the Mozambique Armed Forces' Guard Force in the town of Matola, near Maputo, where South African commandos attacked three houses of South African exiles last January.

Alberto Sande was introduced to a CIA officer, Louis Olliver who gradually seduced him with gifts of hi-fi equipment, imported drinks and cash. At the same time, Ollivier began to ask for information, initially of a personal nature, and then on the Ministry of Defence and the General Staff of the Armed Forces. Ollivier wanted to know about military advisers from the socialist countries, the location of their houses and their functions with the Mozambique Armed Forces.

Ollivier also took the opportunity, when giving Sande lifts home to Matola, to collect information on the military installations in Matola. When ranks were introduced in the armed forces last September Ollivier was very interested in finding out the names of any soldiers who were discontented with the choice of officers.

in Maputo when he was approached by an American named Walter Caetano de Andrade who casually asked questions about training for pilots and other air force personnel. At the end of the conversation Carneiro Goncalves accepted an invitation to dinner but later went to SNASP with details of the encounter. SNASP told him to keep the dinner date and to accept any proposals made to him.

After the dinner, during a conversation with Walter de Andrade that lasted until 5.00 in the morning, Goncalves said he played his role by expressing admiration for the United States. Andrade responded by saying that Mozambique's government, based on racism, would eventually expell or shoot whites when they were no longer needed. At that time, Andrade said, whites would need American government support, and collaborators would be the first to be helped.

The CIA requests for information centered on possible disagreement among Mozambican military and party leaders. He was asked to provide information about President Samora Machel's movements, general information about the President's habits, information on the General Staff of the Air Force and about military cooperation with other countries.

His first meeting with a CIA agent occurred after dark with 'Robert' (later discovered to be Frederick Wettering) who appeared wearing a false moustache, a white raincoat and hat. It was at this first meeting that he was given special paper for messages which would dissolve in liquids.

Various contacts followed with requests for information about Goncalves' degree of access to President Samora Machel and whether, as one of the President's pilots, he ever slept in the room next to the President's when they made stopovers in foreign countries.

When Wettering left the country, the contact was switched to James Douglas Smith. His methods were characterized by a complete lack of interest in protecting his source of information, said Carneiro Goncalves. Meetings took place outside and "If I had really been a CIA agent I would have been easy to detect".

Spy now a Reagan Advisor

According to the March 13 issue of the British magazine the "New Statesman," one of the American diplomats identified as a top ranking CIA officer in Maputo has now been appointed by Ronald Reagan to the US National Security Council.

Fred Wettering was chief of the CIA station in Maputo from 1975 to 1977 and played a major role in recruiting agents from among the Mozambican army.

In an article entitled 'The New White House Warmongers', the New Statesman's Washington correspondent, Claudia Wright, identifies Wettering as a member of the new National Security Council with special responsibility for Africa. Looking at the new appointments as a whole, she comments "compared to National Security staffs of the past, this group is much more dominated by military officers and CIA men".