Obama Approves Minsk Agreement, Great for Putin

The new Minsk ceasefire agreement empowers Russia-backed separatists with a number of leverages over Ukraine. If implemented, the agreement could provide a functioning framework for a mutually acceptable political settlement. In the event of non-implementation, a re-eruption of hostilities is highly likely.

                          

In Minsk on 12th February, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande managed to reach an agreement on the ceasefire in Eastern Ukraine, and the outlines of a conflict settlement.

Formally, the document was signed not by the heads of state, but by the Trilateral Contact Group (composed of representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE) as well as the leaders of the Donetsk and Luhansk separatists. This indirect scheme allowed Kyiv to reach an agreement with the separatists without formally recognizing them as legitimate partners.

The document, composed of thirteen points, refers to the separatist entities as “particular districts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts”, using the same wording as the September 2014 Minsk agreement. Hence, neither their self-proclaimed names, Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, nor the Russian term Novorossiya are used, which is a strong signal that none of the parties questions that these regions belong to Ukraine.

                       

*** So what else needs to be known? Who is still supporting Putin and why….

The segments of the Russian population that, arguably, have the best chance to dissuade President Vladimir Putin from his actions in Ukraine are business leaders and the rich. But despite having lost millions of dollars because of sanctions against Russia , the falling ruble and low oil prices, they still rally behind their leader-both privately and publicly.

Despite a cease-fire announced Thursday , Western sanctions on Russia over its support of insurgents in neighboring Ukraine have already pushed Russia’s borrowing costs higher and crushed its currency (Exchange: RUBUSD=). The problems have been made worse by the price of oil, whose fall since September has further undercut the petro-state’s ability to fund itself. Yet Putin still enjoys broad domestic support, and experts tell CNBC that the country’s monied class is no exception. Timothy Ash, who heads emerging markets research at Standard Bank (Johannesburg Stock Exchange: SBK-ZA), summarizes the phenomenon in a few words: “Nationalism plays very well with many people,” he told CNBC

Alexander Kliment, director of Russia research at Eurasia Group, said the sanctions have actually strengthened elite support for Putin because they have bolstered the government’s position as a last-resort lender for them. “Also, sanctions have inflamed patriotic sentiment and been a convenient scapegoat for economic woes,” Kilment told CNBC.

“If you are an oligarch, it’s bad to suffer sanctions from the West,” he said, “but you’re still pretty well-off as part of the Russian system. It’s an awfully big leap to turn your back on that, which would risk literally everything you have.” Read More Total CEO: US will not become energy independent Edward Mermelstein, a New York-based attorney who works with Russian business clients, told CNBC that Putin’s popularity is no longer dependent on finance as much as the might of Russia.

“As long as the country is perceived as strong, he will continue to dominate domestically. The Russian citizen can withstand famine, but they cannot withstand the appearance of weakness,” he said.

While some companies are getting hit hard by what Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has acknowledged is an economy in “dire straits,” others are finding ways to benefit.

*** Now comes the alternate banking system. Almost 91 domestic credit institutions have been incorporated into the new Russian financial system, the analogous of SWIFT, an international banking network.The new service, will allow Russian banks to communicate seamlessly through the Central Bank of Russia. It should be noted that Russia’s Central Bank initiated the development of the country’s own messaging system in response to repeated threats voiced by Moscow’s Western partners to disconnect Russia from SWIFT.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev meeting with miniters

SWIFT (The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) is a Belgium-based international organization that provides services and a standardized environment for global banking communicating that allows financial institutions to send and receive messages about their transactions. Earlier this month Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov expressed confidence that Russia would not be disconnected from SWIFT. In her turn, Russian Central Bank First Deputy Chair Ksenia Yudaeva called upon Russian civilians and financial institutions not to dramatize the current situation.Russian experts point to the fact that Western businesses would face severe losses if they expelled Russia from the international SWIFT system. On the other hand, the alternative system launched by Russia might reduce the negative impacts caused by measures imposed by the West, including possible disconnection from SWIFT, and diminish Western financial dominance over Russia.

 

HSBC Web of Corruption Includes Familiar Names

British bank HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA.L) admitted on Sunday failings by its Swiss subsidiary, in response to media reports it helped wealthy customers dodge taxes and conceal millions of dollars of assets.

“We acknowledge and are accountable for past compliance and control failures,” HSBC said on Sunday after news outlets including French newspaper Le Monde and Britain’s The Guardian published allegations about its Swiss private bank.

The Guardian, along with other news outlets, cited documents obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) via Le Monde.

HSBC said that its Swiss arm had not been fully integrated into HSBC after its purchase in 1999, allowing “significantly lower” standards of compliance and due diligence to persist.

The Guardian alleged in its report that the files showed HSBC’s Swiss bank routinely allowed clients to withdraw “bricks” of cash, often in foreign currencies which were of little use in Switzerland, marketed schemes which were likely to enable wealthy clients to avoid European taxes and colluded with some to conceal undeclared accounts from domestic tax authorities.

HSBC said the Swiss private banking industry, long known for its secrecy, operated differently in the past and this may have resulted in HSBC having had “a number of clients that may not have been fully compliant with their applicable tax obligations.”

 

HSBC’s clients linked to dictators, arms dealers and tax dodgers

Secret documents reveal that global banking giant HSBC profited from doing business with arms dealers who channeled mortar bombs to child soldiers in Africa, bag men for Third World dictators, traffickers in blood diamonds and other international outlaws.

The leaked files, based on the inner workings of HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm, relate to accounts holding more than $100 billion. They provide a rare glimpse inside the super-secret Swiss banking system — one the public has never seen before.

The documents, obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) via the French newspaper Le Monde, show the bank’s dealings with clients engaged in a spectrum of illegal behavior, especially in hiding hundreds of millions of dollars from tax authorities. They also show private records of famed soccer and tennis players, cyclists, rock stars, Hollywood actors, royalty, politicians, corporate executives and old-wealth families.

These disclosures shine a light on the intersection of international crime and legitimate business, and they dramatically expand what’s known about potentially illegal or unethical behavior in recent years at HSBC, one of the world’s largest banks.

How the offshore banking industry shelters money and hides secrets has enormous implications for societies across the globe. Academics conservatively estimate that $7.6 trillion is held in overseas tax havens, costing government treasuries at least $200 billion a year.

In many instances the records do describe questionable behavior, such as bankers advising clients on how to take a range of measures to avoid paying taxes in their home countries — and customers telling bankers that their accounts are not declared to their governments.

Highlights from ICIJ’s investigation:

The reporters found the names of current and former politicians from Britain, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Kenya, Romania, India, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Tunisia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Paraguay, Djibouti, Senegal, the Philippines and Algeria, among others. They found several people on the current U.S. sanctions list, such as Selim Alguadis, a Turkish businessman alleged to have supplied sophisticated electrical goods to Libya’s secret nuclear weapons project, and Gennady Timchenko, a billionaire associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin and one of the main targets of sanctions imposed on Russian individuals and businesses in response to the annexation of Crimea and the crisis in eastern Ukraine.

The files reflect a spectrum of royalty, from King Mohammed VI of Morocco to the Crown prince of Bahrain, Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, to Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, the beloved cousin of Queen Elizabeth II of England, to dozens of members of Saudi Arabia’s ruling family. Many were partial or full beneficial owners of accounts. The role of the King of Morocco was not specified.

Business figures and political donors from the U.S. include the billionaire owner of the Victoria’s Secret lingerie chain, Les Wexner, who in 2012 donated $250,000 to a super PAC supporting former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney; the Israeli diamond-dealing Steinmetz family, and the financier and philanthropist S. Donald Sussman, whose account predated his marriage to Democratic Congresswoman Chellie Pingree of Maine.

A representative for Sussman said the account was not his, adding that he had made a passive investment in a technology venture fund. The representative said it was this fund that had the account, the existence of which he learned for the first time when questioned by ICIJ. “Mr. Sussman’s investments were minority interests,” the spokesman said, “and he had no involvement in the funds’ management, investment decisions, or other activities.”

An analysis of the files by ICIJ shows that many individuals linked to accounts took extra precautions to protect their identities, even though HSBC staff repeatedly assured customers they were already bound by tight Swiss banking secrecy.

Clinton Foundation Donors

The files show Richard Caring, a major donor to British politics, transferring $1 million to the Clinton Foundation, a nonprofit set up by the former U.S. President Bill Clinton with the stated mission to “strengthen the capacity of people in the United States and throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence.”

The donation to the Clinton Foundation was requested in December 2005. The previous month, Caring funded a champagne and caviar extravaganza at Catherine the Great’s Winter Palace in St Petersburg, Russia, flying in 450 guests to be entertained by Sir Elton John and Tina Turner and addressed by Bill Clinton. The event raised more than £11 million for a children’s charity.

A number of other prominent donors to the Clinton Foundation appear in the files, including the Canadian businessman Frank Giustra and German motor racing superstar Michael Schumacher, a seven-time Formula One champion. A representative of Schumacher, who is listed as a beneficial owner of an account closed in 2002, told ICIJ that he is a long-term resident of Switzerland.

A spokesman for the Clinton Foundation told The Guardian it “has strong donor integrity and transparency practices that go well beyond what is required of U.S. charities, including the full disclosure of all of our donors.”

Links to Al Qaeda?

HSBC’s clients’ links to Al Qaeda were first publicly raised in the July 2012 U.S. Senate report, which cited an alleged internal Al Qaeda list of financial benefactors. The Senate report said the list came to light after a search of the Bosnian offices of the Benevolence International Foundation, a Saudi-based nonprofit organization that the U.S. Treasury Department has designated as a terrorist organization.

Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, referred to the handwritten list of the 20 names as the “Golden Chain.”

From the moment the names on the Golden Chain list were made public in news reports in the spring of 2003, the Senate subcommittee stated that HSBC should have been “on notice” and aware these powerful business figures were high risk clients.

Though the significance of the Golden Chain list has since been questioned, the ICIJ found what appear to be three Golden Chain names with HSBC Swiss accounts that existed after that date.

Read the full story on ICIJ.org and explore the data.

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Past and a Present Secret of the Waldorf Astoria

More than once I personally was an overnight guest at the Waldorf Astoria and it is a tradition to visit the famous hotel when visiting New York. The hotel holds many secrets and some fascinating facts.

It’s Called the Presidential Suite for a Reason
It’s not the finest suite in the city or even at the Waldorf Astoria, but unique amenities like multiple adjacent rooms for staff, bulletproof glass windows, and an interior design similar to the White House make this grand accommodation high up on the 35th floor the number one choice of sitting presidents when they visit New York. Every president since Herbert Hoover has stayed here, including President Obama, who sleeps here every time he’s in town. Each president has also left the hotel a gift that is now featured in the suite (JFK left a rocking chair), so check back in a couple years to see what Obama leaves.

Famous Faces Moving In
There have been several notable Americans to call the hotel home over the years including Herbert Hoover (after his presidency), Cole Porter, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra and three five-star generals (MacArthur, Eisenhower & Bradley). These guests didn’t just book a room or suite for the weekend. They rented one-of-a-kind apartments. There are several residential units in the hotel, located on the 28th to 42nd floors known as the Waldorf Towers. These are some of New York’s most desired homes, the smallest coming it at 1,600 square feet and many with a private terrace. All include 24-hour maid service, a private entrance and sky high price tags—some of these rent for upwards of $100,000 per month.

***But there is more.

A secretive U.S. government agency has cleared the way for a giant Chinese insurance firm to buy New York’s fabled Waldorf Astoria after a national security review that likely imposed conditions on the purchase.

Anbang Insurance Group Co. in Beijing announced the blockbuster deal. Hilton Worldwide, which sold the iconic hotel for $1.95 billion, confirmed its approval but declined to comment. The sale is expected to close on March 31.

“At this point, Anbang Insurance Group’s acquisition of the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York has formally completed all the relevant procedures,” the Chinese conglomerate said in a statement.

The deal’s approval represents a precedent-setting action by the Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States as it moves to vet major real estate transactions for national security implications.

In the past, the focus of the panel known by its acronym CFIUS has been on protecting foreigners’ access to sensitive data, classified information and high-tech equipment through purchases of American firms, many of which were government contractors.

The panel took up the Waldorf Astoria sale because the hotel serves as the home-away-from-home for presidents visiting New York and provides a residence for the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, currently Samantha Power. Foreign dignitaries and celebrities also stay at the Art Deco landmark. Christopher Brewster, a Washington lawyer with Stroock & Stroock and Lavan who represents Chinese and other foreign businesses seeking to buy American companies, said CFIUS all but certainly would have required key mitigation measures in order to sanction the Waldorf Astoria deal.

“There would need to be certain protections put in place to ensure the integrity of the telecommunications systems used by the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. and to ensure that there is adequate physical security,” Brewster told McClatchy on Tuesday.

“There could very well be restrictions on access to the hotel by the foreign owners, restrictions on the staffing of certain positions and other management controls,” Brewster said.

It is even possible, Brewster said, that CFIUS required day-to-day management of the hotel to be limited to American citizens, perhaps under the oversight of a top boss vetted by the secretive agency.

“The idea that CFIUS would clear this transaction and then just walk away from it seems to me far-fetched,” Brewster said. “I have to believe that they required some kind of protections to be put in place.”

The original sales agreement granted Hilton management rights at the Waldorf Astoria for 100 years.

After controversial purchases of American properties in the 1970s by Japanese and Arab firms, President Gerald Ford established CFIUS in 1976 via executive order, and Congress later codified it into law.

The committee, whose work is classified, does not comment on its cases. It is chaired by the Treasury secretary, who is joined by the secretaries of Homeland Security, Commerce, Defense, State and Energy, along with the Attorney General. The U.S. trade representative and the head of the Office of Science and Technology Policy also belong.

As China in recent years has surged to the front of countries with foreign firms buying American companies, CFIUS has focused increased attention to some of its acquisitions.

After a lengthy review, CFIUS in September 2013 approved the purchase of Smithfield Foods Inc., the world’s largest pork producer, to Hong Kong-based Shuanghui International Holdings.

“A lot of people were laughing at the idea of CFIUS reviewing pig farms,” Brewster said Tuesday. “But the food supply has been recognized as part of the critical infrastructure of the United States. Smithfield plays a major role in the U.S. food sector, feeding our troops and supplying commissaries.”

In a more contentious case, CFIUS in 2012 denied the bid by Chinese-owned Ralls Corp. to buy a group of wind farms in Oregon, saying they were too close to a major U.S. naval base. After President Barack Obama rejected Ralls’ appeal of the decision, the Chinese firm sued him and CFIUS. A federal court last year ruled that Ralls’ constitutional due process rights had been violated and ordered the U.S. government to provide the company hundreds of previously concealed documents supporting its denial of the deal.

The 47-story Waldorf was the world’s biggest hotel when built in 1931 at its current location on New York’s Park Avenue between East 49th and East 50th Streets, about 10 blocks from the Grand Central train station.

An underground train transports presidents and other dignitaries from Grand Central to the Waldorf, carrying Secret Service limousines and other security vehicles.

Every White House occupant since Herbert Hoover has stayed in the hotel’s Presidential Suite on the 35th floor, with each U.S. leader leaving a gift.

Frank Sinatra, Cole Porter, Grace Kelly and Gen. Douglas MacArthur are among the many celebrities who’ve lived in the Waldorf’s palatial rooms and apartments, which feature around-the-clock food delivery and maid service.

Aaron Radelet, Hilton’s vice president for corporate communications, told McClatchy in October, when the Anbang purchase was first announced, that the iconic property would “undergo a major renovation” as part of the deal.

As China has quietly increased its investment in the United States, Beijing and Washington have engaged in more public political spats around accusations of spying and computer hacking.

In its most recent annual report to Congress, CFIUS disclosed that in 2012, for the first time, it had done more national security reviews of transactions involving China than of those involving any other country.

 

Defense Intelligence Agency on Global Threats

Worldwide Threat Scope, Complexity on the Rise

Taken in aggregate, recent political, military, social and technological developments have created security challenges more diverse and complex than any the nation has ever experienced, Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Vincent R. Stewart, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told Congress Feb. 3.

Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee on the subject of worldwide threats, Stewart was joined by Army Lt. Gen. William Mayville, Joint Staff director for operations, and Mark S. Chandler, acting director for intelligence for the Joint Staff.

“Our challenges range from highly capable near-peer competitors, to empowered individuals with nefarious intentions. Increasing demands, coupled with today’s challenging fiscal environment, have stressed our defense intelligence establishments and forced us to accept greater risk,” Stewart said.

The existing strategic environment isn’t going away any time soon, he said.

The increasing scope, volatility and complexity of threats are “the new normal,” Stewart said.

The Defense Intelligence Agency is focused on three areas of special concern, the general said.

Military Competitors

“Capable military competitors — Russian military activity, for example — [are] at historically high levels,” he said. “Moscow is pursuing aggressive foreign and defense policies, including conducting destabilizing operations in the Ukraine, conducting a record number of out of area naval operations and increasing its long-range aviation patrols.

“In addition,” Stewart continued, “Beijing is focused on building a modern military capable of achieving success on a 21st century battlefield and advancing its core interests — which include maintaining its sovereignty, protecting its territorial integrity and projecting its regional influence.”

Breakdown of Law and Order

Vulnerable and ungoverned territory is on the rise due to the erosion of moderate and secular Islamic states, Stewart said.

“While coalition strikes have degraded [the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s] ability to operate openly in Iraq and Syria, the group retains the ability to conduct limited offensive operations and is seeking to expand its presence and influence beyond these two countries,” he said. “Governments in countries such as Egypt, Algeria, Jordan and Lebanon are under stress from a variety of sources, thereby reducing their capability as a region to confront the threat posed by violent extremists.”

And the breakdown of order in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Libya and northern Nigeria has created “fertile spawning grounds” for terrorist organizations with far-reaching influence, the general said.

Space, Cyber Threats

The space and cyber domains are increasingly threatened, he said. Russia and China are recognizing the strategic value of space and are focusing on diminishing the advantages held by the U.S. and its allies.

“Both countries are conducting anti-satellite research and developing anti-satellite weapons, with the intent of denying the U.S. the use of space in the event of conflict,” Stewart said.

For the Defense Department, the cyber threat is particularly alarming because of the interconnected nature of weapons, communications and networks, he said.

“At low cost, with limited technical expertise, our adversaries have the potential to cause severe damage and disruption to U.S. systems, leaving little or no footprint behind,” the general said. And the speed and influence of mobile communications and social media have the potential to magnify international crises and shorten an already compressed decision-making cycle, Stewart added.

Sequestration

The demand for intelligence has never been greater, he said, but sequestration and operational demands have forced the military intelligence community to accept increased risk.

This “will have a direct and lasting impact on our ability to provide high-quality, nuanced intelligence required by policy makers and war fighters. I fear that the true cost of these difficult choices today may be paid on the battlefield of the future,” the general said.

*** Is war between Hezbollah and Israel inevitable?

The delicate status quo, which has ensured peace between Hezbollah and Israel since the 2006 war, is rapidly unravelling. After that war, both Hezbollah and Israel subscribed to a deterrence theory, which stood the test of time. Until two weeks ago.

Now, tensions between the two sides are at their highest since the last ceasefire. Indeed, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Monday that a third Lebanon war is now inevitable.

On Jan. 18, an Israeli helicopter gunship hit a convoy of vehicles in the Syrian province of Quneitra. The attack killed six Hezbollah operatives, one of whom was Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of Imad Mughniyeh, who was assassinated by Israel in an operation involving the Israeli Mossad and the CIA, as the Washington Post revealed last week.

The hope on the Israeli side must have been that Hezbollah would not seek immediate retaliation for the Jan. 18 attack. It was not to be. On Jan. 28, Hezbollah attacked an Israeli convoy in broad daylight in the Shebaa Farms, an area long occupied by Israel but claimed by Lebanon. Two Israelis were killed, a major and a sergeant of the Israel Defence Forces.

This escalation is happening at a time of important shifts in the relationship between Iran, Hezbollah and Israel.

One development, of concern to Israel, is the deepening of relations between Hezbollah and Iran in recent weeks. One day before Hezbollah’s attack on Israeli forces, Hezbollah’s leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, met with the Iranian Major General Qasem Suleimani, the legendary commander of the Iranian al-Quds force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Although the two men had met many times before, this is the first known meeting in Lebanon that has been publicized.

The meeting was all the more remarkable because of the publicity given to it. Suleimani paid respects to Hezbollah fighters killed by Israel and also visited the grave of Jihad Mughniyeh.

Hezbollah has also declared, in a recent statement, that it no longer recognizes the rules of engagement with Israel that were mediated, on an informal basis, by the United Nations in order to prevent clashes. Hezbollah’s declaration is a tacit rejection of the de facto understanding between the two bitter foes that has existed for years and has, up until now, ensured peace.

In a defiant statement after Hezbollah’s attack, Nasrallah reiterated Hezbollah’s rejection of previous the rules defining Hezbollah’s policy towards Israel. It was this status quo that had, for example, allowed for the group to negotiate a swap of its prisoners in exchange for Israeli war dead in 2008. In a clear departure from the past, where Hezbollah would not take revenge on Israeli attacks, Nasrallah stressed that the group has the right to respond in any way or time it deems fit.

“If Israel is banking that we fear war, then I tell it that we do not fear war and we will not hesitate in waging it if it is imposed on us,” he continued. “We did not hesitate in making the decision that Israel should be punished for its crime in Quneitra even if it meant going to an all-out war,” he revealed, an admission he may regret.

“The Israeli people discovered that their leadership put them on the brink of war, jeopardizing their economy and security,” he added in the wake of the operation. “Israel learned that it should not test us again given the Quneitra strike and Shebaa Farms operation,” he warned.

Not surprisingly these are not the conclusions that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in Jerusalem are likely to draw.

There has been a dangerous deterioration in Israel’s strategic position because of the open boast by Nasrallah that it is now fighting Israel not only from the Blue Line with Lebanon, but, also, on Syria’s frontline with Israel in the Golan. In other words, Hezbollah’s front with Israel now extends from the Mediterranean all the way to the disputed Golan on the Syrian border. Israel is unlikely to leave a threat like that unanswered. Moreover, Israel never shrinks from retaliation when its soldiers are killed, and especially when one of them is a middle-ranking officer.

But the strategic options before Netanyahu are limited. A further strike at Hezbollah will lead to a major war that would probably eclipse that of 2006 in its severity. Moreover, the prime minister will be conscious of the fact that elections are to be held in Israel on March 17. He may not want become embroiled in a war right now for that reason.

Despite these difficulties, some new realities would work in Israel’s favor. Netanyahu knows that, unlike during the 2006 war, Hezbollah would not find much support from the Arab world in the eventuality of a conflict with Israel. Deep sectarianism between Sunni and Shi’ites across the region means that few Arab states would be upset today by an Israeli offensive against Hezbollah, the stalwart defender of the hated Assad regime.

Hezbollah, in other words, is playing a dangerous game. It may yet find itself wishing to return to the days of stability and peace, which it is abandoning with such troubling rapidity.

 

CENTCOM Victim of CyberCaliphate

An unknown network of hackers that are sympathizers of Islamic State hacked CENTCOM’s twitter account and the associated YouTube channel.  So far the response is ‘it does not appear to be anything problematic’. Ah what…problematic? The hackers had some success that for sure is problematic and what is more, data breaches of any sort does not provide anyone in America with internet security confidence.

There is a ‘cybercaliphate’ that no one is admitting.

A screenshot shows the U.S. Central Command Twitter account after it was apparently hacked by people claiming to be aligned with Islamic State militants. The account was shortly thereafter suspended.  

A screenshot shows the U.S. Central Command Twitter account after it was apparently hacked by people claiming to be aligned with Islamic State militants. The account was shortly thereafter suspended. Reuters

WASHINGTON—Hackers claiming to be aligned with Islamic State militants took control of the U.S. Central Command’s Twitter and YouTube accounts Monday, posting phone numbers of top military officers and what they said was classified documents.

In the posting, the militants claimed they were working for the Islamic State and a “Cyber Caliphate.”

A Pentagon official said that U.S. Central Command was aware of the hack but had no immediate information about how it occurred.

Officials for a time Monday appeared to be trying to retake control of the Twitter account. Shortly after the first tweets from the hackers appeared, the “Cyber Caliphate” logo and slogan disappeared, replaced by a blue square.

Then shortly after 1 p.m., the Twitter account was labeled as suspended. Moments later, the Central Command’s YouTube account apparently was suspended.

“We can confirm that the U.S. Central Command Twitter and YouTube accounts were compromised earlier today,” said a defense official. “We are taking appropriate measures to address the matter. I have no further information to provide at this time.”

The White House said it was looking into the hack, but had little information and played down the significance of the intrusion.

“There is a significant difference between…a large data breach and the hacking of a Twitter account,” said Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary.

The tweets posted by the hackers included phone number of top military commanders and what the group said were military scenarios for a conflict with North Korea and China.

A senior Pentagon official said the information posted by the hackers on the Twitter account didn’t appear to be highly classified documents.

“It does not appear to be anything problematic,” the official said.

–Felicia Schwartz and Carol E. Lee contributed to this article.

Write to Julian E. Barnes at [email protected]

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WASHINGTON—Hackers claiming to be aligned with Islamic State militants took control of the U.S. Central Command’s Twitter and YouTube accounts Monday, posting phone numbers of top military officers and what they said was classified documents.

In the posting, the militants claimed they were working for the Islamic State and a “Cyber Caliphate.”

A Pentagon official said that U.S. Central Command was aware of the hack but had no immediate information about how it occurred.

Officials for a time Monday appeared to be trying to retake control of the Twitter account. Shortly after the first tweets from the hackers appeared, the “Cyber Caliphate” logo and slogan disappeared, replaced by a blue square.

Then shortly after 1 p.m., the Twitter account was labeled as suspended. Moments later, the Central Command’s YouTube account apparently was suspended.

“We can confirm that the U.S. Central Command Twitter and YouTube accounts were compromised earlier today,” said a defense official. “We are taking appropriate measures to address the matter. I have no further information to provide at this time.”

The White House said it was looking into the hack, but had little information and played down the significance of the intrusion.

“There is a significant difference between…a large data breach and the hacking of a Twitter account,” said Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary.

The tweets posted by the hackers included phone number of top military commanders and what the group said were military scenarios for a conflict with North Korea and China.

A senior Pentagon official said the information posted by the hackers on the Twitter account didn’t appear to be highly classified documents.

“It does not appear to be anything problematic,” the official said.

–Felicia Schwartz and Carol E. Lee contributed to this article.

Write to Julian E. Barnes at [email protected]