National Post (National Edition)
No proof adversary causes illness: CIA
HAVANA SYNDROME
WASHINGTON/BERLIN • The CIA has found that it is unlikely that Russia or another “foreign actor” caused most of the anomalous health incidents that have afflicted U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers worldwide for years, an official with the spy agency said on Thursday.
The official, describing the conclusions of an interim report on so-called Havana Syndrome, said a majority of 1,000 cases “can be reasonably explained by medical conditions or environmental and technical factors, including previously undiagnosed illnesses.”
“We have so far not found evidence of state actor involvement in any incidents,” the official continued. “The finding does not call into question the fact that our officers are reporting real experiences and are suffering real symptoms.”
The CIA is continuing to investigate two dozen unexplained cases that could offer further clues into whether any foreign countries are involved, added the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“We have not ruled out the involvement of a foreign actor in these cases,” the official said.
Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed the U.S. government would continue to investigate.
“We will leave no stone unturned to get to the bottom of it,” said Blinken, who was in Berlin as part of a series of meetings regarding Russia and Ukraine.
The mysterious ailment, first reported among U.S. officials in the Cuban capital in 2016, has afflicted U.S. and Canadian diplomats, officials and family members overseas. Symptoms have included migraines, nausea, memory lapses and dizziness.
A group whose members believe they were attacked rejected the agency's findings. “The decision to release the report now and with this particular set of `findings' seems a breach of faith, and an undermining of the intent of Congress and the President to stand with us and reach a government wide consensus as to what is behind this,” the group Advocacy for Victims of Havana Syndrome said in a statement.
“The CIA's newly issued report may be labelled `interim' and it may leave open the door for some alternative explanation in some cases, but to scores of dedicated public servants, their families, and their colleagues, it has a ring of finality and repudiation,” the group said, adding that the assessment was the CIA's alone and had not been “cleared nor co-ordinated” with other agencies.