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Concept & presentation: Ralph Hammerthaler
Secret services are secret and actually taboo for Parole Transparenz. The fact that we are nevertheless able to discuss them is due to long-time secret agent Gerhard Conrad, who wants to speak publicly about the services so that they are neither glorified nor mystified, but also not demonised. In an interview with the author Ralph Hammerthaler, he provides an insight into the tactics of deceit and concealment, the risks involved in secret missions, and the methods and supervision of an institution that operates in secret.
He worked for the Federal Intelligence Service for thirty years, in Damascus, Beirut, Jerusalem and London; he was head of the BND staff in Berlin before moving to Brussels as Director of the EU Intelligence Centre. In retrospect, he became known as a mediator between Israel and Hezbollah and between Israel and Hamas. This made it possible to exchange abductees, prisoners and killed soldiers.
A graduate in international law and Islamic studies, he completed his doctorate with a thesis on Syrian legal history. He is considered an expert on the Arab world. He has written a book about his experiences at the BND ‘Keine Lizenz zum Töten’; in mid-November, ’Nichtwissen ist tödlich. Der Nahe Osten und die Rolle der Geheimdienste’ (Econ). He once said about his job: ‘Basically, you get used to the workmanship of everything.’
