The C.I.A. After agency leaders found that he had not taken adequate steps to address mysterious health episodes in Austria, in which diplomats and intelligence officers fell ill, the C.I.A. recalled its Vienna chief station officer. The identities of the agency station chiefs are classified.
As an increasing number of intelligence officers, military personnel and diplomats have been injured in new incidents, frustration is growing among victims’ groups and inside government. Biden’s administration has not been able to determine the cause of these unexplained health events, first reported in 2016 by diplomats and C.I.A. Officers serving in the American Embassy in Havana.
The ouster of the Vienna station chief came as Pamela Spratlen stepped down this week as head of the State Department’s task force studying the episodes, according to diplomats. Victims’ groups said Ms. Spratlen viewed the health incidents skeptically, moved slowly to improve health care and failed to meet regularly with injured individuals. The State Department declined to comment on Ms. SPratlen’s criticisms and did not make her available for comment.
According to former officials, Vienna is the latest location for injuries. Some American officials were injured at the embassy, while others were hurt in their homes. According to former officials, the incidents in Vienna have caused injuries to well over 25 people. The cluster of injuries in Vienna was earlier reported by The New Yorker; the recall of the station chief was earlier reported by The Washington Post.
These mysterious incidents can involve victims experiencing strange sounds, heat, or pressure. This causes traumatic brain injury, which can cause headaches, vertigo or nausea, and other symptoms that can persist for many years.
William J. Burns, C.I.A. Director of C.I.A., William J. Burns, the Office of Medical Services’ new head. More than 200 American officials have been seriously injured in these health incidents since 2016, approximately half of them C.I.A. Officers who travel overseas.
This is increasing pressure on the Biden government to determine what is causing these episodes and whether it is an adversarial Intelligence Service. Burns became furious after a close aide was hurt and was diagnosed with Havana syndrome. He was on a visit to India earlier in the month.
The agency’s deputy director of operations makes all the assignments for the top intelligence officers in individual countries, including the removal of the Vienna station chief. According to ex-officials, Mr. Burns approved the move.
At the State Department, Brian McKeon, the deputy secretary of state for management, held a town hall-style meeting this summer to discuss the health incidents with the department’s three missions in Vienna: the American delegation to the Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe, U.S. Embassy staff in Austria and the diplomats assigned to other international organizations there.
With Ms. Spratlen’s departure, Mr. McKeon is now effectively leading the task force, according to a senior State Department official.
The official presented Ms. Spratlen’s departure as planned, saying she had been permitted to work only for a set period of time, and she had reached the limit of the assignment.
However, victims have been critical of the handling of the Havana episode episodes for many months. They claim that the State Department did not take the necessary steps to address the issue. The care was improved during the Biden administration.
When Ms. Spratlen did meet with injured diplomats, said one victim, she treated the calls like a “check the box exercise” and did not seem interested in ideas on how to help injured people or improve overseas protections.