Another extremely interesting organisation, headquartered in Moscow, was (and continues to be) among the Academy's partners: the International Counter-Terrorism Training Association (ICTTA).

The association's website states: ‘Our primary activities involve the development and implementation of specialised educational and training programmes for government and non-government security and safety services. In all countries where the ICTTA operates, specialised training centres and educational institutions are being established in accordance with the laws of the respective countries to fully implement our experience and methodology.’

The GRU special forces solve roughly the same problem when they operate in peacetime on the territory of potential enemy countries.

The head of the ICTTA is Iosif Borisovich Linder, a man with a rather murky biography. He himself responded to a question about the number of his diplomas in a 1999 interview: ‘It depends on how you count, maybe as many as forty. A diploma from medical school, a certificate from residency, two more from the Faculty of Advanced Medical Studies at the then IV Directorate of the Ministry of Health, plus one from the Academy of Social Sciences, and numerous sports diplomas confirming my martial arts qualifications, which I have to renew annually. Furthermore, I studied abroad, in Germany, the United States, and at specialised military institutions, where I also received certificates of completion.’

The 4th Main Directorate of the Ministry of Health (now the Main Medical Directorate of the Presidential Executive Office of the Russian Federation) served the government and was subordinate to the KGB. The Academy of Social Sciences under the Central Committee of the CPSU is now the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.

On the website of the Centre for Military-Political Studies, Linder's biography is presented as follows:

"Iosif Borisovich Linder. President of the International Union of Martial Arts. Member of the Presidium of the Council of Veterans of the Special Forces Units of the State Security Agencies "KUOS-SPETSNAZ." Member of the Union of Writers of Russia. Laureate of the FSB of Russia Prize "For the best work of literature and art on the activities of the security agencies."

Born March 1, 1960 in Moscow. Graduated from the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Social Sciences (1983), the 2nd MOLGMI named after N.I. Pirogov (1987). Doctor of Law in 1993, topic of the work: ‘Alternative Security of Organisation Systems’ (supervisor: academician S.S. Shatalin). Corresponding member of the Academy of Economic Sciences since 1994. Began practicing martial arts in 1965. Graduated from several Soviet and foreign higher specialised educational institutions. Participated in many covert operations to combat terrorism. He is the president of the International Union of Martial Arts (IUMA), accredited in Russia since 1993. <…> He is the European director of the International Okinawan Martial Arts Union (IOMAU), and until 1993 was the president of the USSR Jiu-Jitsu Federation. The author of over 35 books on intelligence, counterintelligence, terrorism, the history of special services, martial and military arts, and military-political history. His biography is typical of undercover intelligence officers. It boils down to a list of titles that obscure the bearer's actual profession.

In a 2002 interview, Linder described the association he headed as follows:

"It is a non-governmental, non-political organisation operating in accordance with international legal norms. Headquartered in Nuremberg, the ICTTA has offices in more than ten countries.

The purpose of the activity is clear from the word ‘training.’ There are approximately 300 instructors in the central office and in the regions of Russia. Currently, approximately 20,000 people are studying the ICTTA methodology.

- Who are these people?

‘I can't always say who they are—it's classified information. The names of many of the course participants don't even appear in internal documents. Only their numbers and designations are listed there.’

Linder's self-deprecating stories are largely blatant lies, but his affiliation with the secret services is undeniable. As is his close relationship with the ABOP.

For example, in 2006, the following information appeared on the ICTTA website: ‘April 19, 2006, Moscow. The Public Relations Centre of the FSB of the Russian Federation, the Military Counterintelligence Department of the FSB of the Russian Federation, the International Counter-Terrorism Training Association, and the RIPOL Classic Publishing House held a presentation of the book by I. B. Linder and N. N. Abin, ’A RIDDLE FOR HIMMLER. SMERSH Officers in the Abwehr and SD,‘ at the Cultural Centre of the FSB of Russia. The release of the book and the presentation were timed to coincide with the day SMERSH was created - April 19, 1943, and the 60th anniversary of the reorganisation of SMERSH. The National Committee for Public Awards and the Academy of Security, Defence and Law Enforcement awarded the authors of the book the Order of Andropov, and the International Union of Writers' Organisations, headed by S. V. Mikhalkov, presented Linder I. B. and Abin N. N. Medals for the 70th Anniversary of Writers' Organisations.’ In addition to Linder himself and ABOP President Shevchenko, a group of intelligence officers and generals spoke at the presentation. Among them was Linder's co-author, Colonel Abin, head of the FSB's Department of Military Counterintelligence.

In 2007, Linder, as ‘ABOP Vice President and President of the ABOP Counterterrorism Department,’ petitioned on the ABOP website to award ABOP medals and titles to two curious intelligence officers—the Soviet illegal spy Teresa Mondini and police colonel Vasin. At the same time, the ICTTA is extremely active in Germany. It has headquarters in Berlin (Otto-Nagel-Str. 132/133, 12623 Berlin) and two German vice presidents, Christian Seitz and Peter Schrader (‘Magistr Christian Seitz’ and ‘Professor Peter Schrader’).

Until 2009, there was also a representative office in Nuremberg, which was then called the German headquarters of the ICTTA.

The ICTTA website features a page listing its experts, which includes 14 German experts, including both vice presidents. One of these ‘experts,’ Prof. Clauss Dietz, has headed an organisation called the Saxon Forum of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAPforum Sachsen) since 2009. Professor Dietz's appearance on the list of ‘ICTTA experts’ stems from information that appeared on the ICTTA website in 2006: ‘May 28 – June 5, Germany. The International Counter-Terrorism Training Association held special seminars and master classes at the Saxon Higher Police School in conjunction with the Saxon Economic Academy, headed by Professor Dietz. Special firearms and tactical training courses were held in Berlin and Brandenburg.’

A year earlier, from August 6 to 12, 2005, as reported on the ICTTA website, ‘the ICTTA and the Saxon Finance Academy held an international practical and academic course on corporate and personal security for senior executives at the ICTTA facilities.’

The ICTTA's German bases primarily refer to the Security Academy Waldmunchen (AASW GmbH), founded in 2000 in the Bavarian city of Waldmünchen. It was headed by Christian Seitz, ICTTA Vice President, and Peter Wolfsdorf, one of the ICTTA's ‘experts.’ In 2006, the Academy celebrated its move to a new building in the city centre.

As reported in the Bayerische Nachrichten newspaper on May 6, 2006, the ICTTA President, Josef Linder, who had traveled specially from Moscow, attended the celebration and praised the Academy's contacts and cooperation with partners, particularly with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the police. He also presented ICTTA awards to the city and academy leadership.

The partnership with a bodyguard training school in the heart of Bavaria itself opened up a wide range of opportunities for the FSB, for example, in terms of access to the individuals the bodyguards would be protecting in the future.

According to publications on the ICTTA website, the Waldmünchen Academy was considered part of the ICTTA. For example, in 2006, ‘a government agreement was signed between the ICTTA Security Academy in Germany and the Russian State Institute of Intellectual Property to expand cooperation in the area of ​​advanced training and retraining of security specialists.’

The ICTTA has held events in Waldmünchen since 2004. However, in addition to its bases in Bavaria, the ICTTA also had other bases in Germany. For example, in August 2004, ‘...an international course on special firearms training, emergency and tactical driving for leaders and personal security personnel, and special vehicle drivers was held at the ICTTA bases in Germany (Hamburg, Berlin, Brandenburg). Following the course, participants were awarded certification certificates compliant with European classification.’

According to the ICTTA website, from 2004 to 2008, the Association held three to four public events per year in Germany alone. The same article in Die Welt, which put an end to the ABOP's activities, also mentioned Linder's Association: "The Academy (referring to ABOP) has close ties to an international organisation based in Moscow and bearing the militant name of the International Counter-Terrorism Training Association (ICTTA).

Its ‘vice president for Germany,’ Thomas-Christian Seitz, runs the Bavarian Security Academy in Waldmünchen, which, among other things, trains in the use of police batons, marksmanship, and surveillance. Seitz also oversees, from his beautiful villa in Berlin, a complex conglomerate of companies with branches in Russia, Uzbekistan, and China. According to the commercial register, some of the companies' co-owners are also based in Moscow.

The 41-year-old businessman also operates in personal security and armored limousine manufacturing. When asked to describe his activities, Seitz declined.

Connections to the Moscow counter-terrorism association are also found in the Berlin district of Karlhorst, where the KGB headquarters in the GDR was once located.

There, so-called ‘ICTTA experts,’ former career employees of the Ministry of State Security, run private detective agencies. One of their partners, a retired colonel, recently made headlines. The former STASI officer spied on an overly well-informed reporter—on assignment from Deutsche Telekom. Since 2009, following the publication of an article in Die Welt, the ICTTA's public ties with the Waldmünchen Academy have ceased. Since then, Linder has only visited Nuremberg once a year for the Japanese martial arts competitions he directs.

The revelation certainly had a significant impact on the life of the ICTTA, but it was unlikely to block its activities in Germany.

Of the 30 foreign firms and organisations currently listed as members of the ICTTA, half (fifteen) are German (including Christian Seitz's firm, Euracom Group GmbH). The rest represent Argentina, Austria, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Israel, Lithuania, Poland, Switzerland, the United States, and Estonia.

It is possible to consider with a high degree of certainty the contact system created by the ICTTA in Germany as an independent local agent network of the FSB, one of many local networks operating in parallel.