Britain’s discredited spooks turn to pseudo-theft to disseminate lies

[Paul Rigby]

In the wake of the Iraq war, MI6 has all the credibility of a sub-crime mortgage. How, then, to disseminate its latest pack of lies, this time on Iran’s alleged supply of weapons to al-Qaida, the CIA’s favourite pseudo-gang? One answer appears to be by pseudo-theft. An interesting example occurred recently. Note the roles of The Sun and The Gruaniad, which predictably – as a predominantly MI6 paper - reported this transparent nonsense with a straight face:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/...orism.ebay

Les Glendinning (and “agencies”), “Ebay camera contains 'secret' MI6 terrorist images: New owner finds photos of images of launchers, missiles, terror suspects and their details on camera,” The Guardian, 30 Sep 2008:

Police are investigating the sale of a digital camera containing MI6 images of terror suspects on eBay, the Foreign Office has confirmed.

A 28-year-old man from Hertfordshire bought the Nixon Cool Pix camera for £17 on the online auction website before going on holiday to the US.

When the new owner, a delivery driver from Hemel Hempstead, went to download his holiday pictures he found photos of terror suspects, along with their names, fingerprints and images of launchers and missiles.

Hertfordshire police said today that the sale was being investigated. "We can confirm we seized a camera after a member of the public reported it," a statement said. "Intelligence officers are investigating."

According to reports in the Sun this morning, a document marked "top secret" which gave details of the encrypted computer system used by MI6's agents was also found among the images.

When the owner informed the local police about what he had found, Special Branch officers came to his home to take the camera. According to reports, the officers made five visits to his home to interview him about what he had found.

Some of the material found on the camera was said to relate to Abdul al-Hadi al-Iraqi, 46, an al-Qaida officer, who was captured by the CIA in 2007.

Neil Doyle, author of Terror Base UK, said: "These are MI6 documents relating to an operation against al-Qaida insurgents in Iraq. It's jaw-dropping that they got into the public domain.

"Not only do they divulge secrets about operations, operating systems and previously unheard-of MI6 departments, but they could put lives at risk."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/oct/01/1

Richard Norton-Taylor, “MI6 photos on camera sold through eBay,” The Guardian, 1 October 2008, p.16:

Special branch officers are investigating how a camera believed to contain secret MI6 photographs and the names of terrorist suspects was sold on eBay. Photos in the camera, which may have been stolen, are understood to include pictures of weapons suspected of being supplied by Iran to al-Qaida insurgents in Iraq, as well as details of MI6's secret encrypted computer system. The camera, a Nikon Coolpix, was bought for £17 by a 28-year-old man who lives in Hertfordshire, the Sun said yesterday. The man was reported to have handed the camera in to police.

[David Guyatt]

Hi Paul. You sure this wasn't a combined promo stunt for SIS and e-bay?

How come I never get good stuff off e-bay?