MI5 tried to bug London embassy, says Pakistan

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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Now if Pakistan was trying to bug British embassy in Islamabad, you can imagine how Blair and his goverment would have reacted. The Pakistani government should pursue this matter and get an apology from the British government. Wonder how this will play out as the PM is due shortly on a visit to UK.

MI5 tried to bug London embassy, says Pakistan](Latest news & breaking headlines | The Times and The Sunday Times)

ALLEGATIONS of an MI5 bugging operation against an unidentified embassy in London took a dramatic turn yesterday when Pakistani officials declared: “We know it was our embassy.”

Officials in Islamabad said an internal investigation had been started and reassurances sought from the British Government. They also said that Mark Lyall Grant, the British High Commissioner in Islamabad, had been summoned to the Pakistani foreign ministry and handed a démarche — a diplomatic process in which the resident envoy is expected to refer a matter of some urgency to his government.

A Pakistani Foreign Ministry official said the story in The Sunday Times, which gave graphic details of a secret Security Service operation, had not named the targeted embassy, “but we know it was our embassy, although we are not in a position to confirm or deny the content of the story at this stage”.

The allegations of spying on Pakistan have not been confirmed by any government department in London, all of which — the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Home Office and Downing Street — have declined to make any comment about “intelligence matters”. A spokesman for 10 Downing Street said: “There is nothing we can say.”

However, the alleged plot to insert bugging devices inside the high commission at its premises in Lowndes Square, Knightsbridge, under cover of restoration work carried out there in 2001 and last year, has provoked embarrassing diplomatic to-ing and fro-ing between London and Islamabad.

One senior Pakistani official said: “Pakistan is insisting on a categorical assurance from the highest level of the British Government that it did not authorise any activity in the Pakistan High Commission in London which is inconsistent with the Vienna Convention.”

The official added: “The matter has also been raised with 10 Downing Street.”

The report in The Sunday Times claimed that a contractor working at the Pakistani High Commission became an MI5 agent and arranged for Security Service officers to have unrestricted access to the building. The alleged agent, who subsequently claimed to have got cold feet and called off the undercover operation, told the newspaper that MI5 removed codes used by Pakistani staff for sending secret messages and worked out how to plant listening devices in the internal telephone system and in a closed-circuit television camera in the office of a diplomat.

The alleged agent also claimed that MI5 officers took away highly confidential documents and photographed the inside of the building. One MI5 officer, it was claimed, pretended to be carrying out a search for hazardous materials to gain access to secure areas.

The Sunday Times claimed the builder “agent”, codenamed Notation, had been told the spying operation had been authorised “at the highest level” and that David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, had issued a warrant.

Although the Home Office refused to make any comment on the newspaper report, Whitehall officials told The Times that Mr Blunkett had not signed a warrant for any such operation. “He wouldn’t want to be accused of doing something he didn’t do,” one source said.

Pakistani officials said it would be a serious violation of the Vienna Convention, which lays down a code of diplomatic conduct, if the allegations were found to be true. “We are seriously looking into the matter,” an official said.

However, they insisted that the story contained a number of exaggerated claims. They denied that any confidential documents could have been removed.

“That is out of the question,” a senior Pakistani Foreign Ministry official said.

The Sunday Times report revealed that the alleged agent had once been sectioned under the Mental Health Act and claimed this had been overlooked when he was recruited.

The allegations are highly embarrassing because Pakistan is one of the acknowledged loyal supporters in the global war on terrorism, and President Musharraf of Pakistan visited Tony Blair in Downing Street only a few months ago.

The bugging allegation has also come at a time when plans are being finalised for a visit to London next month of Zafarullh Khan Jamali, the Pakistani Prime Minister.

Pakistani officials said they did not want the matter to sour relations with Britain, but one said: “We will decide about the next step after the inquiry into the allegations.”

Officials in Islamabad said the issue was raised by Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri, the Foreign Minister, when he arrived for a visit in London at the beginning of this week.

Mr Kasuri met Jack Straw on Tuesday, but the Foreign Secretary made no mention of any official Pakistani concern over the bugging allegations when he briefed reporters about their discussions.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office declined to say whether Mr Kasuri had referred to the allegations. He said: “If there were confidential matters raised they would not have been disclosed.”

Diplomats at the Pakistani High Commission told The Times that all matters relating to the allegations were being handled by the Foreign Ministry in Islamabad.

Bugging of embassies has been a feature of espionage work since the technology became available, particularly during the Cold War.

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If that's what the Brits are doing, imagine what the Americans are doing? :)

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Bloody idiots. Look at our lax security. Nobody should have been allowed in unsupervised. The people allowed in should have been limited at a time with security (ie a guy with a big gun cocked and ready) should have been present.

Plus the reaction by our govt is pathetic. It should have been more forceful.

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looking at the high commission building and access. its very easy to enter and bug. a nromal guy can do it, there is no need of 007 there.

pakistan response is very late and not much forcefull.

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In my opinion, what's been done is done. However, now we should concentrate on what sort of information the Brits and Americans were looking for? Frankly in my opinion, I dont think you can find any important information from any Pakistani embassy/consulates, because of the mere fact that all foreign policies are actually made at GHQ/ foreign office/ or president's house, which I really hope are not bugged. Having said that, I think that Pakistan's foreign office should realise its mistake and make access to the Pakistani embassy/consulates more secure. Infact we can play this whole incident to favor us in the long run, by learning from our mistake, and by keeping the Pakistani passports at a secure position, so that no unauthorised person is able to get a hold on them...

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What shabby jobs at the High Commission

Security measures at Pak HC in London tightened
Islamabad—The security measures in Pakistan High Commission in London have been tightened following the reports on conduct of bugging operation by the UK secret agency MI5.

The screening cameras have been installed outside the building and the commission staff has been given special directives in this respect in two consecutive meetings held in the commission.

The newly appointed High Commissioner, Maleeha Lodhi, convened an important meeting of the heads of all departments of the commission on Friday and cautioned them to keep each and every document under lock and key.

The meeting also exchanged views on the top-secret files slipped into the hands of UK secret agency MI5 and the leakage of secret matters.

A follow-up meeting was also convened by Deputy High Commissioner Murad Ali and head of chancery Raja Masud. They issued necessary directives to the staff. The meeting also reviewed in details the security concerns.

The orders for installation of 21 sensitive cameras have also been issued. With the help of these cameras, a photograph can be snapped and voice be heard from a distance of one furlong.

The entry of guests to High Commission has been fully banned. The orders have been issued for delivery of security passes to all the staff members on emergent basis.

The sensitive devices are being fitted on three doors of the commission. The staff ahead of entering into commission office will have to pass through the security pass machine. The senior officers of the commission will also not be allowed to enter into commission without security check.

Sources said that decoration and renovation work of the commission was started during the tenure of former High Commissioner Abdul Qadir Jaffer. It lasted three years.

As per report of Sunday Times, that the workers of construction company which was assigned contract to undertake work in the commission were members of UK spy agency MI5. They continued to fleece secrets of the embassy all over the year. They even collected the reports of top-secret matters from the dustbin where it was thrown. MI5 had succeeded in obtaining official postcode of Pakistan High Commissioner in London. The MI5 has been checking the top-secret mail on daily basis, which was sent to Pakistan through the code.

The MI5 also kept on securing secrets of visa and passport sections.

Sources informed that these all secret documents were kept loose on the tables in the commission office. The MI5 agents went on obtaining these documents easily.

The principal assistant to High Commissioner and stenographer threw the dictation book in the dustbin containing the top secret dictation they got from High Commissioner. The MI5 agents sought easy excess to these secrets with picking dictation books from the dustbin. :rotfl:

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All the Pakistani intelligence assets are busy spying on our politicians, so it makes sense that Western intelligence agencies find it so easy to spy on us.

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MI5 going rogue???

UK embassy ‘bug’ angers Pakistan…

Scotland Yard could have been involved too, says Pakistan. Pakistan says it is still waiting for the British Government to explain reports that its London high commission was bugged by UK security services. British and Pakistani newspapers have alleged that contractors hired by MI5 planted bugs in the building in 2001. Pakistan’s Government says Scotland Yard, headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, may also have been involved. A foreign ministry spokesman said Pakistanis were angry at the reports, and surprised by Britain’s silence. The BBC’s Paul Anderson in Islamabad says the remarks are the strongest statement so far on the issue from the Pakistan Government. Last week, it asked the UK Government for an inquiry into the reports. ‘Angry and aghast’.“We would want a response because we believe that MI5 and Scotland Yard are not satellites above the British Government,” foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency on Monday. Islamabad also wants to know whether UK Home Secretary David Blunkett authorised the alleged bugging operation. “They can determine very easily whether Mr Blunkett has given an authorisation or whether it was a rogue operation by MI5 or by Scotland Yard,” Mr Khan said. He said leading Pakistani figures he had spoken to were “aghast” that such an “espionage mission” could be conducted against a country with which Britain has close and friendly ties. Mr Khan said Pakistan had increased security arrangements at its high commission in central London as well at its other consular offices in Britain. It is carrying out its own investigation into the allegations.

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An update…

ISLAMABAD, Nov 10: Pakistan will soon dispatch a team to London to investigate the reported bugging of its High Commission some time after the Sept 11 terror attacks by MI5, Britain’s domestic spy agency, sources said on Monday. “A four- to five-member team, headed by an additional secretary of the foreign ministry, will leave for London next week to investigate the alleged bugging of Pakistan’s mission there,” these sources said.
http://www.dawn.com/2003/11/11/nat14.htm

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Another update.

House of Lords debates bugging of Pak HC...

LONDON: The issue of the alleged bugging of the Pakistan High Commission here was debated by the House of Lords on late Wednesday, but was told that the government could neither confirm nor deny the allegations concerning its intelligence agencies.
The debate took place on the initiative of Lord Nazir Ahmed who asked a question from the government, "whether recent reports of alleged bugging of the Pakistan High Commission in London are true; and, if so, whether this is a breach of the Vienna Convention".
Minister of State, Home Office Baroness Scotland of Asthal, said, "It is the long-standing policy of successive governments to neither confirm nor deny allegations concerning the activities of the intelligence and security agencies".
When asked by Lord Nazir that as a Sunday newspaper had given "full details of this whole saga, should Her Majesty’s Government not say whether the report is true and whether Pakistan is a friend or a foe?
Baroness Scotland of Asthal repeated the earlier answer, but assured Lord Nazir "that our bilateral relationship with our Pakistani colleagues are both warm and close". Responding to a question by Lord Wallace of Saltaire whether the alleged bugging had not violated Articles 22 and 27 of the Vienna Convention? the minister said, "in light of my previous reply, I cannot answer either one way or the other". Responding to another question by Lord Stoddart of Swindon whether the "security forces can act with impunity in breaching international conventions", the British minister replied "my answer does not mean that. I cannot accept such a suggestion. The intelligence and security agencies each operate under a strict statutory framework". "The agencies are overseen by ministers and by independent commissioners who hold or have held high judicial office. There is also the independent Investigatory Powers Tribunal to whom anyone may complain if he or she feels aggrieved by something they believe an agency has done in relation to them or their property. Our arrangements are something about which we can be reasonably proud, and they are robust," said the minister.

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An update…
LONDON: A former MI5 agent, who blew the whistle on an attempt to bug the Pakistani high commission, has fled to the Continent and is threatening to reveal more about the aborted spying operation. According to a report published in The Sunday Times, he claims to have a dossier of evidence - including documents and photographs - revealing details about MI5’s espionage techniques and what information it was trying to obtain about Pakistan. The man, a building contractor, who was condemned Notation, left Britain this month, shortly before The Sunday Times revealed the spying operation. David Blunkett, the home secretary, was said by aides to be furious about he botched spying operation and the leak. He has denied signing warrants authorising the espionage attempt. That appears to contradict claims by Notation, who said he received detailed assurances from MI5 that the home secretary had issued warrants. He said: “Claire, my handler, told me on several occasions how MI5 sought and obtained the warrants from Blunkett.” Notation is now being sought for questioning. MI5 wants to prevent him revealing further secrets. A Home Office source said he might face prosecution under the Official Secrets Act. Notation was recruited by MI5 in 2001 to provide access to the Pakistani high commission in Belgravia, London, during restoration work. Posing as building workers, members of M15 entered the building, stole codes for sending secret messages and planned to plant listening devices and remove documents. The operation was aborted after Notation became worried that his role could be exposed. He later wrote to the parliamentary intelligence and security committee, saying he was concerned for his safety. The affair has caused a diplomatic rift between London and Islamabad. Pakistan said it had sent its own experts to debug the high commission. “We have already dispatched people; they are in Britain,” Khurshid Kasuri, Pakistan’s foreign minister told a televised news conference in Islamabad last week. The Conservatives are demanding a House of Commons statement from Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, and said the botched operation had severely damaged Anglo Pakistani relations. Pakistan continued to put diplomatic pressure on Britain last week. Kasuri said he had demanded an explanation for the spying operation during a meeting with Straw in London. Straw told him he was forbidden by law from commenting on intelligence matters, Kasuri said there was now “a question of confidence” between the two countries. Friends of Notation are growing concerned about him. He was once sectioned under the Mental Health Act and treated in a specialist clinic. The head of the West London building firm for which he worked said Notation had simply vanished together with his girlfriend. “We have been unable to speak to [Notation] since your story broke,” he said last week. “He just disappeared. We haven’t had any contact with him. I assume Helen [his girlfriend] is with him because she is nowhere to be found either.”

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It was expected, wasn’t it? Afterall what could Pakistan have done, if they happen to declare that they found bugging devices
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_3-12-2003_pg1_2
No bugging devices found in London embassy

By Khalid Hasan

WASHINGTON: The special security team flown from Pakistan to London to ensure that there were no bugging devices in place any longer has returned to Islamabad after having found none.

The high-powered team was made up of some of Pakistan’s leading experts in the field. They went over every inch of the High Commission “with a fine comb”, dug up various floors, bared a number of walls and checked every niche and corner, but in the end, they found nothing.

According to a source who spoke to Daily Times from London, it either means that the devices left in place by the British intelligence operatives are so sophisticated and state-of-the-art that they are nearly impossible to locate, or that because the British operation was a botched one, every implanted device was pulled out and taken away so as to leave “no smoking gun”.

The British government has refused to say anything, maintaining that it does not comment on intelligence-related matters. Although the Foreign Office spokesman spoke of “consequences” this week if the British persisted in their unhelpful attitude, the matter has already been put to rest.** “File closed,” is how the source put it.**

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The other possibility is that if they did find bugging devices, they simply left them there and noted the locations - this could be of advantage for feeding false information later on should the geo-political situation shift.