FC: U.K. arrest made over leaked NSA email about UN spying

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

Previous Politech messages:
http://www.politechbot.com/p-04518.html
http://www.politechbot.com/p-04512.html

---

From: "Richard M. Smith" <rms () computerbytesman com>
To: "'Declan McCullagh'" <declan () well com>, <maurice () bof nl>
Subject: UK arrest made in leaked NSA email
Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2003 12:34:45 -0500

http://www.observer.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12239,910648,00.html

Dirty tricks memo: the fallout

GCHQ arrest over Observer spying report

Martin Bright, home affairs editor
Sunday March 9, 2003
The Observer

An employee at the top-secret Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) 
has been arrested following revelations in The Observer last weekend about 
an American 'dirty tricks' surveillance operation to win votes at the 
United Nations in favour of a tough new resolution on Iraq.

Gloucestershire police confirmed last night that a 28-year-old woman was 
arrested last week on suspicion of contravening the Official Secrets Act. 
The woman, from the Cheltenham area, has been released on police bail 
pending further inquiries. More arrests are expected.

A top-secret memo from the National Security Agency, which monitors 
communications around the world, was passed to this newspaper by British 
security sources who objected to being asked to aid the American operation. 
The leak marks a serious breach between the Blair government and elements 
of the intelligence community opposed to using British security resources 
to help the US drive towards war.

Officials at GCHQ, the electronic surveillance arm of the British 
intelligence service, were asked by the Americans to provide valuable 
information from 'product lines', intelligence jargon for phone taps and 
e-mail interception. The document was circulated among British intelligence 
services before being leaked.

A GCHQ spokesman confirmed last night that the woman was an employee.




-------------------------------------------------------------------------
POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list
You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice.
To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html
This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/
Like Politech? Make a donation here: http://www.politechbot.com/donate/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------