Probe into NATO documents on Internet

LONDON, APRIL 2: Britain's Defence Ministry has launched an inquiry after a NATO military document for use by its soldiers in Kosovo turne...

LONDON, APRIL 2: Britain’s Defence Ministry has launched an inquiry after a NATO military document for use by its soldiers in Kosovo turned up on the Internet, a spokesperson said on Saturday. The Sunday Telegraph said the investigation was ordered after a nine-page document giving rules of engagement for NATO troops in the province appeared on the computers of a London publishing company.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it was aware of a "computer virus containing text relating to military matters", which it insisted had originated from outside Britain. "Appropriate measures have been taken to investigate the matter."

The paper quoted NATO’s spokesman Jamie Shea as saying the documents were sensitive. The document features, among other things, the circumstances under which "appropriate measures, including the use of deadly force" could be used, and who could authorise everything – from attack helicopters to use of tanks.

According to the newspaper, a military official discounted the possibility that the document had been obtained by hacking into military computers. But even if the mistake did not originate in Britain, as the MoD said, it is embarrassing in the wake of two recent blunders when British intelligence agents lost two laptops containing secret information.