A senior official of the Pakistan Foreign Ministry today confirmed that MI5, the British intelligence agency, tried to bug Pakistan’s High Commission in London and told Daily Times that the government would take up the matter with the British Foreign Office. The operation, conducted through a building contractor-turned MI5 agent, was apparently authorised by British Home Secretary David Blunkett. The story that first appeared in The Sunday Times did not mention the identity of the country. But investigations by Daily Times reveal that it was the Pakistan High Commission. According to the The Sunday Times, MI5 stole codes to send secret messages, planned to install listening devices and remove sensitive documents. The operation was run under the cover of restoration work that took place at the high commission in Lowndes Square last year. One of the bidders found that he could get access to confidential material. After some effort, MI5 got in touch with him and assigned him the codename ‘‘Notation’’, and a salary. The contractor managed to get an agent into the building disguised as a surveyor, who also photographed documents in several filing cabinets. Some of the restoration work was on the top floor, which housed a cipher machine used to send confidential messages. The contractor got three other agents to move the machine, and copied secret codes from a post-it note on the wall. MI5 also intended to steal visa applications. But the operation broke down after the contractor quit. He later wrote to a UK official, forwarding copies to the US and Pakistani embassies, exposing the affair. (Daily Times)
