Secret al-Qaeda files on eBay camera

Secret MI6 documents, photos and fingerprints relating to members of al-Qaeda have turned up in the memory of a Nikon Coolpix camera bought on eBay for just £17 (NZ$44).

The British Government has confirmed it is investigating the sale of the camera.

The Sun reports it was purchased by a 28-year-old delivery man from Hertfordshire, who lives with his mother.

He discovered the secret material when downloading pictures from a US holiday, and reported it to police, the paper said.

The camera's memory had names of al-Qaeda members, fingerprints, suspects' academic records and pictures of rocket launchers and missiles, The Sun said.

It also contained detailed information about an MI6 computer system and named Abdul al-Hadi al-Iraqi, 46, who is being held at Guantanamo Bay after being captured by the CIA in 2007, the paper said.

Hertfordshire police confirmed they were investigating.

"We can confirm we seized a camera after a member of the public reported it. Intelligence officers are investigating."

The UK Foreign Office refused to comment on reports the camera was sold by an MI6 agent, the BBC said.

Police have also banned the 28-year-old man who bought the camera, and his family, from talking to the media, The Sun said.

However, stories about the embarrassing data loss have already appeared in the BBC, The Guardian, The Washington Post and news wire services.

The incident is the latest in a series of embarrassing data losses to affect British intelligence services and the Government.

On Monday, prosecutors announced that a senior public official who left top-secret intelligence assessments of al-Qaeda and the security forces in Iraq on a London commuter train is due to face charges under the Official Secrets Act.

Last year, a civil servant lost computer discs containing the names, addresses and bank details of 25 million people last year, while, in January, the Ministry of Defence said it had lost a laptop containing personal data on 600,000 recruits.

The Home Office said in August that a contractor had lost personal details of every prisoner in England and Wales.

National security services rate the current threat of a terrorist attack as "severe", the second-highest state of alert. It says the most significant threat comes from al-Qaeda.

- with Reuters

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