-Caveat Lector-
Pretoria hit by scandal over embassy bugging
By Anton La Guardia in Johannesburg
www.telegraph.co.uk
THE South African government was embroiled in a spy scandal yesterday after
the German embassy and the opposition Democratic Party said they had
discovered their premises were being bugged.
Joe Nhlanhla, the Intelligence Minister, assured the Democratic Party that
the National Intelligence Agency had nothing to do with eavesdropping
detected by a private security firm hired by the party. He did not rule out
that the "dastardly acts" might have been the work of other security organs
or private agents and vowed that "the law will take its course" if any
government official were found to be responsible.
The accusations follow the discovery on Wednesday of a spy camera outside the
German embassy in Pretoria. Bomb disposal officers found the equipment in an
upturned dustbin after a security guard spotted wires leading from the bin to
a tree. The embassy declined to comment, but the government has expressed
concern at the incident and promised to investigate. Mr Nhlanhla acknowledged
that the Israeli embassy had previously complained of being bugged.
However, he betrayed little real alarm at the possible undermining of South
Africa's democracy but criticised the Democratic Party for making the affair
public through the media. "These allegations are being made without any shred
of evidence being forwarded to substantiate the involvement of South African
intelligence services," he said. "On the contrary, intelligence services are
treated as guilty until they are proven innocent."
The scandal will raise inevitable comparisons with the wholesale surveillance
of political opponents carried out by the former apartheid regime. It will
inevitably lead to renewed questions about intolerance in the ranks of the
ruling African National Congress. The Democratic Party has grown into the
largest opposition group but, with 10 per cent of the national vote, it is
hardly in a position to threaten the ANC's 66 per cent. But it has been the
object of fierce ANC accusations that it seeks to preserve white privilege.
The party claimed that several telephone lines in its parliamentary and
national offices in Cape Town had been tapped. It also found that the office
of its chief whip, Douglas Gibson, and its caucus office in parliament were
kept under surveillance with listening devices that monitor sound through
windows. The equipment was allegedly operated from a nearby building housing
government offices, including the offices of ministers.
"I do not go in for smear politics," said Mr Gibson. "But it is extremely
distasteful and extremely worrying that, in a democracy with an exemplary
liberal democratic constitution, the official opposition should be subjected
to this kind of thing." He said party members had periodically suggested
having the offices swept by security experts after confidential details of
conversations had been leaked. "We are inclined to be suspicious because we
know this is what happened under the old order, but at first I resisted all
that because I am not paranoid," said Mr Gibson. "There is an uncomfortable
parallel with the past. I really hope that it is wrong."
The party said it would lay criminal charges next week, which would be
investigated by the police. Patricia De Lille, of the radical opposition
Pan-Africanist Congress, said: "I have never lost my vigilance of the
struggle [against apartheid]. I have been behaving as if my office is bugged
all the time and I will obviously have to check it out." The tiny African
Christian Democratic Party said it would have its offices swept for bugging
devices "because it seems that government is very concerned about any real
opposition".
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
