-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Phones stolen in Iraq used for sex chatlines Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2006 10:52:07 +0000 From: Brian Randell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Hi Dave: It's great to get a news story about the situation in Iraq that provides amusement rather than despair, and very surprising when it emanates from the UK Government's Foreign Office - this is from today's (UK) Guardian, but could have been straight out of "Yes Minister": >Phones stolen in Iraq used for sex chatlines > >David Hencke, Westminster correspondent >Thursday March 2, 2006 >The Guardian > >It certainly was not part of Britain's plans to >win the hearts and minds of the people of Iraq. >But the Foreign Office has been apparently >paying for an adult sex chatline in a Baghdad >street for 17 months without knowing it. > >The Foreign Office has had to tell MPs that an >investigation into how a diplomat lost two >satellite phones in Iraq has nothing to do with >terrorism but more to do with a budding >entrepreneur and a telephone porn network. > >FO officials had already admitted that the lost >phones had cost them £594,000 in unauthorised >phone bills but it is now bracing itself for an >extremely critical report from the Commons >public accounts committee on how it came to pay >phone bills, which at one stage hit £212,000 in >one month, without asking questions. > >Sir Michael Jay, permanent secretary at the FO, >told MPs: "All the pattern of usage of these >phones ... points to some kind of criminal >activity ... It was almost as though they were >taken and used as a kind of mobile phone booth >at the end of the street where anybody could >come along and use them. > >"After that, they appear to have been used for a >couple of scams based on what are known as >personal numbers and premium numbers." > >Sir Michael said the premium rate numbers were >used for betting agencies or adult phone lines, >and that one of the FO phones had been "on >virtually full time with the person who is, as >it were, making the call getting some benefit >from it." >... >Edward Leigh, chairman of the committee, told >him: "In terms of this mobile phone being on >permanently at the end of a street in Iraq, that >gives a whole new meaning to winning hearts and >minds in Iraq, but it is quite serious." > >Austin Mitchell, Labour MP for Great Grimsby, >whose phone had been swiped and used to dial a >betting agency, asked if the FO had tried to get >its money back. >... >Sir Michael has promised to try to get the money >back. But so far the only thing FO staff >appeared to have done is to try to ring the >premium rate number. Sir Michael told MPs they >did not get a reply. Full story at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1721215,00.html Cheers Brian -- School of Computing Science, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK EMAIL = [EMAIL PROTECTED] PHONE = +44 191 222 7923 FAX = +44 191 222 8232 URL = http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/~brian.randell/ ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as [email protected] To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
