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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Mon Sep 27 2010 - 17:04:43 EDT
Liaison between MI6 and British Foreign Office: We Collect Information to
Combat Terrorism in Somalia, Yemen, and Pakistan
By Mohammed Al Shafey
27/09/2010
London, Asharq Al-Awsat - A high-level British diplomat revealed that
Britain is still at significant risk of a terrorist attack, although the
source of this threat is now from relevant groups in Yemen and Somalia. The
diplomat, who is the liaison between the British Foreign Office and the
British Secret Intelligence Service [SIS], and who met with a number of Arab
journalists in a closed press conference in the capital of London on
Thursday, said that SIS, which is more commonly known as MI6, helps the
British government - via covert means - to protect the security and economic
interests of the United Kingdom at an international level. The high-level
British diplomat spoke to journalists on the condition of anonymity due to
the sensitive nature of his job, and revealed that MI6 collects secret
information from all across the globe in order to support the British
government's policies and objectives. He said that the goal of the
intelligence community is to warn politicians about what will happen
tomorrow or in the near future in the west, in order to counter any threats.
He also said that "the most important threats that we are facing in the
twenty-first century includes instability in some regions of the world,
terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and drug
smuggling."
He said that Britain's foreign intelligence gathering agency, MI6, helps the
British government to respond to these challenges, and in order for MI6 to
be able to effectively carry out its duties, it must protect details of its
operation, its agents and sources, and its secret methods. He said that the
center of Britain's intelligence gathering operations is in Cheltenham,
which is also the location of GCHQ [Government Communication Headquarters];
the center of Britain's Government Signal Intelligence [SIGNIT] activities.
He stressed that MI6 activity focuses upon foreign operation, not domestic
activities, which are handled by MI6's sister agency, MI5. The British
Foreign Office liaison also revealed that those working for MI6 support
British foreign policy by providing information, and there is direct
coordination between MI6 and the corridors of the British Foreign Office.
The Foreign Office's Intelligence liaison also revealed that MI6 has a total
of approximately 2,500 employees, 10 percent of whom are members of ethnic
minorities. He said "we have no problem recruiting members of ethnic
minorities, as they are part of the fabric of British society." He also
referred to MI6's growing interest in recruiting Arabic speakers. He also
spoke about MI6's role in combating terrorism in Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan,
and Afghanistan, with regards to its information-gathering activities.
The British liaison between the British Foreign Office and MI6 was speaking
to Arab journalists on the occasion of the 100 year anniversary of the
foundation of MI6. A book [MI6: The History of the Secret Intelligence
Service 1909 - 1949] was published to commemorate this anniversary. This
book reveals - for the first time - the official story behind the founding
of this organization and the history of its first 40 years. The book was
written by Professor Keith Jeffrey of Queen's University in Belfast, and he
was given unrestricted access to MI6 archives during his research. This book
was launched at the British Foreign Office in the attendance of former SIS
Director Sir John Scarlett - who originally commissioned this project -
which partially lifted the veil on MI6 operations and revealed a number of
unknown facts about the period from the foundation of MI6 to the period four
years after the end of World War II. The 810-page book deals with MI6's
first forty years, from uncovering German spy networks in Britain in the
period between the end of World War I and the beginning of World War II, as
well as the efforts to break German codes during World War II which led to
the Enigma machine.
The book ends just before the turmoil suffered by the British Intelligence
community at the hands of the Soviets in the fifties and sixties after it
was revealed that some of Britain's most successful spies were actually
double-agents covertly working for the Soviet Union as part of a spy-ring
that was later dubbed the Cambridge Five. The most famous member of the
Cambridge Five was MI6 officer Kim Philby, who later defected to the Soviet
Union where he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, and later
posthumously named a Hero of the Soviet Union.
The book tells the story of the emergence of MI6 under its first and first
director Mansfield Cumming in 1909, as well as how Britain spied upon its
ally, the US. The book records that MI6 decided to stop this in 1938 based
upon a request by MI5, who wanted to build close coordination and ties with
the FBI. The book also reveals how a number of internationally renowned
British writers, including Graham Green, Arthur Ransome, Somerset Maugham,
Compton Mackenzie, Malcolm Muggeridge, and philosopher AJ Ayer all worked
for MI6. These revelations bring the British literary scene into question
once more, after previous it was previously revealed in the nineties that
British author George Orwell - real name Eric Blair - was also attached to
MI6.
Professor Keith Jeffrey also revealed that the "license to kill" - as
popularized by fictional MI6 agent James Bond - was a myth, although the
book does speculate that MI6 agent Bill "Biffy" Dunderdale, a close friend
of James Bond author Ian Fleming, may have been the model for 007, due to
his "penchant for pretty women and fast cars."
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