Two face secrets charge over criticism of US tactics in Iraq
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, Nov 18, IRNA
UK Official Secrets-Iraq
A British civil servant and a former MP's researcher have been charged under the country's Official Secrets Act after the leaking of a confidential government memo criticizing US tactics in Iraq.
Leo O'Connor, who worked for Labour MP Tony Clarke before he lost his parliamentary seat in May, is accused of having received a document "through its disclosure without lawful authority by a crown servant."
The civil servant charged with him was David Keogh, a former communications officer at the Cabinet Office, who was on secondment from the Foreign Office at the time of the alleged offence in April or May last year.
The pair were reported to have been released on police bail after being charged under the Official Secrets Act on Thursday night with a "damaging disclosure" of a foreign policy document.
According to the Financial Times, the leaked memo from the Foreign ffice was understood to criticize the "heavy handed" tactics in Falluja and Najaf that were published in the Sunday Times last year.
The case is believed to be the first of its kind since the government abandoned the prosecution last year of a former employee at GCHQ surveillance centre, who was accused of leaking a memo on alleged US "dirty tricks" to spy on UN delegates before the Iraq war.
HC/1771
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