November 8, 2003	Saturday	Ramazan 12, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Nov 7: Steps have already been taken to ensure that the security of the Pakistan’s high commission in the UK is not breached or compromised in any manner, said a foreign office spokesman here on Friday.

Spokesman Masood Khan made these remarks in the backdrop of a Sunday Times report claiming that a spying and bugging operation had been conducted in an embassy in London with the help of a building contractor in 2001.

The newspaper without giving the name of the embassy claimed that the British intelligence agency, M15, had installed a bugging device at the building during its renovation.

However, the media while quoting unnamed sources speculated that the Pakistan’s high commission building fit into the specifications mentioned in the report.

The spokesman stated that while the embassy or the high commission was not identified because of the general description, the matter was taken up with the British authorities in London and the British high commissioner in Islamabad.

“We remain in touch with the British government. It is important to know if such an operations was indeed authorized. We cannot go by the account of the newspaper reports,” said the spokesman and expressed the hope that the British government would clarify the matter soon.

“We are conducting an internal evaluation to determine if such an operation indeed took place. After this process is completed, we shall decide upon the future course of action,” he said.—APP