LONDON: UK police said Saturday they had arrested a man in his twenties for spying, with the Sunday Times reporting he was a researcher in Britain’s parliament suspected of working for China.
“Officers from the Metropolitan Police Service arrested two men on 13 March on suspicion of offenses under section 1 of the Official Secrets Act, 1911,” said the force.
“A man in his 30s was arrested at an address in Oxfordshire and a man in his 20s was arrested at an address in Edinburgh.”
The Sunday Times said the suspect in his twenties had contacts with MPs from the ruling Conservative Party while working as a parliamentary researcher. They included Security Minister Tom Tugendhat and Alicia Kearns, the chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee.
He is a Briton who has worked on international policy, including relations with Beijing, and previously worked in China, the paper added.
If proven, it would represent one of the most serious breaches of security involving a hostile state at the UK’s parliament.
Domestic intelligence service MI5 last year warned that a female Chinese government agent called Christine Lee had been “engaged in political interference activities on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party, engaging with members here at parliament.”
In July the Commons intelligence and security committee claimed that China was targeting the UK “prolifically and aggressively” and that the government did not have the “resources, expertise or knowledge” to deal with it.
Tugendhat is reported to have only had limited contact with the suspect, and none while security minister.
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UK parliament researcher arrested for China spying: Report
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UK parliament researcher arrested for China spying: Report
- A man in his 30s was arrested at an address in Oxfordshire and a man in his 20s was arrested at an address in Edinburgh
- The Sunday Times said the suspect in his twenties had contacts with MPs from the ruling Conservative Party
Second Iranian ship heading to Sri Lanka after submarine attack
- A second Iranian warship was heading toward Sri Lanka’s territorial waters Thursday, a day after a US submarine destroyed an Iranian frigate, killing at least 87 sailors, a minister told parliament
GALLE: A second Iranian warship was heading toward Sri Lanka’s territorial waters Thursday, a day after a US submarine destroyed an Iranian frigate, killing at least 87 sailors, a minister told parliament.
Media minister Nalinda Jayatissa said the second Iranian warship was just outside Sri Lankan waters, but gave no further details.
Official sources said the vessel was carrying more than 100 crew and feared they too could be targeted the same way a sister vessel was sunk by a US submarine just off Sri Lanka’s southern coast on Wednesday.
The sinking came as the war sparked by a joint US-Israel attack on Iran continued to spread across the Middle East and beyond.
Authorities in the southern port city of Galle, meanwhile, were making preparations Thursday to hand over the remains of 87 Iranian sailors killed in the torpedo attack claimed by the US military.
Officials at the main hospital in Galle said 32 rescued Iranians were still being treated under tight security provided by police and elite commandos.
The Emergency Treatment Unit was off limits to visitors and other patients, with the medical authorities setting up a separate ward for the Iranians.
“Most of them have minor injuries, but there were a few with fractures and burns,” a nurse at the hospital said, without giving her name.
Navy spokesman Buddhika Sampath told AFP that Sri Lankan navy vessels were continuing their search for missing Iranian sailors.
Iran has not yet commented on the sinking.
Sri Lanka has remained neutral and has repeatedly urged dialogue to resolve the conflict in the Middle East.
Media minister Nalinda Jayatissa said the second Iranian warship was just outside Sri Lankan waters, but gave no further details.
Official sources said the vessel was carrying more than 100 crew and feared they too could be targeted the same way a sister vessel was sunk by a US submarine just off Sri Lanka’s southern coast on Wednesday.
The sinking came as the war sparked by a joint US-Israel attack on Iran continued to spread across the Middle East and beyond.
Authorities in the southern port city of Galle, meanwhile, were making preparations Thursday to hand over the remains of 87 Iranian sailors killed in the torpedo attack claimed by the US military.
Officials at the main hospital in Galle said 32 rescued Iranians were still being treated under tight security provided by police and elite commandos.
The Emergency Treatment Unit was off limits to visitors and other patients, with the medical authorities setting up a separate ward for the Iranians.
“Most of them have minor injuries, but there were a few with fractures and burns,” a nurse at the hospital said, without giving her name.
Navy spokesman Buddhika Sampath told AFP that Sri Lankan navy vessels were continuing their search for missing Iranian sailors.
Iran has not yet commented on the sinking.
Sri Lanka has remained neutral and has repeatedly urged dialogue to resolve the conflict in the Middle East.
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