BBC: Top Secret Intel Document Accidentally Left on Train in London

June 11, 2008 — -- The BBC is reporting today that top-secret documents containing the latest government intelligence assessment on al-Qaeda have been left on a train in London.

The documents belonged to a very senior intelligence official working in the Cabinet Office, according to a report running on the BBC website.

A passenger on the train from Waterloo to Surrey spotted the orange cardboard envelope lying abandoned on a seat and handed the documents to the BBC.

A full-scale search had been launched by the Metropolitan Police.

Just seven pages long but classified as "UK Top Secret", the latest government intelligence assessment on al-Qaeda is so sensitive that every document is numbered and marked "for UK/US/Canadian and Australian eyes only", BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said.

However, it appears that in a "serious" breach of the rules, according to our correspondent, the document was taken out of Whitehall and left on a train on Tuesday.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7449255.stm