A British soldier has been arrested in Afghanistan over an alleged breach of the country's Official Secrets Act, the Ministry of Defence in London said Wednesday. The soldier, who was not identified, is being flown back to Britain for questioning and the investigation has been taken over by the Metropolitan Police.
"We can confirm that a British Army officer has been arrested in Afghanistan on suspicion of breaching the Official Secrets Act," a ministry spokesman said. "He is being returned to the UK for questioning," he said, adding that the defence ministry had handed the matter over to the police. "No further details will be released at this stage."
According to The Sun newspaper, which cited unidentified senior sources, the 48-year-old soldier befriended a woman working for a human rights group in Afghanistan and allegedly leaked sensitive casualty figures. British Defence Secretary John Hutton declined to comment on the probe, saying he did not want to compromise the rights of the accused soldier or any future trial.
"There is a proper process to be followed in the UK," he said, speaking to reporters at Nato headquarters in Brussels. "There could be prosecutions brought in this case and I am not going to compromise, either the rights of the individual concerned who is entitled to a fair trial, or in fact the legitimate interests of the prosecution if it is able to bring such a trial."