Hidden microphone found at Ecuador's embassy in UK, says foreign minister

[dipsydoodle]

Source: Guardian

A hidden microphone has been found inside the Ecuadorean embassy in London where the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is holed up, according to the country's foreign minister.

Ricardo Patiño said the device had been discovered a fortnight ago inside the office of the Ecuadorean ambassador, Ana Alban, while he was in the UK to meet Assange and discuss the whistleblower's plight with the British foreign secretary, William Hague.

"We regret to inform you that in our embassy in London we have found a hidden microphone," Patiño told a news conference in Quito on Tuesday.

"I didn't report this at the time because we didn't want the theme of our visit to London to be confused with this matter," he said.

"Furthermore, we first wanted to ascertain with precision what could be the origin of this interception device in the office of our ambassador."

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/03/hidden-microphone-ecuador-embassy-assange

[Berlum]

1. Shocking.

[Helen Borg]

2. Is anyone watching

the Americans? It's a very good TV series about cold war spying and spies.

[City Lights]

3. Haha, yes, I am.

It was the first thing I thought of when I read the OP.

[bunnies]

4. Looking forward to finding out who put it there.

If they already know, I wonder why they aren't saying.

[cstanleytech]

10. Doubt they will be able to really tell for certain as just about any country

can buy that type of stuff online from hidden microphones to hidden pinhole cameras with nightvision.

[L0oniX]

5. NSA: Sometimes we have to do it the old fashioned way.

[WilliamPitt]

6. British intelligence.

Occam's razor: the embassy is in London.

[dipsydoodle]

7. Obviously local

but I'm not sure they'd bother. I wouldn't like to say who put it there.

Its a pretty cool place for Assange to be actually - Harrod's Food Hall is only a short walk away.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

12. If this were a few years ago,...

BITD MI5 would claim it was IRA or KGB but now it's FOAD to NSA and CIA.

[formercia]

8. Cubans are a bit more Proactive

Upon finding one of our Audio Devices in one of their facilities, a member of the Embassy Staff took it outside and shot it several times with his Pistol. No more was heard from the device.

[dipsydoodle]

9. That was probably planted by USAID

who from memory are based in the Swedish embassy.

Don't think we've got a smilie for tossers.

[Judi Lynn]

15. Excellent solution. n/t

[DeSwiss]

11. ''...the device had been discovered a fortnight ago...''

Now I have to wonder whether or not they played these Agent Mikes by talking directly into the mic in the Equdorian embassy, saying how: Snowden would be on President Morales' plane -- hehehehehe. Giggling the whole time trying to keep from giving themselves away.

Of course thanks to our man Snowden, the ''intelligence'' these numbnuts receive from their mics, their plants and their computer intrusions is now worth about squat.

- They'll never know if it's real info or someone talking into a mic with a script......

K&R

[Catherina]

13. Press conference about this in 15 minutes

Ricardo Patiño Aroca ‏@RicardoPatinoEC 1h

Today, at 16:30, I'll give a news briefing on listening device discovered in the Embassy of Ecuador in London

Hoy, a las 16h30, daré la rueda de prensa informativa sobre dispositivo de escucha descubierto en la Embajada de Ecuador en Londres

https://twitter.com/RicardoPatinoEC/status/352506801729712128

[Catherina]

14. Deleted. Wrong thread. different matter n/t

[Judi Lynn]

16. Glad to hear they found it. Bet there are others, too. Thanks, dipsydoodle.

It's great they decided not to keep the news to themselves.

The truth has been missing so long. It needs to be known so much more often.