DUBAI (AlArabiya.net)
British defense officials are taking steps to ensure the safety of its Muslim military personnel after a laptop containing the personal details of 600,000 people was stolen from a Royal Navy officer’s car in Birmingham, press reports said Sunday.
The Ministry of Defense fears that Muslims are particularly at risk after an alleged plot to kidnap and behead a serving British Muslim soldier in Birmingham last year, the Times UK reported.
It said the Ministry was trying to contact all those deemed at risk, which includes thousands of serving officers as well as anyone who applied for a job with the army, navy or air force in the last 10 years.
The information on the laptop – which was not encrypted – includes people's names, home addresses, bank and passport details, national insurance and National Health Service numbers.
The theft is the latest in a string of lost data scandals that have embarrassed Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
British soldiers - and especially Muslims - are high on al-Qaeda’s target list because of Britain’s role in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Times said, adding that Muslims who join the British forces have been branded "traitors" to their religion by Islamic extremists.
The laptop was stolen on the night of Jan. 9-10 from the trunk of a car belonging to a junior navy officer who worked in naval recruiting, the daily reported. |
