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? Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) for people employed in posts with proximity to public figures,<br />
access to information or material assessed to be of value to terrorists or unescorted access to<br />
establishments assessed to be at risk from terrorist attack. A CTC does not allow a person access to,<br />
or knowledge of, protectively marked assets.<br />
? Security Check (SC) for people employed in posts which have substantial access to SECRET assets<br />
or occasional controlled access to TOP-SECRET assets.<br />
? Developed Vetting (DV) is needed for people with substantial unsupervised access to TOP-SECRET<br />
assets. 397<br />
The dangers of misjudgement were highlighted in 2006, when Iranian-born<br />
Daniel James was arrested on suspicion of spying for Tehran. James was later<br />
charged with two offences under the Official Secrets Act 19<strong>11</strong>. This included<br />
‘communicating information to another person, and collecting documents<br />
useful to an enemy’. 398 He was also charged with misconduct in a public office.<br />
In November 2008, James was convicted of the first offence. The Deputy Head<br />
of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Counter Terrorism Division, Deborah Walsh,<br />
said, ‘Daniel James was unanimously convicted by a jury on the first espionage<br />
charge’. 399 Walsh added <strong>that</strong> he ‘betrayed not only the British Army but the<br />
country he was supposed to serve, when he collected and passed on information<br />
which could be useful to an enemy’. 400<br />
Indeed, James operated at the highest levels while serving as a translator for<br />
General Sir David Richards, who was then head of the ISAF (International Security<br />
Assistance Force) in Afghanistan. He also had ‘level one security clearance’,<br />
meaning he was able to move about the base in Kabul freely and had access to a<br />
‘yellow card’ which listed the Commander of ISAF’s daily schedule. 401<br />
While serving as a translator to General Richards, James sent emails to Col<br />
Mohammad Hossein Heydari, who was the Iranian military assistant at the<br />
Iranian Embassy in Kabul at the time. 402 ‘I am at your service’, began one of the<br />
emails sent by James. 403<br />
It underscores the need for tighter regulations and ongoing monitoring of those<br />
afforded the highest levels of security clearance. That much was confirmed by James’<br />
own counsel. Passing sentence, the judge said: ‘Your counsel has said you should<br />
never have been put in the position you were put in and you were obviously<br />
unsuited to <strong>that</strong> position. I have no doubt there is force in <strong>that</strong> submission’. 404<br />
Religious ‘gatekeepers’<br />
One of the most dramatic findings of the study into the attitudes of British<br />
Muslims found <strong>that</strong> they placed almost no emphasis on the views of religious<br />
‘gatekeepers’ when considering a military career. Indeed, only 3 percent said <strong>that</strong><br />
making provisions for religious practice and observance should be used to market<br />
the armed forces to Muslims. The report says:<br />
It was found <strong>that</strong> [religious] leaders have their own personal views on the services and can try<br />
to prevent young Asian people from joining, no one cited religious or community leaders as a<br />
good medium for recruitment. This is significant because many senior army officers in<br />
interviews often cite contact with religious and community leaders as a possible method to<br />
recruitment of minori<strong>ties</strong>. 405<br />
Conclusion – Reviving Muslim Service in the Armed Forces<br />
397 http://www.mod.uk<br />
/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/<br />
WhatWeDo/SecurityandIntelligen<br />
ce/DVA/WhatWeDoNationalSecur<br />
ityChecks.htm<br />
398 CPS decides no retrial for<br />
Daniel James – soldier faces<br />
sentence over Official Secrets<br />
breach. See: http://www.cps.<br />
gov.uk/news/press_releases/172_<br />
08/<br />
399 Ibid.<br />
400 Ibid.<br />
401 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/<br />
uk/77<strong>11</strong>341.stm<br />
402 CPS decides no retrial for Daniel<br />
James – soldier faces sentence over<br />
Official Secrets breach. See:<br />
http://www.cps.gov.uk/<br />
news/press_releases/172_08/<br />
403 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/<br />
uk/77<strong>11</strong>341.stm<br />
404 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/<br />
uk/7754981.stm<br />
405 Asifa Hussain and<br />
Mohammed Ishaq, British<br />
Pakistani Muslims’ Perceptions of<br />
the Armed Forces, Armed Forces<br />
and Society, Vol.28, No. 4,<br />
Summer 2002, p.612-13<br />
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