London expels a Saudi diplomat at bribe claim

The British foreign office yesterday announced the expulsion of a Saudi diplomat described as an intelligence officer accused of bribing a police officer in London.

A spokesman for the British foreign office said that the diplomat was evacuated from Britain and is no longer accredited at the Saudi diplomatic mission in London.

The spokesman confirmed information by British papers said that the Saudi diplomat, Ali al-Shumrani, gave a large sum of money to a police officer in London for getting secret information from the British police concerning persons having links to the Middle East and live in Britain.

The British daily Times described the Saudi diplomat as an "intelligence officer." And added that he is accused of paying thousands of Sterling Pounds along four years for a police officer for information he had wanted.

A spokesman for Scotland Yard confirmed arresting the British police officer on July 16 in the framework of investigations relating to the case. The British daily Guardian said that officer Ghazi Ahmad Qasem ( 52 year old) was accused of exploiting his post and was released under guarantee in preparation to try him in October this year.

The British sources indicated that Ghazi Ahmad succeeded in penetrating into certain computer systems at his work headquarters to the west of London to transfer the needed information to the Saudi diplomat Ali al-Shmarani.