Pajhwok: Iranian said involved in phone-tapping, fraud in Herat

Text of report in English by Afghan independent Pajhwok news agency website

Herat, 29 September: Security officials in the western Herat Province say they have dismantled a centre allegedly involved in phone-tapping.

An intelligence official, requesting anonymity, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the owner of the centre, Ali Kalanki, an Iranian citizen, had escaped while his two Afghan colleagues, Rafi and Mahmud, had been detained.

They were allegedly involved in recording mobile phone telephone conversations using the mobile service of the private telecommunications company Areeba, the official said.

He said three computers, one walkie-talkie, a powerful antenna and 1,500 SIM cards had also been recovered from the centre. Besides spying, the centre was also causing huge losses to the Ministry of Communications, the source said.

Toryalai Zhwandoon, technical branch chief of the communications department in Herat, said they did not have a device to detect the problem.

Representative of the Areeba mobile company in Herat, Sultan Mohammad Shaheer, said the Iranian national and his two colleagues used to purchase around 1,000 credit cards daily.

Apparently, they were selling the credit cards on the market. However, they were involved in illegal activity behind the scenes, the official said.

[Description of Source: Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Pajhwok Afghan News, established in April 2004, provides daily news and features in Pashto, Dari, English and Urdu. Self-described as "independent," it often reports on security matters and the Taliban activities. It claims to be staffed, managed, and led entirely by Afghans. According to the site, it receives financial support from USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). OSC IAP20070929950044 Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News (Internet Version-WWW) in English 1237 GMT 29 Sep 07]