THE HAGUE, 02/10/07 - A highly placed official at the Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) has lost very secret information from the US National Security Agency (NSA). He has been sentenced behind closed doors for this, according to newspaper De Telegraaf.

As one of the leaders of the MIVD department of Interceptions, the 48 year old man from Utrecht had access to the very secret data coming from the NSA. This US security services listens into the worldwide telecom and Internet traffic of terrorists and top criminals.

The MIVD official, described as L.K., was sentenced by the district court in The Hague in a closed session to 120 hours of community service for violating official secrecy, according to the newspaper. The matter apparently concerned losing a memory stick containing information about investigations by the NSA given the stamp of top secret.

The newspaper bases its report on "intelligence sources." The defence ministry refuses all comment on the affair, which is extremely sensitive in relations with the US.

According to the indictment, the man had been careless with the information between June 2005 and January 2006. He apparently reported the loss of the USB stick to the head of the MIVD himself at the beginning of 2006. He was suspended, after which the prosecution was launched which has now led to conviction.