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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

British spy chief defends MI6’s need for secrecy

Sawers gives first public speech since taking command of agency

 Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service chief John Sawers addresses a gathering of academics, officials and editors Thursday. Within the MI6 spy agency, Sawers is known officially as “C.” (Associated Press)
Henry Chu Los Angeles Times

LONDON – Britain’s top spy came in from the cold of a crisp autumn morning Thursday to condemn torture, warn of nuclear proliferation and defend the shadowy world of covert intelligence-gathering as crucial to keeping the country “safe and secure.”

John Sawers, the chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, made the comments in an unprecedented public speech in which he tackled allegations of British complicity in the abuse of terror suspects and pleaded with his compatriots to understand that, despite an ever-increasing trend toward official transparency, “secrecy is not a dirty word.”

Sawers said his agency, also known as MI6, helped keep Britain safe through a network of dedicated but unsung agents, some posted in far-off and dangerous lands, who provided the government with important information.

“We get inside terrorist organizations to see where the next threats are coming from,” he said. “What we do is not seen.”

Sawers said integrity remained the intelligence service’s most prized value, and he insisted that his agents were committed to “basic decency and moral principles” in spite of accusations that Britain has turned a blind eye to abusive practices by other countries’ spies and accepted intelligence from them.

“Torture is illegal and abhorrent under any circumstances, and we have nothing whatsoever to do with it,” Sawers declared.

But he acknowledged that his work often presented difficult ethical conundrums. What if, for example, Britain came upon credible evidence of a terrorist plot in another country but knew that turning over such information to the country involved could result in suspects being mistreated?

“These are not abstract questions for philosophy courses or searching editorials. They are real, constant, operational dilemmas,” he said. “Sometimes there is no clear way forward.”

The need to stay in the shadows is at odds with growing demands for governments to do their business in the open. The pressure for full public disclosure has been epitomized in recent months by the leak of thousands of secret military documents on U.S. military activities in Iraq and Afghanistan, documents that have been posted on the Internet.

But to be effective, Sawers said, “secret organizations need to stay secret, even if we present an occasional public face, as I am doing today.”

Sawers, 55, took command of MI6 last year after a distinguished career as a diplomat, including stints as Britain’s ambassador to the United Nations and as a special representative in Iraq. Within the agency, he is officially known as “C,” just as his fictional counterpart in the James Bond thrillers goes by “M.”