Undersea cables may have been sabotaged

 

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By Matthew Sparkes

Posted on 19 Feb 2008 at 11:02

The three undersea internet cables cut last month in the Middle East may have been sabotaged, claims the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

"Some experts doubt the prevailing view that the cables were cut by accident, especially as the cables lie at great depths under the sea and are not passed over by ships," Sami al-Murshed, head of development at the ITU tells the Sydney Morning Herald.

"We do not want to pre-empt the results of ongoing investigations, but we do not rule out that a deliberate act of sabotage caused the damage to the undersea cables over two weeks ago," he continues.

Three cables were cut within four days, while later reports of a further cut were quickly explained as a temporary power loss.

The damaged caused a dramatic slowdown in internet access from within the Middle East for several days, before the cables were repaired.

The ITU was unavailable for comment at the time of writing.