US steps in as BlackBerry backlash spreads to Lebanon

Lebanon on Thursday became the latest Middle East state to voice security fears over BlackBerry smartphones, as the United States stepped in to the growing row over the popular devices.

Saudi Arabia suspended Blackberry services yesterday after the Canadian manufacturers failed to meet its demands, while the United Arab Emirates announced at the weekend that its own ban will take effect from October 11.

India is also mulling a similar move.

As the row spread, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the United States and the UAE would soon hold talks on the Gulf business hub’s halting of BlackBerry messenger, web browsing and e-mail services.

“We are taking time to consult and analyse the full range of interests and issues at stake because we know that there is a legitimate security concern,” Mrs Clinton told reporters in Washington.

But she said there was also a “legitimate right of free use and access” and added that the United States was also working with unspecified other countries on the issue.

The row centres on concerns that BlackBerry’s encrypted services – which involve data being routed through secure servers in Canada where manufacturer Research in Motion (RIM) is based – could be used by militants or criminals.

Mrs Clinton’s spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters later that Washington is “reaching out” to Saudi Arabia, India and other countries that have similar security concerns in a bid to find solutions.

Mr Crowley said US officials also planned to hold follow-on talks with RIM to determine how to balance the need for security and that for information.

In Beirut, the chairman of Lebanon’s telecommunications regulator said on Thursday it would assess concerns linked to the BlackBerry after the arrest of several telecoms employees suspected of spying for Israel.

“We need to make an arrangement with BlackBerry or come to an understanding with them that satisfies law enforcement concerns,” Imad Hoballah said, adding that it planned to start talks with RIM next week.

Mr Hoballah added that the move was not a reaction to the Saudi and UAE decisions.

Lebanon has arrested three suspects over the past month in an expanding probe into an alleged network of Israeli spies employed in its telecoms sector.

In conservative and highly security-conscious Saudi Arabia, BlackBerry users had access to services for what could be a final day – but many people welcomed the ban, saying the devices are corrupting the nation’s youth.

“My daughter collapsed once... She reads every SMS she receives and even replies to them late at night,” a woman named as Um Aisha was quoted as telling the Arab News.

The newspaper said an online survey of 331 people found 178 people opposed to the Saudi ban and 153 supporting it.

Saudi Arabia’s Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) said on Tuesday that it has ordered the kingdom’s three mobile phone providers to block BlackBerry services or face a $1.3 million fine.