'MI6 terror photographs' found on £17 camera bought on eBay

Terror details: Some of the material on the camera is said to relate to al Qaeda officer Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi, who was captured in 2007

Police are investigating the eBay auction of a digital camera said to have contained MI6 images of terror suspects.

Suspects' faces, names and fingerprints, as well as snaps of rocket launchers and missiles, were discovered by an online bidder who bought the camera for £17, it was reported.

The 28-year-old only found the images when he downloaded his own recent holiday snaps from the Nikon CoolPix.

He told police and was shocked when Special Branch officers arrived at his home in Hemel Hempstead, Herts, days later to seize the camera.

Officers are said to have made five visits to his home in the last week to quiz him and his family.

The Foreign Office said today: 'We can confirm a police investigation is under way.'

But a spokeswoman refused to comment on claims that the camera was sold by an MI6 agent.

Among the images which are reported to have been found on the camera is a 'top secret' document giving details of the encrypted computer system used by MI6's agents in the field.

The Sun reports that some of the material relates to 46-year-old Abdul al-Hadi al-Iraqi, a high-ranking al Qaeda officer captured by the CIA in 2007.

A friend of the unnamed buyer told newspaper: 'He flew home early this month and downloaded his holiday pictures and saw some of rocket launchers and missiles.

'He knew he hadn't taken them so he asked his friends about it and they suggested going to the police.'

Online bargain: A Nikon Coolpix camera like the one found with MI6 material stored on it

Neil Doyle, author of Terror Base UK, told the Sun the documents related to an operation against al Qaeda in Iraq, adding: 'It's jaw-dropping that they got into the public domain.

'Not only do they divulge secrets about operations, operating systems and previously unheard-of MI6 departments, but they could put lives at risk.'

The report follows claims yesterday that a Cabinet Office employee is to be charged under the Official Secrets Act after sensitive documents were left on a train in a separate incident.

The papers were taken out of Whitehall and left in an envelope on a Surrey-bound train from London Waterloo on June 10, according to BBC News.

A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said all evidence had been reviewed and a decision passed back to police. A Metropolitan Police spokesman refused to discuss the matter.