Danish intelligence services on Tuesday said they have launched a full-blown advertising campaign to recruit spies capable of digging up information on international terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.
Accused at home of relying too heavily on intelligence from foreign services on the situation in Iraq, where Denmark has deployed 500 troops, the Scandinavian country is looking for ways to expand its own ability to gather sensitive information, the Danish Defence Intelligence Service (DDIS) said.
Without clearly stating that it is on the look-out for potential spies, the DDIS ads posted in papers across Denmark last weekend revealed that the agency is keen to find people with “extraordinary talents”, who are willing to work under “risky conditions” and who preferably speak Arabic, Farsi or Pashto.
Candidates, who do not need to have a military background, should also be able to “write and speak English at a high level” and “it would be an advantage if they have knowledge of the cultures in the Middle East, North Africa and/or Central Asia”.
DDIS spokesperson Ole Toft said his agency has received a 45-million-kroner (R48,6-million) budget for the project, and according to the wanted ads, qualified applicants stand to make 280 000 kroner (R306 000) a year, plus bonuses.
The Danish spy search comes a year after a DDIS agent, who has since left the agency, publicly criticised it for relying too heavily on information from foreign intelligence services and for even getting some of its information off the internet.
Danish Defence Minister Soeren Gade told the Politiken paper on Tuesday that he is pleased that the “DDIS is attempting to expand its recruitment base”. — AFP