Belgium seeks answers from Britain over telecom spying

BRUSSELS, Oct (KOSDAQ: 039200.KQ - news) 4 (Reuters) - Belgium has asked Britain to respond to allegations that its intelligence service hacked into the IT network of Belgian telecoms provider Belgacom (Other OTC: BGAOF - news) .

Federal prosecutors said in September they were investigating suspected foreign state espionage against Belgacom, the dominant telecoms provider in Belgium and also a top carrier of voice traffic in Africa and the Middle East.

German magazine Der Spiegel reported later that the British electronic surveillance agency GCHQ had placed a virus in Belgacom's network.

"Following the article in Der Spiegel the government asked Belgian intelligence services to ask their British colleagues for more information," a source close to the government said.

A GCHQ spokeswoman said: "We are not making any comment."

Belgacom said at a hearing before the European Parliament on Thursday evening that it had removed the virus from its systems and that an investigation into who was responsible was ongoing.

A representative of GCHQ was scheduled to speak at the same hearing but did not appear.