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MI5 recruits “telephone spies” to listen in on London 2012 plots

MI5 building on London’s Millbank (Pic: PA)

MI5 is recruiting “telephone spies” to listen in on plots against the 2012 Olympics.

The Security Service hopes to find candidates able to eavesdrop on potential terrorists by getting foreign language speakers to play an interactive “game” online.

To apply, just log on to the official MI5 website. Under “current jobs” find the Foreign Language Unit Language Analyst job section, with a starter salary of £24,750. Wannabe spooks can then tune into an audio tape of a conversation in a foreign language and are later quizzed about it.Pass the test and you go through a selection process to be a spy – although if you’ve told anyone you are applying, forget it.

You then need a secret ID log-in for further screening. Six months later you are told if you are in.

The only qualifications are an understanding of various Middle Eastern and North African Arabic dialects. Top of the wish list are people fluent in Yemeni, Algerian, Lebanese, Syrian and Kuwaiti.

A source said: “The Security Service needs people to make an application so phone interceptions can be understood fully.”

All MI5 phone tapping operations are legal, requiring a Home Office warrant.