U.S Will Hold Talks With Countries, Canadian Firm On Blackberry Issue

August 06, 2010 16:53 PM

U.S Will Hold Talks With Countries, Canadian Firm On Blackberry Issue

WASHINGTON, Aug 6 (Bernama) -- The United States has initiated talks with countries like India, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, as well as the Canada-based firm RIM that owns BlackBerry, to address the "legitimate" security concerns of these nations, Press Trust of India said Friday.

"We are reaching out to those countries -- the UAE, Saudi Arabia, India and others -- to understand the security concerns and see if we can work collaboratively to find solutions.

"So that's a process, which is ongoing here," State Department spokesman P J Crowley told reporters at his daily news conference.

The United States has also been in touch with RIM, the Canadian company that operates the BlackBerry network worldwide.

"We're going to have follow-on meetings with RIM to try to understand fully the issues that have been raised to the company and see if we can determine how to meet both the security needs that these countries are expressing and also ensure the free flow of information as we are advocating," Crowley said.

Earlier in the day, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: "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.

"But there's also a legitimate right of free use and access. So, I think we will be pursuing both technical and expert discussions as we go forward."

If some of these countries follow through on the BlackBerry ban that they have announced, it would have an impact on the U.S. government and its diplomats operating in different countries.

"So, we are directly affected by what has been suggested. But obviously, we know that both American businessmen, American citizens travelling abroad, the citizens of other countries would be affected as well," Crowley said.

At this point, the U.S. is gaining information and perspective on the issues concern as such technologies, security and regulatory before suggesting solutions, he said.

-- BERNAMA


Bbugmy Admin