This has to be one of the weirdest things I've read this week.
British blamed for Basra badgers.
British forces have denied rumours that they released a plague of ferocious badgers into the Iraqi city of Basra.
Word spread among the populace that UK troops had introduced strange man-eating, bear-like beasts into the area to sow panic.
But several of the creatures, caught and killed by local farmers, have been identified by experts as honey badgers.
The rumours spread because the animals had appeared near the British base at Basra airport.
UK military spokesman Major Mike Shearer said: "We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area.
"We have been told these are indigenous nocturnal carnivores that don't attack humans unless cornered."
The director of Basra's veterinary hospital, Mushtaq Abdul-Mahdi, has inspected several of the animals' corpses.
He told the AFP news agency: "These appeared before the fall of the regime in 1986. They are known locally as Al-Girta.
"Talk that this animal was brought by the British forces is incorrect and unscientific."
Dr Ghazi Yaqub Azzam, deputy dean of Basra's veterinary college, speculated that the badgers were being driven towards the city because of flooding in marshland north of Basra.
But the assurances did little to convince some members of the public.
One housewife, Suad Hassan, 30, claimed she had been attacked by one of the badgers as she slept.
"My husband hurried to shoot it but it was as swift as a deer," she said. "It is the size of a dog but his head is like a monkey," she told AFP.
"You've all been selected for this mission because you each have a special skill. Professor Hawking, John Leslie, Phil Neville, the Wu-Tang Clan, Usher, the Sugar Puffs Monster and Daniel Day-Lewis! Welcome to Operation MindFuck!"
Police in Iran are reported to have taken 14 squirrels into custody - because they are suspected of spying.
The rodents were found near the Iranian border allegedly equipped with eavesdropping devices.
The reports have come from the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
When asked about the confiscation of the spy squirrels, the national police chief said: "I have heard about it, but I do not have precise information."
The IRNA said that the squirrels were kitted out by foreign intelligence services - but they were captured two weeks ago by police officers.
A Foreign Office source told Sky News: "The story is nuts."
But if true, this would not be the first time animals have been used to spy.
During World War II the Allied Forces used pigeons to fly vital intelligence out of occupied France.
More recently, US marines stationed in Kuwait have used chickens as a low-tech chemical detection system.
And it is well documented that dolphins have been used to seek out underwater mines.
It is even claimed that M15 once planned to recruit a team of specially-trained gerbils as a secret weapon to sniff out spies.
This is passing beyond the realm of reality, I'd expect to see something like this on Monty Python.
"You've all been selected for this mission because you each have a special skill. Professor Hawking, John Leslie, Phil Neville, the Wu-Tang Clan, Usher, the Sugar Puffs Monster and Daniel Day-Lewis! Welcome to Operation MindFuck!"
Police in Iran are reported to have taken 14 squirrels into custody - because they are suspected of spying.
The rodents were found near the Iranian border allegedly equipped with eavesdropping devices.
The reports have come from the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
When asked about the confiscation of the spy squirrels, the national police chief said: "I have heard about it, but I do not have precise information."
The IRNA said that the squirrels were kitted out by foreign intelligence services - but they were captured two weeks ago by police officers.
A Foreign Office source told Sky News: "The story is nuts."
But if true, this would not be the first time animals have been used to spy.
During World War II the Allied Forces used pigeons to fly vital intelligence out of occupied France.
More recently, US marines stationed in Kuwait have used chickens as a low-tech chemical detection system.
And it is well documented that dolphins have been used to seek out underwater mines.
It is even claimed that M15 once planned to recruit a team of specially-trained gerbils as a secret weapon to sniff out spies.
My favorite was the (aborted) US effort to strap incendiary devices on bats and release them over Japan in WWII. I gather that no one asked the bats what they thought about that!
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
I once heard about the USSR in WW2 training dogs to run under tanks with mines strapped to them. Then because they were trained under Russian tanks, guess who they started running at!
Poor doggies.
"You've all been selected for this mission because you each have a special skill. Professor Hawking, John Leslie, Phil Neville, the Wu-Tang Clan, Usher, the Sugar Puffs Monster and Daniel Day-Lewis! Welcome to Operation MindFuck!"
