Prague - Czech Secret Service BIS (Bezpečnostní informační služba, or Security Information Service) has been missing key secret information for a long time now. It finally became clear this week.
But, were it not for ineptitude of their field agents, Czech public would not have learned of what has been called the scandal of the decade for even longer time to come.
It all came out unexpectedly a fortnight ago, when BIS monitored a meeting of the ex-boss of another Czech secret service, Mr Karel Randák.
Only then, Aktuálně.cz found, were the politicians informed, and, moreover, only those in the government. "I learned of it from you," says Mr Jeroným Tejc, a Social Democrat and the head of the Parliamentary Commission whose task it is to supervise the working of the BIS.
The Commission will discuss the case next week. It will, among other things, try to solve a conundrum of why BIS should keep the loss of its documents secret for so long.
Sensitive information, including top secret data such as a list of agents or details of individual secret operations, was taken from the BIS more than two years ago.
Spies spy on ex-spies. In a mall
The reconstruction of the meeting that led to the leaking of the BIS' well-guarded secret goes as follows: the meeting took place on Thursday two weeks ago in a café in Nový Smíchov shopping mall.
Mr Randák, the former boss of Czech spies, was meeting two other people; the meeting was monitored by several employees of BIS tracking department.
But those in the meeting noticed the observers and, while leaving, they made one of the tracking team members admit working for BIS.
Mr Randák then lodged an official complaint about the "rival" BIS service through his successor, the new boss of Czech secret services, Mr Schwarz.
"Following the complaint, the head of BIS, Mr Lang, informed the politicians there was an operation connected to a serious leak of sensitive information from his service," says a high government official who knows the details of the case.
The former spy boss "has nothing to hide"
Mr Karel Randák confirmed to Aktuálně.cz the presence of BIS people at his meeting. "I cannot tell whether they were following me or my partners at the meeting. On the other hand, I absolutely deny any connection with any information leak," Mr Randák said.
Mr Randák had nothing to do with BIS for many years now, although at one stage he used to work for the service. In the 1990's, before the sensitive information disappeared, he left BIS to lead the civilian intelligence service.
After Mr Topolánek's government came to power earlier this year, he left that service as well. Aktuálně.cz found out that neither of the other two participants at the meeting was employed by the BIS.
On the other hand, the person who took secret information of economic character away from BIS had to be in the service's employment as no outsider has access to it.
So far, Aktuálně.cz was unable to contact the other two people who took part at the meeting with Mr Randák.
BIS ready to tell all, behind closed doors
It is not clear yet who from among the protagonists of the Smíchov meeting was under BIS' suspicion. The secret service would not comment on the case.
BIS spokesman, Mr Jan Šubert, said: "On principle, our service does not comment on the names of people it could be interested in. Nevertheless, we can say that in this particular case the director of BIS will communicate necessary information at the Parliament Commission debate."
The commission's debate is held behind closed doors and the public has no access to it.
Moreover, the MPs have to rely on BIS director's words; they have not much power to check veracity of his statements.
If, for instance, he refuses to answer a question arguing such answer could jeopardize a live operation, there is nothing MPs can do.
