Source: Saudi keen to regulate BlackBerry Messenger for ‘security’

The Saudi Arabia's Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC) wants to monitor messages on BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) for ‘security' reasons, according to a source with close ties to the CITC.

The source, who wishes to remain anonymous, says the decision was taken because of security concerns that terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda were using the free messaging service available to all BlackBerry smartphone users to communicate secretly.

It was recently reported by Arab press that the CITC asked Canada-based Research in Motion to allow them to monitor messages on the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) network and threatened to shut down the service for non-compliance.

RIM is said to be investigating the situation but added in an official statement to the press that: "RIM operates in more than 170 countries around the world and respects the regulatory requirements of governments."

If the claims are true, it won't be the first time BlackBerry smartphones have been implicated as potential terrorism enablers. In 2008, Mumbai was the target of a well-planned terror attack involving several key locations in the city including the famed Taj Mahal Hotel and Oberoi Trident Hotel in a two-day siege that left nearly 180 people dead. At the time, India's Black Cat commando unit told UK-based Telegraph that once authorities cut off power in the hotels and the gunmen lost cable television feeds, they were still able to access the internet for information using their BlackBerry handsets. 

Officials at the Saudi CITC have declined to comment but the source says that a decision has been made to disable the BBM from Tuesday onwards. It's unclear at this stage whether RIM will allow the CITC to monitor the network instead of denying users access to the popular messaging service.