British Telecom's Connection to U.S. Drone Strikes Threatens Business Relations

Nobody wants to be associated with the incidents

Six of Britain's largest financial services firms are examining their involvement with BT after accusations that it inadvertently aided American drone strikes in Yemen and Somalia.

The move is centred on BT's alleged involvement in a $23m (£15m) deal to supply communications cables linking a British military base, where US intelligence is based, to a US drone command centre in the Horn of Africa.

Yesterday Standard Life, BlackRock, ING and Lloyds said they intended to examine their relationship with BT in the wake of a legal complaint filed against the company. Under the deal, BT is believed to have supplied communication infrastructure connecting RAF Croughton, a US military intelligence base in Northamptonshire, with Camp Lemonnier, a command centre in Djibouti used by the US to operate drones in Yemen and Somalia.