An Australian women's magazine New Idea has said it had not knowingly broken an embargo on news of Britain's Prince Harry serving in Afghanistan but was simply unaware of a media blackout.
News that the third-in-line to the British throne is in the frontline fight against Taliban guerrillas in southern Helmand province has gone around the world after it was confirmed by the British Ministry of Defence (MoD).
Little notice was taken of the Jan. 7 report in Australia, but the US-based Drudge Report Web site picked up the story at the end of last month and broadcast it on the Internet, prompting the British press to follow suit.
PHOTO: AFP
The Drudge Report said that New Idea and the German tabloid Bild were the first to break a world embargo.
New Idea, which gives extensive coverage to the British royal family along with celebrity gossip, recipes and lifestyle stories, refused to reveal how it had come by the story.
But the magazine said it had not intended to break a press agreement to keep Prince Harry's Afghan service a secret.
'New Idea was not issued with a press embargo and was unaware of the existence of one,' it said in a statement. 'New Idea has received no comment from the British MoD. We take these matters very seriously and would never knowingly break an embargo. We regret any issues the revelation of this story in America has caused today.'
Britain's MoD had kept the young royal's deployment secret under a news blackout agreed by British media to prevent details reaching insurgents and endangering the prince and his comrades.
In 2007, British military officials decided Prince Harry would not be able to serve in Iraq because threats against his life would put his men in danger. (AFP)
澳洲女性雜誌《新觀念》聲稱，他們並不是故意打破禁令洩露英國哈利王子在阿富汗服役的消息，他們根本不知道該新聞有管制協議。
經英國國防部證實後，排名第三順位的王位繼承人哈利王子，在阿富汗南部海德曼省前線與塔利班游擊隊作戰的消息立刻傳遍全世界。
這則報導一月七日出現在澳洲雜誌時並未引起廣泛注意，但美國網站「卓奇報導」上個月底選用了這則新聞刊登在網路上後，英國媒體立刻跟進報導。
「卓奇報導」網站表示，《新觀念》雜誌和德國小報《德國畫報》是首先打破世界禁令刊登此新聞的媒體。
大量報導英國皇室、名流八卦、食譜和生活風格訊息的《新觀念》雜誌，拒絕透露他們是如何得到這個消息的。
但該雜誌表示，他們並非故意打破媒體對哈利王子駐阿富汗服役保密的協議。
他們在聲明中提到：「《新觀念》雜誌並未接獲任何媒體禁令，而且壓根不知道有這樣一項禁令。《新觀念》雜誌並沒有接到英國國防部對此事的意見。我們十分認真看待這類規定，決不會蓄意打破規範。我們對這消息在美國披露後所引發的問題深感遺憾。」
英國國防部對這位年輕皇室部署的地點相當保密，還和英國媒體訂定保密協議，以防敵軍知情後，會危害王子和其同袍的安全。
英國軍方去年決定不讓哈利王子前往伊拉克服役，因為他的生命受到威脅的話，會連帶置其戰友於危險之中。
（法新社�翻譯：袁星塵）
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