Mexican official fired after report of missing BlackBerrys at U.S. summit

By Mark Stevenson
ASSOCIATED PRESS
9:24 a.m. April 25, 2008

MEXICO CITY – A press aide at the president's office has been dismissed following allegations that he took BlackBerrys belonging to U.S. officials at a summit in New Orleans, an official said Friday.

Rafael Quintero Curiel acknowledged picking up the telephone and e-mail devices at the New Orleans summit involving the leaders of Mexico, the United States and Canada this week, but said he thought they had been left behind and planned to return them.

The phones were recovered, according to White House Press Secretary Dana Marie Perino, who said she did not know if they contained sensitive information.

A Mexican government spokeswoman said Quintero Curiel had been dismissed from his year-old job coordinating logistics for reporters covering President Felipe Calderón's international trips. She spoke on condition of anonymity because she is not authorized to talk to the media about the case.