<story><title>Iceland Kicked Out FBI Agents Who Flew in Unannounced to Investigate WikiLeaks</title><url>http://clevelandleader.com/node/20013</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>andrewcooke</author><text>is this because it&apos;s illegal to work without a permit [edit: no, not needed for 90 days for americans]?  or is it just detectives that cannot work there?  or is it that they claimed to be local policemen?&lt;p&gt;if i were a market analyst who flew to iceland (private plane or not - what has that got to do with it?) to study local opinions on some new product, say, would that get a similar reaction?  would it be ok as long as i didn&apos;t ask to speak to govt officials?&lt;p&gt;is there some kind of international convention / agreement that says that policemen don&apos;t work abroad?  is it that the request for cooperation was at too low a level?  [edit: ok, i added this just as it was suggested in a reply; thanks]&lt;p&gt;i&apos;m having a hard time understanding what the problem was here from the article, which seems to assume that something was obviously wrong.&lt;p&gt;[oh noes - someone asking questions!  better downvote!  sigh...]</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Xylakant</author><text>In general it&apos;s a problem in pretty much every country when official investigators fly in and start investigating without prior notice. The US administration would do the same if the german police sent an investigation team over to collect evidence in a german case. The official procedure is to request help or permission from the local government and only send investigators if granted. Such requests get denied in some cases, for example if the alleged crime is not a crime in the country that you&apos;re trying to investigate in.</text></comment>
<story><title>Iceland Kicked Out FBI Agents Who Flew in Unannounced to Investigate WikiLeaks</title><url>http://clevelandleader.com/node/20013</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>andrewcooke</author><text>is this because it&apos;s illegal to work without a permit [edit: no, not needed for 90 days for americans]?  or is it just detectives that cannot work there?  or is it that they claimed to be local policemen?&lt;p&gt;if i were a market analyst who flew to iceland (private plane or not - what has that got to do with it?) to study local opinions on some new product, say, would that get a similar reaction?  would it be ok as long as i didn&apos;t ask to speak to govt officials?&lt;p&gt;is there some kind of international convention / agreement that says that policemen don&apos;t work abroad?  is it that the request for cooperation was at too low a level?  [edit: ok, i added this just as it was suggested in a reply; thanks]&lt;p&gt;i&apos;m having a hard time understanding what the problem was here from the article, which seems to assume that something was obviously wrong.&lt;p&gt;[oh noes - someone asking questions!  better downvote!  sigh...]</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Nursie</author><text>The problem is that the FBI sent law enforcement officers into another, sovereign country without prior permission.&lt;p&gt;This could have turned into a major diplomatic incident, it is not something you do no matter how upset you are about people leaking your stuff over the internet. Basic common courtesy - you ask first.</text></comment>