President's security files found in street

An investigation is under way today after confidential security files for a high-risk presidential visit were found in a London street.

The files give details of every aspect of protection for Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf - including secret police radio channels, call signs and codes.

Security experts called the documents a potential "death warrant" for the president, the world's number three assassination target after George Bush and Tony Blair.

They were found abandoned in Curzon Street, Mayfair, just hours before General Musharraf touched down at Heathrow for a meeting with Mr Blair yesterday. A delivery driver noticed an A3-sized brown envelope outside Marco Pierre White's Mirabelle restaurant and opened it to find the dossier.

The files, signed by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens, include a 17-page document on the president's visit.

According to the Daily Mirror, they detail security at the London hotel where General Musharraf and his entourage are staying. They are also said to contain maps of his movements, access details for police radio channels and the call signs of 10 senior officers.

Terror expert and former deputy chief constable John Stalker said: "It's dynamite. If terrorists had got hold of this it would have been a death warrant not only for Musharraf but for the British hosting him."

A Met Police spokesman denied "personal protection arrangements" for General Musharraf had been compromised.

But he confirmed that " documents" had been handed in, and that the police operation for the president's visit had been reviewed.