More confidential government files were found on a train earlier this week, it has been revealed.

The Independent on Sunday says it was handed the documents, which cover fighting global terrorist funding, drugs trafficking and money laundering.

The files, about a meeting of financial crime experts, were found on the same day as a batch of top secret papers about al-Qaeda were handed to the BBC.

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The documents apparently include briefing notes for a meeting of the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to be held in 11 Downing Street next week.

The papers were found on train bound for London Waterloo on 11 June, the same day that another batch of papers relating to intelligence assessments of Iraq and al-Qaeda were handed to the BBC after being left by a senior official on a train.

BBC political correspondent Laura Kuenssberg said it was uncertain whether the latest documents were also top secret.

The documents seen by the BBC should not have left Whitehall but it is not yet clear whether the latest files were permitted to have been taken out, our correspondent added.

"Some of the information is already on the public domain, but another lapse is deeply embarrassing for the government," she said.

A Treasury spokesman said: "We are extremely concerned about what has happened and we will be taking steps to ensure that it doesn't happen in the future."

Documents returned

The confidential files were said to include details of how trade and banking systems could be manipulated to finance illicit weapons of mass destruction in Iran.

They also discussed methods of terrorist funding and the potential fraud of commercial websites and international internet payment systems.

The Independent on Sunday said it had returned the documents and would not be divulging any details contained in them.

Two inquires - one by the Cabinet Office, the other by the Metropolitan Police - have been launched into what is the latest in a series of blunders involving sensitive official information.

Scotland Yard said it was not involved in investigating the latest case.

The FATF conference is due to begin on Monday at the QE2 Conference Centre in Westminster, opposite the Houses of Parliament.

The FATF was established by the 1989 G7 summit in Paris to spearhead efforts to counter the use of the international financial system by criminals.

It has since expanded to 34 members.

(BBC)

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