Rio Ferdinand photos mystery

MANCHESTER United defender Rio Ferdinand has claimed he was the victim of the US security services after his photographs of inside the White House were removed from the internet.

The 32-year-old uploaded the pictures to his Twitter page, but he was left "baffled" after they were quickly removed.

When he realised what had happened, he joked that he had been targeted by spy Jack Bauer from television series 24. The Manchester United squad visited the White House on Thursday as part of their pre-season tour of the US. As they were shown around the building, Ferdinand wrote: "Whoa....some1 has got into my phone + taken down my pics off twitter....this is deep...is Jack Bauer in Washington?!"

One of the photographs had been given the caption: "the security needs beefing up here at the White House....!!," and the England defender later tweeted: "My pic of the security was removed quick, rapido, sharpish, fast....they don't play here in DC...I feel like I'm on 24 right now baffled."

Photographs of Ferdinand in the State Dining Room and his team-mates eating cookies remained online.