| Last Updated: Thursday, 26 February, 2004, 09:29 GMT |
|
UK spies 'bugged UN's Kofi Annan' | |||||
The ex-international development secretary said she had read some of the transcripts of his conversations. Ms Short said she recalled thinking, as she talked to Mr Annan: "Oh dear, there will be a transcript of this and people will see what he and I are saying." Downing Street has refused to comment on the claims made in a BBC interview.
Spies there 'for some time' Her comments came the day after the dramatic collapse of the trial of GCHQ whistle blower Katharine Gun. She had been accused of leaking a secret e-mail from US spies apparently requesting British help in bugging UN delegates head of the Iraq invasion.
During an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme Ms Short said British spies were involved in bugging Mr Annan's office in the run up to war with Iraq. "The UK in this time was also getting spies on Kofi Annan's office and getting reports from him about what was going on," she said. "These things are done and in the case of Kofi's office, it was being done for some time." Legal question Asked if Britain was involved in this, she replied; "Well I know - I've seen transcripts of Kofi Annan's conversations.
"In fact, I have had conversations with Kofi in the run up to the war thinking 'oh dear, there will be a transcript of this and people will see what he and I are saying'."
Asked to confirm if British spies were instructed to carry out operations within the UN on people like Mr Annan, she said: "Yes, absolutely." Quizzed about whether she knew about this when she was in government, Ms Short responded: "Absolutely. I read some of the transcripts of the accounts of his conversations." Pressed about whether this was legal, she said: "I don't know. I presume so. It is odd but I don't know about the legalities." Pressure BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said that many UN officials always worked on the basis that they were being bugged. But, he added, "that is not to say that it is acceptable if they are not suspected of terrorism or other crimes". Tory shadow foreign secretary Michael Ancram was cautious about reacting to Ms Short's remarks, saying: "I think she should be asked why she's saying this now. I don't know what the truth of this is." Earlier, Ms Short said enormous pressure was being brought to bear on countries that were not supportive of the Iraq war. She said Baroness Amos, who was a spokeswoman on international development, had gone round Africa, with people from the British intelligence services "trying to press them". Political motivation? "I had to make sure that we didn't promise them misuse of aid in a way that would be illegal," said Ms Short, who was Baroness Amos's boss at the time. "There was worry about her brief to make sure there was no such suggestion because it would have been a breach of the law. "We were worried that that was going to be done and went to some trouble to make sure her briefing made it clear that that could not legally be done." The prime minister's monthly media briefing on Thursday is expected to be dominated by Ms Short's revelations and the dropping of the case against the ex-intelligence officer Katharine Gun. The government has denied claims the move to drop the case was politically motivated. There has been speculation ministers were worried about the disclosure of secret documents during the trial, particularly the advice from Attorney General Lord Goldsmith about the legality of war. | |||||
Do you Yahoo!?
Get better spam protection with Yahoo! Mail
