[Peace-discuss] un

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

and the intrique continues......... it is obvious that that entire run up to 
the war over a period of 8 years was full of lies and deceit.


UK 'spied on UN's Kofi Annan' 
British spies listened in to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's office in the 
run up to the Iraq war, former UK cabinet minister Clare Short says. 
Ms Short said she had read transcripts of some of Mr Annan's conversations. 

She 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." 

Tony Blair said the claims were "deeply irresponsible" and appeared to cast 
doubt on her future as a Labour MP. 


Short's future? 

UN officials said they did not know whether the allegations were true or not, 
but say such actions would have been illegal. 

The secretary general's spokesman, Fred Eckhardt, said Mr Annan had nothing 
to hide and that anyone who wanted to know his opinion on an issue just had to 
ask him to his face. 

At his monthly news conference the prime minister was repeatedly asked about 
Ms Short's comments. 


Mr Blair said: "I'm not going to comment on the work of our security services 
- do not take that as an indication that the allegations made by Clare Short 
are true. 
"I really do regard what Clare Short has said this morning as totally 
irresponsible, and entirely consistent." 

Asked whether she should be prosecuted or face Labour Party discipline Mr 
Blair said he would "have to reflect upon" her comments, adding: "There will 
obviously be issues that arise... I am not in a position to answer them at the 
moment." 

He insisted the UK security services acted in accordance with domestic and 
international law and in the best interests of this country, but the UN said any 
British spying on Mr Annan would be illegal. 

'Dangerous situation' 

Ms Short's 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 ahead of the Iraq invasion. 


The UK in this time was also getting spies on Kofi Annan's office and getting 
reports from him about what was going on 
Clare Short 
Listen to the full Today programme interview 
The government says it will review whether changes are needed to the Official 
Secrets Act in the wake of the case. 

But it 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. 

Lord Goldsmith said in a statement to the House of Lords: "It was a decision 
on solely legal grounds ... and free from any political interference." 

Spies there 'for some time' 

He said that although they believed they could prove the Official Secrets Act 
had been breached, they had concluded they could not disprove Mrs Gun's 
defence "of necessity" - believed to refer to her case that she felt a duty to do 
something to save lives in an unlawful war. 


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 
Clare Short 
Ex-Cabinet minister 

However, Mr Blair said it would be a "very dangerous situation" if people 
thought they could just "spill out allegations, whether false or true ... and get 
away with it". 

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. 


Asked to confirm if British spies were instructed to carry out operations 
within the UN on people like Mr Annan, she said: "Yes, absolutely." 


HAVE YOUR SAY 
This sort of grubbing around only serves to undermine the case for going to 
war and our nation's already shredded reputation 
Roger, Wrexham, UK 

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". 


Conservative leader Michael Howard said the situation was "a complete mess". 

"It's about time the prime minister got a grip on it and sorted it out," he 
said. 

Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy said it was not good enough for Mr 
Blair to say he could not comment on the security services - especially after 
publishing intelligence in his Iraq dossiers. 

"Tony Blair must now come clean about this central accusation," he said. 


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3488548.stm

Published: 2004/02/26 16:49:00 GMT