- Secret document details American plan to bug phonesand
emails of key Security Council members
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- The United States is conducting a secret 'dirty tricks'
campaign against UN Security Council delegations in New York as part of
its battle to win votes in favour of war against Iraq.
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- Details of the aggressive surveillance operation, which
involves interception of the home and office telephones and the emails
of UN delegates in New York, are revealed in a document leaked to The Observer.
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- The disclosures were made in a memorandum written by
a top official at the National Security Agency - the US body which intercepts
communications around the world - and circulated to both senior agents
in his organisation and to a friendly foreign intelligence agency asking
for its input.
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- The memo describes orders to staff at the agency, whose
work is clouded in secrecy, to step up its surveillance operations 'particularly
directed at... UN Security Council Members (minus US and GBR, of course)'
to provide up-to-the-minute intelligence for Bush officials on the voting
intentions of UN members regarding the issue of Iraq.
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- The leaked memorandum makes clear that the target of
the heightened surveillance efforts are the delegations from Angola, Cameroon,
Chile, Mexico, Guinea and Pakistan at the UN headquarters in New York -
the so-called 'Middle Six' delegations whose votes are being fought over
by the pro-war party, led by the US and Britain, and the party arguing
for more time for UN inspections, led by France, China and Russia.
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- The memo is directed at senior NSA officials and advises
them that the agency is 'mounting a surge' aimed at gleaning information
not only on how delegations on the Security Council will vote on any second
resolution on Iraq, but also 'policies', 'negotiating positions', 'alliances'
and 'dependencies' - the 'whole gamut of information that could give US
policy makers an edge in obtaining results favourable to US goals or to
head off surprises'.
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- Dated 31 January 2003, the memo was circulated four days
after the UN's chief weapons inspector Hans Blix produced his interim report
on Iraqi compliance with UN resolution 1441.
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- It was sent by Frank Koza, chief of staff in the 'Regional
Targets' section of the NSA, which spies on countries that are viewed as
strategically important for United States interests.
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- Koza specifies that the information will be used for
the US's 'QRC' - Quick Response Capability - 'against' the key delegations.
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- Suggesting the levels of surveillance of both the office
and home phones of UN delegation members, Koza also asks regional managers
to make sure that their staff also 'pay attention to existing non-UN Security
Council Member UN-related and domestic comms [office and home telephones]
for anything useful related to Security Council deliberations'.
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- Koza also addresses himself to the foreign agency, saying:
'We'd appreciate your support in getting the word to your analysts who
might have similar more indirect access to valuable information from accesses
in your product lines [ie, intelligence sources].' Koza makes clear it
is an informal request at this juncture, but adds: 'I suspect that you'll
be hearing more along these lines in formal channels.'
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- Disclosure of the US operation comes in the week that
Blix will make what many expect to be his final report to the Security
Council.
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- It also comes amid increasingly threatening noises from
the US towards undecided countries on the Security Council who have been
warned of the unpleasant economic consequences of standing up to the US.
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- Sources in Washington familiar with the operation said
last week that there had been a division among Bush administration officials
over whether to pursue such a high-intensity surveillance campaign with
some warning of the serious consequences of discovery.
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- The existence of the surveillance operation, understood
to have been requested by President Bush's National Security Adviser, Condoleezza
Rice, is deeply embarrassing to the Americans in the middle of their efforts
to win over the undecided delegations.
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- The language and content of the memo were judged to be
authentic by three former intelligence operatives shown it by The Observer.
We were also able to establish that Frank Koza does work for the NSA and
could confirm his senior post in the Regional Targets section of the organisation.
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- The NSA main switchboard put The Observer through to
extension 6727 at the agency which was answered by an assistant, who confirmed
it was Koza's office. However, when The Observer asked to talk to Koza
about the surveillance of diplomatic missions at the United Nations, it
was then told 'You have reached the wrong number'.
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- On protesting that the assistant had just said this was
Koza's extension, the assistant repeated that it was an erroneous extension,
and hung up.
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- While many diplomats at the UN assume they are being
bugged, the memo reveals for the first time the scope and scale of US communications
intercepts targeted against the New York-based missions.
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- The disclosure comes at a time when diplomats from the
countries have been complaining about the outright 'hostility' of US tactics
in recent days to persuade then to fall in line, including threats to economic
and aid packages.
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- The operation appears to have been spotted by rival organisations
in Europe. 'The Americans are being very purposeful about this,' said a
source at a European intelligence agency when asked about the US surveillance
efforts.
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- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2003
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