British "bugging" Kofi Annan?

[Tuor of Gondolin]

Just heard an odd report on PBS radio. A former Labour cabinet member said T. Blair's Government was spying on U.N. Secretary General- apparently related to the American-British invasion of Iraq, and Blair's response seemed to essentially confirm the charge.
To coin a phrase: "It's worse then a crime, it's a mistake."
What possible gain could there be to make up for the obvious downside if Blair's government was caught doing this? Do they think the Secretary General was scheming against the invasion or had some sort of secret information about Iraq defenses? It seems quite odd.

[jerseydevil]

Originally posted by Tuor of Gondolin
What possible gain could there be to make up for the obvious downside if Blair's government was caught doing this? Do they think the Secretary General was scheming against the invasion or had some sort of secret information about Iraq defenses? It seems quite odd.

It doesn't really seem quite odd - since spying in the UN is nothing new at all.

[Sween]

lol i wouldnt be surprised if we have. Infact i think we did. I cannot wait to see how tony trys to wessles out of this

[BeardofPants]

SWEEN! Good to see you back! *runs off with his pants*

[Sween]

Originally posted by BeardofPants
SWEEN! Good to see you back! *runs off with his pants*

Im not back the child has just gone to sleep for a change

[Earniel]

Is this tied with the recording material that was found a few months ago in one of the UN-buildings in Brussels?

[jerseydevil]

Originally posted by Eärniel
Is this tied with the recording material that was found a few months ago in one of the UN-buildings in Brussels?

Not that I know of - this is dealing with NY and the bugging that went on before the war. This accusation isn't anything knew - it came out a year ago.

[Grey_Wolf]

'What's bugging you, Kofi?'

[jerseydevil]

Originally posted by Grey_Wolf
'What's bugging you, Kofi?'

i was just thinking the same thing. I think it's the fact that he is in charge of a glorified debating society with no real power.

[GrayMouser]

Which is of course why Bush & Co. had to go running to beg him to intercede with the Grand Ayatollah Sistani to get their butts out of a sling.

[jerseydevil]

Originally posted by GrayMouser
Which is of course why Bush & Co. had to go running to beg him to intercede with the Grand Ayatollah Sistani to get their butts out of a sling.

They have their use - just no use in keeping world peace or anything. And "Bush & co" butts weren't in a sling - it was just that the Ayatollah and other Iraqis wanted a "world" opinion on whether popular elections were possible by June 30th. The UN went in - looked and got out.

[The Gaffer]

Hooray! A slagging match.

Good to see you back, Sween.

The background to this is hilarious. (Well, it would be if it hadn't started a war, but hey)

It came out of a court case where this woman had been sacked from GCHQ (Government spy centre). She had leaked a story that the US had requested the British help them to bug various UN targets to stop Chile and a few other countries from formulating a peace plan immediately prior to the Iraq war. They also wanted to spread disinformation about France's voting intentions in the Security Council.

Now, in Britain we have a charming piece of legislation called the Official Secrets Act, which all Government employees have to sign. Thatcher brought this in after the gaff was blown on her sinking the Belgrano.

Anyway, this law states that you cannot use "the national interest" as a defence against accusations of leaking classified information. So, if you discovered that the government had set up death camps for single mothers, you'd still get done for telling.

So, this woman at GCHQ examines her conscience and, deciding that she is being asked to perform illegal acts, she may as well break the law anyway and tell the story. She gets sacked and prosecuted.

However, the day her trial was due to start, the prosecution drops the case. The story is that the court would have to examine whether she actually was being asked to do illegal acts, which would throw the spotlight onto the legality of the government's behaviour, including the advice from the Attorney General that the war was legal in the first place (and many people here believe that it was not).

So, Claire Short, the Overseas Development Minister who resigned after the Iraq war, goes on the Today programme and is asked whether there was any bugging of the Secretary General or other UN delegations. She says "well, I saw them, I read the reports" meaning that she got to see the intelligence that they derived from the bugging. John Humphries was gobsmacked.

File under "Suspicions Confirmed"

[Janny]

All those surprised by the notion that MI5 was, god forbid, bugging people, say aye.
*silence*
I mean really, isn't that the point of secret services... forging passports, bugging people, generally breaking international law. And hey, doesn't it kinda prove the UN is relavent... at least more than the League.
Who's bugging people? Must be Claire Short.

[Dwarven Sen]

i can't believe just how much bureacratic nonsense the intelligence services has to put up with. What is the point of trying to serve your country if you have to hide what you're doing from people in power inthe country?

That woman just bugs me. She's going to lose her job now because she told secrets concerning intelligence which is a serious breach in security. So what did she achieve? Telling the world that the secret service is spying?!?!?!?!?! Gosh, shock, horror!!!

[sun-star]

And with that, another potential problem for Blair fades into nothingness - Teflon Tony indeed.

I agree with Dwarven Sen and Janny though, this is hardly scandal of the century.