London: In a bid to win votes in favour of Iraq war, the US is waging a secret "dirty
tricks" campaign targeting UN Security Council delegations, including from Pakistan,
in surveillance operation, which involves interception of phones and e-mails of the
delegates, a media report said.
The British weekly 'Observer' claimed on March 2 that it had obtained a document
providing details of the surveillance operation on UN delegates in New York.
The disclosures were made in a memorandum written by a top official at the National
Security Agency (NSA), the US body which intercepts communications around the world,
and circulated to senior agents in his organisation and to a friendly foreign
intelligence agency, the weekly said.
The memo describes orders to staff at the agency to step up surveillance
"particularly directed at UN Security Council members" to provide up-to-the-minute
intelligence on the voting intentions of UN members regarding the issue of Iraq, it
said.
The leaked memorandum, dated January 31, 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 weekly
said.
'The Observer' said the memo was 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 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 policymakers an edge in obtaining results
favourable to US goals."
PTI
