United Nations: The UN considers any spying, eavesdropping and tapping of telephones at the world body "illegal" under international conventions and would be "disappointed" if the claims that Britain spied on Secretary General Kofi Annan are true, its spokesman said today (Feb 27, 2004).

Commenting on reports that British intelligence tapped Annan's telephones leading up to the US led war against Iraq, Chief UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said that the world body would be "disappointed" if this were true.

"We would be disappointed if this were true. Such activities would undermine the integrity and confidential nature of diplomatic exchanges. Those who speak to the Secretary General are entitled to assume that their exchanges are confidential. It is indeed considered illegal," he said.

The Secretary General would want this practice to stop if indeed it exists, Eckhard said.

Replying to questions, he said that the secretariat routinely takes technical measures to guard against such "invasions of privacy" and those efforts would now be "intensified," he said. But he declined to detail the measures.

Among the measures that could be taken, he said is using secure telephone faxes.

UN diplomats and officials said the UN security would hold internal inquiry into the allegations and the world body expects to take whatever steps are needed to ensure confidentiality of the private conversations that Annan has.