British intelligence employee arrested for leaks on US bugging of UN
By Julie Hyland
13 March 2003
A high-ranking female employee at Britain’s top secret government surveillance headquarters, GCHQ, has been arrested following leaks regarding the Bush administration’s spying operation against members of the United Nations Security Council.
On March 2 the Observer reported that the US National Security Agency (NSA) had been bugging members of the Security Council in advance of the UN vote on whether to go to war against Iraq. The surveillance operation was reportedly ordered by Condoleezza Rice, President Bush’s national security adviser, with the aim of finding information that could be used to help pressurise member countries into voting for the Anglo-American resolution authorising war. The operation included bugging home and office telephone lines, as well as intercepting emails.
The Observer detailed a January 31 memo from NSA official Frank Koza in Maryland to GCHQ in Cheltenham, England, asking the spy centre to participate in the US surveillance operation. The memo singled out Angola, Cameroon, Guinea, Bulgaria, Chile and Pakistan (the so-called waverers on the Security Council) for particular attention. It requested information on these countries’ “policies”, “negotiating positions” and “alliances”, that could “give US policymakers an edge in obtaining results favourable to US goals or to head off surprises”, but made plain the operation could also be extended to all UN delegations if necessary—“minus US and GBR of course”.
Whilst the leak was given only a cursory mention in the media, and was almost entirely passed over by the US press, the security services have gone into overdrive to try and establish its source.
Police confirmed at the weekend that a 28-year-old GCHQ employee had been arrested on suspicion of contravening the Official Secrets Act and released on bail pending further inquiries. Further arrests are expected, as the Observer reported that the largest “spy hunt” in Britain for some years is currently under way. The UN has also begun its own investigation into the US bugging operation, which was reportedly discussed at the organisation’s counterterrorism committee.
The Bush administration was reportedly furious that the memo had been leaked. US intelligence sources have confirmed to the Observer that US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld would have been involved in any decision to mount such an operation, which would also have been communicated to President George W. Bush.
Spying on members of the UN Security Council forms just one part of US campaign aimed at trying to ensure the body cooperates with its plans for the military subjugation and takeover of Iraq. The Bush administration is also attempting to bribe, cajole and threaten delegations—especially from poorer countries—into backing its war plans.
According to the newspaper, the memo was believed to have been distributed via Echelon, NSA’s international surveillance system which links the US, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and which France had previously denounced as a “privileged Anglo-Saxon” club.
Reports indicate that the reasons for the leak go far beyond individual matters of conscience and point to deep divisions within the intelligence services themselves over the US-led drive to war.
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