- A joint British and American spying operation at the
United Nations scuppered a last-ditch initiative to avert the invasion
of Iraq, The Observer can reveal.
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- Senior UN diplomats from Mexico and Chile provided new
evidence last week that their missions were spied on, in direct contravention
of international law.
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- The former Mexican ambassador to the UN, Adolfo Aguilar
Zinser, told The Observer that US officials intervened last March, just
days before the war against Saddam was launched, to halt secret negotiations
for a compromise resolution to give weapons inspectors more time to complete
their work.
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- Aguilar Zinser claimed that the intervention could only
have come as a result of surveillance of a closed diplomatic meeting where
the compromise was being hammered out. He said it was clear the Americans
knew about the confidential discussions in advance. 'When they [the US]
found out, they said, "You should know that we don't like the idea
and we don't like you to promote it."'
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- The revelations follow claims by Chile's former ambassador
to the UN, Juan Valdes, that he found hard evidence of bugging at his mission
in New York last March. The new claims emerged as The Observer has discovered
that Government officials seriously considered dropping the prosecution
against Katharine Gun, the translator at the GCHQ surveillance center who
first disclosed details of the espionage operation last March.
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- According to Whitehall sources, officials feared the
prosecution would leave the Government and the intelligence services open
to embarrassing disclosures. They were known to be concerned that the 29-year-old
Chinese language specialist would be seen as a patriotic young woman acting
out of principle to reveal an illegal operation rather than as someone
who betrayed her country's secrets. They are also known to be worried that
any trial would force the disclosure of Government legal advice on intervention
in Iraq, described by one source as 'at best ambiguous'.
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- Gun has attracted high profile support, particularly
in the US, where her case has been taken up by Hollywood stars, civil rights
campaigners and members of Congress. Yesterday, Oscar nominee, Sean Penn,
told The Observer that Gun was 'a hero of the human spirit'.
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- Aguilar Zinser also paid tribute: 'She is serving a noble
cause by denouncing what could be illegal acts,' he said.
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- The operation by the US National Security Agency and
GCHQ was revealed by The Observer last March, after a leaked memo showed
US spies had begun an intelligence 'surge' on members of the UN security
council in which they needed British help.
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- Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesman Menzies Campbell
last night called on Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to clarify Britain's
role: 'If the allegations that these operations had ministerial authority
are well-founded, then it could hardly be more serious for the Government.
There will be understandable uproar at the UN. On the other hand, if the
eavesdropping took place without Ministers knowing, then the question is,
who was in charge?'
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- The Mexican government confirmed last week that diplomatic
letters were sent to Straw last December asking him to clarify whether
GCHQ was involved in spying on its UN allies. They have yet to receive
a response. The Foreign Office refused to comment on the new allegations.
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- But the revelations of the former Mexican ambassador
will not go away as he is planning a book about his experiences at the
United Nations.
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- Aguilar Zinser told The Observer that the meeting of
diplomats from six nations took place about a week before the decision
not to put the resolution to the vote. They were working on a draft document
of a compromise solution when the American intervened.
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- 'We had yet to get our capitals to go along with it,
it was at a very early stage. Only the people in the room knew what the
document said. The surprising thing was the very rapid flow of information
to [US] quarters.
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- 'The meeting was in the evening and they call us in the
morning before the meeting of the Security Council and they say, 'We appreciate
you trying to find ideas, but this is not a good idea." I say, "Thanks,
that's good to know." We were looking for a compromise and they [the
US] say, "Do not attempt it."'
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- © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
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