UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Britain should stop spying on Secretary-General Kofi Annan's offices, if the allegations are true, says the chief U.N. spokesman, because it undermines diplomatic exchanges and it is illegal.
"We are throwing down a red flag saying if this is true please stop it," spokesman Fred Eckhard, told reporters, Thursday.
The latest allegations were made earlier Thursday in a BBC interview by Clare Short, a minister in British Prime Minister Tony Blair's cabinet, who resigned in protest over preparations for the U.S. and British led invasion of Iraq last year.
"We have seen today's media reports alleging that the secretary-general's phone conversations were tapped by British intelligence," said the spokesman, Fred Eckhard in a statement. "We would be disappointed if this were true.
"Such activities would undermine the integrity and confidential nature of diplomatic exchanges," he continued. "Those who speak to the secretary-general are entitled to assume that their exchanges are confidential.
"The secretary-general therefore would want this practice stopped, if indeed it exists," Eckhard said. "The Secretariat routinely takes technical measures to guard against such invasions of privacy, and those efforts will now be intensified."
However, despite numerous questions he would not reveal anything about when bug sweeps were taken or if anything was found.
Asked whether the practice of bugging the secretary-general was regarded as illegal, the spokesman replied, "It is indeed considered illegal."
He then cited "three piece of international law," the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, the 1947 "Headquarters Agreement" between the United Nations and the United States, and the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
In particular, Eckhard referred to Article 2 of the 1946 treaty, which stated that: "The premises of the United Nations shall be inviolable. The property and assets of the United Nations, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall be immune from search, requisition, confiscation, expropriation and any other form of interference, whether by executive, administrative, judicial or legislative action."
The spokesman said that the world organization could take steps -- such as using secure phone and fax lines -- to secure the confidentiality of communications. "I don't know that anyone has protection against satellite intercepts, but although this 1946 Convention was written more than 50 years ago, clearly it would apply to all forms of interference, including things that weren't even imagined then, namely satellite intercepts."
Ambassador Emyr Jones Perry of Britain, who was visiting London, telephoned the secretary-general Thursday morning "on behalf" of Prime Minister Tony Blair, Eckhard said, but the spokesman would not disclose details of what was discussed.
"These premises are inviolable under international law, and we expect all member states to respect their commitment," the spokesman said.
Allegations of bugged telephone conversations leading up to the Iraq invasion are not new. However, this is the first against Britain.
Previously, elected members of the Security Council, particularly Mexico and Chile, have alleged the United States monitored their telephone calls when they were part of the "swing six" states who maintained their independence and would not commit to one side or the other when London and Washington were seeking support for the so-called second resolution supporting their planned invasion.
But those intercepts were regarded to have been outside the U.N. complex along New York's East River, at the individual missions, and, as Eckhard said "beyond the purview" of the world organization and a bilateral matter with the United States.
Only Wednesday Britain dropped charges against a translator who allegedly blew the whistle on a U.S. message indicating involvement in bugging telephone conversations of countries opposed to draft U.K.-U.S. draft resolution on the planned Iraq operation.
