From the Guardian:
Former minister Clare Short's claim that Britain spied on the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, ahead of the Iraq war, have been described as "deeply irresponsible" by the prime minister, Tony Blair.
The UN responded to Ms Short's claim that, during her time in government, she had read transcripts of some of Mr Annan's telephone calls, by saying that any such spying would be illegal.
Mr Blair refused to confirm or deny the claim, but insisted that intelligence officers always acted within the bounds of national and international law.
He said that he would have to reflect on former international development secretary Ms Short's future as a Labour MP.
The issue dominated the prime minister's monthly press briefing today, with Mr Blair telling reporters that it was impossible for him to confirm or deny the allegation without compromising the work of the British security services.
Ms Short made her claim during an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme about the implications of the collapse of the Official Secrets Act case against GCHQ whistleblower Katharine Gun yesterday.
Asked whether British agencies had been involved in spying activities against Mr Annan, Ms Short - who quit the cabinet in protest over the reconstruction of Iraq - said: "I know, I have seen transcripts of Kofi Annan's conversations.
"Indeed, I have had conversations with Kofi in the run-up to war, thinking: 'Oh dear, there will be a transcript of this, and people will see what he and I are saying'."
Ms Short was asked whether she believed that British spies had been instructed to carry out operations within the UN on personnel such as Mr Annan. "Yes, absolutely," she replied.
She was asked whether she had known about such operations while in government. "Absolutely - I read some of the transcripts of the accounts of his conversations," she said. ...
More at:
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12956,1156694,00.html