PERISCOPE

ESPIONAGE

Listen Up, Everyone

There was outrage at the United Nations last week when a former member of Tony Blair's cabinet claimed that British intelligence had conducted electronic surveillance on Secretary-General Kofi Annan in the lead-up to the Iraq war. But there wasn't much surprise. Many diplomats already assumed that wiretapping was rampant. Former Australian diplomat Richard Butler says he held sensitive meetings in Central Park. Former chief Iraq weapons inspector Hans Blix believes he was tapped. Adolfo Aguilar Zinser, Mexico's former U.N. ambassador, told NEWSWEEK, "If you are in a room and you begin a conversation that is delicate for any reason, you say 'Let's go outside' or 'Please do not continue'."

The allegation comes right after British officials closed another wiretap controversy by absolving former intelligence officer Katharine Gun of breaking Britain's Official Secrets Act--even though she admitted leaking a top-secret memo to a British newspaper. In the memo, the U.S. National Security Agency requested assistance spying on undecided U.N. Security Council members last March. Did spying have an impact on the war debate? Zinser, who was Mexico's U.N. rep at the time, claims he and other missions came up with a preliminary compromise proposal on renewed inspections. The next morning, members were approached b y U.S. officials and told, "Don't even try it." The Chileans (a swing vote at the time) say they swept their U.N. office and found wiretaps. They decided to resolve the situation through "diplomatic" channels. But officials in Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs told NEWSWEEK they have been waiting more than two months for a response to diplomatic "expressions of concern" sent to Washington and London. It seems unlikely they will hear any direct admission of spying from George W. Bush or Blair--unless they install some wiretaps of their own.

--Adam Piore

Walled Off