US reportedly weighs ending spying on allied heads of state
Baku, October 31 (AZERTAC). The Obama administration is reportedly considering ending its policy of monitoring communications by friendly heads of state following a series of revelations about the capabilities of the National Security Agency and its work monitoring phone calls in three Western European nations.
Citing a senior administration official, the Associated Press reported late Monday that the White House was considering ending the practice. The official told the AP that the move was still under review and a final decision had not been made.
Also Monday, the Los Angeles Times reported that the White House and State Department approved the eavesdropping policy, contradicting news reports from over the weekend that President Obama was unaware of the surveillance until this past summer and would have halted the practice if he had known.
The Times also reported that staffers at the NSA and other intelligence agencies were angry at the White House's attempt to deny knowledge of the surveillance, believing that the Obama administration was blaming the intelligence community for using surveillance methods authorized and used by the administration..
"People are furious," a senior intelligence official told the paper. "This is officially the White House cutting off the intelligence community."
The reports came hours after Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called for a "total review of all intelligence programs" following allegations made last week that the NSA had monitored the cell phone of current German Chancellor Angela Merkel since 2002, when she was leader of the opposition in the German Reichstag. In a statement, the Feinstein said the White House had informed her that "collection on our allies will not continue."
"With respect to NSA collection of intelligence on leaders of U.S. allies — including France, Spain, Mexico and Germany — let me state unequivocally: I am totally opposed," Feinstein said. She added that the U.S. should not be "collecting phone calls or emails of friendly presidents and prime ministers" unless in an emergency with approval of the president.
The administration official said that statement was not accurate, but added that some unspecified changes already had been made and more were being considered.
The official was not authorized to discuss the review by name and insisted on anonymity.
Reports over the weekend based on new leaks from former NSA systems analyst Edward Snowden indicate that the NSA listened to Merkel and 34 other foreign leaders. Last week the French newspaper Le Monde reported that the NSA had monitored over 70 million phone calls made in France over the course of a single month. On Sunday, Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported that the NSA had monitored 60 million calls in Spain in December 2012.
In response to the revelations, German officials said Monday that the U.S. could lose access to an important law enforcement tool used to track terrorist money flows. Other longtime allies have also expressed their displeasure about the U.S. spying on their leaders.
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