UN to be in touch with US over spying report

United Nations, Aug 27 (IANS) The United Nations said it would be in touch with the US over reports that the world body was spied on by the US National Security Agency (NSA).

"The United Nations was aware of the reports and would be in touch with the relevant authorities," Xinhua quoted Farhan Haq, an associate spokesperson for the UN secretary general, as saying Monday.

The NSA bugged the video conferencing system at the UN headquarters in New York and cracked its encryption in 2012, German weekly Der Spiegel reported Sunday, citing secret documents disclosed by former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.

"The inviolability of diplomatic missions, including the UN and other international organisations, whose functions are protected by the relevant international conventions like the Vienna Convention, has been well-established international law. 

"Therefore, member states are expected to act accordingly to protect the inviolability of diplomatic missions," Haq said. 

According to the documents analysed by the German weekly, the NSA also ran a monitoring programme covering more than 80 embassies and consulates worldwide. 

Revelations about the PRISM spying programme and other surveillance programmes that obtain personal information by hacking phone calls and emails have embarrassed Washington and triggered outrage around the world.