NSA eavesdroped on Copenhagen UN Climate Talks - Snowden leak
30 January 2014, 13:50
The National Security Agency spied on international delegations during the 2009 United Nations climate negotiations conference in Copenhagen, shows the new leak by Edward Snowden obtained by the Huffington Post.
The agency eavesdroped on 200 countries' delegates communications before and during the conference. The two-week summit was the first of US President Obama's administration and was expected to end in a major breakthrough regarding the impact of rising greenhouse gas emissions. This meeting was supposed to end in an agreement between the US, China, India, and others with quickly growing emissions on a plan to curb their contribution to climate change.
"Analysts here at NSA, as well as our Second Party partners, will continue to provide policymakers with unique, timely, and valuable insights into key countries' preparations and goals for the conference, as well as the deliberation within countries on climate change policies and negotiation strategies," states the document.
The document does not state how the NSA planned to continue gathering information during the summit, but noted it would be collecting 'signals intelligence' — information gathered from intercepted communications, such as phone calls and emails, The Huffington Post reported.
'[L]eaders and negotiating teams from around the world will undoubtedly be engaging in intense last-minute policy formulating; at the same time, they will be holding sidebar discussions with their counterparts -- details of which are of great interest to our policymakers,' the document states.
The file notes that the gathered information would be used by top American officials ncluding President Obama and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
James Clapper, US Director of National Intelligence, stated on Wednesday that leaks from ex-intelligence contractor Edward Snowden 'had damaged America's national security and he should return the secret documents he had stolen'.
He delivered a scathing condemnation of Snowden at a hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee, saying his leaks have aided America's adversaries and undermined cooperation with foreign partners.
'What Snowden has stolen and exposed has gone way, way beyond his professed concerns with so-called domestic surveillance programs,' Clapper said.
'As a result, we've lost critical foreign intelligence collection sources, including some shared with us by valued partners.'
Snowden, who has secured asylum in Russia and faces espionage charges from US authorities, has said he passed on the NSA classified files to journalists and no longer has them in his possession.
The intelligence chief previously has acknowledged that the leaks have generated a useful debate about how to balance security with privacy rights.
Voice of Russia, AFP, RT, the Huffington Post, Fox News
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