The National Security Agency (NSA) spying scandal has escalated amid allegations of the agency spying on both the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN).
German publication Der Spiegel claims to have secret documents from Edward Snowdon that "show that the Americans spy on Europe, the UN and other countries".
A fortnight ago, US president Barak Obama promised the world that the US had no interest in anything other than preventing terrorist attacks, and that the NSA's sole purpose was to get information that would help prevent them ahead of time.
However, recent reports that the NSA secretly monitored the UN's internal video conferencing system, and spied on a conference between its top officials belie this statement.
Der Spiegel also reported that the NSA increased the number of decrypted communications at the UN from 12 to 458, and planted bugs in the EU's offices in Washington, as well as breached the union's computer networks.
The UN has refused to respond to the allegations directly, but said it will contact the US to discuss them. It emphasised though that international treaties protect its offices and all diplomatic missions from "interference, spying and eavesdropping".
UN spokesman Farhan Haq said at a press briefing that diplomatic missions of the UN and other international bodies whose functions are protected by the relevant conventions and international law are inviolable.
"Therefore, member states are expected to act accordingly to protect the inviolability of diplomatic missions," said Haq.
Strained relations
German chancellor Angela Merkel's main rival in next month's elections, Peer Steinbr"uck, who leads the Social Democratic party, has pledged to suspend EU-US trade talks over these latest allegations, should he replace her as chancellor, reported The Guardian.
He said he would delay negotiations, until the US comes clean on whether it has in fact wiretapped or bugged German government offices.
This is not the first time outrage has been expressed on this issue. In July, president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, said in a statement: "I am deeply worried and shocked about the allegations of US authorities spying on EU offices. If the allegations prove to be true, it would be an extremely serious matter which will have a severe impact on EU-US relations. On behalf of the European Parliament, I demand full clarification and require further information speedily from the US authorities with regard to these allegations."
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