Sunday, June 16, 2013

NSA Targeted Dmitry Medvedev at London G20 Summit

American spies based in the UK intercepted the top-secret communications of the then Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, during his visit to Britain for the G20 summit in London, leaked documents reveal.

The details of the intercept were set out in a briefing prepared by the National Security Agency and shared with high-ranking officials from Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, reports the Guardian.

The document, leaked by the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and seen by the Guardian, shows the agency believed it might have discovered "a change in the way Russian leadership signals have been normally transmitted".

The disclosure underlines the importance of the US spy hub at RAF Menwith Hill in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, where hundreds of NSA analysts are based, working alongside liaison officers from GCHQ, said the Guardian.

UPDATE:

Interesting timing on this leak release.

On Monday, President Obama is scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Russian President Putin at 1:30 PM ET

3 comments:

  1. We spy on them, they spy on us. That's how the game is played.

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  2. In a broader sense, this info undermines the notion that the program is for security related to the 'war on terror', but rather, financial scams (should we review shorting certain airlines stocks 12 years ago?)

    And on the other hand, the timing should be considered in the Gary Power's U2 theme as well. Solid intrigue...

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  3. Criminals spying on criminals. If only they'd do this all the time and leave the rest of us alone....

    ReplyDelete