BRITAIN: Mr Tony Blair stood accused last night of undermining the United Nations and his own security services after sensational allegations that they spied on Secretary General Kofi Annan in the run-up to the Iraq war.
The UN reacted angrily to the bugging allegation - made by former cabinet minister Ms Clare Short - saying that, if true, such action would have undermined the work of the UN.
Spokesman Mr Fred Eckhard said: "We want this action to stop if indeed it has been carried out," adding that it would have been illegal. "It undermines the secretary general's conduct of business with other leaders. It is therefore not good for the United Nations and it is illegal," he told reporters.
The British Prime Minister insisted that his country's intelligence services at all times operated in accordance with domestic and international law, and condemned Ms Short's claims as "deeply irresponsible".
However, an unrepentant Ms Short returned to the attack last night, dismissing Mr Blair's suggestion that she had in any way endangered the national interest as "pompous" while arguing that Mr Blair had undermined the credibility of the security services by exaggerating their assessment of the threat posed by Iraq in the first place.
Earlier yesterday Mr Blair professed friendship and respect for Mr Annan while refusing to confirm or deny the allegation that the British secret service had spied on him.
Instead the plainly angry prime minister turned on Ms Short - suggesting that such attacks on the security services undermined the essential security of the United Kingdom.
"It is wrong and it should not happen. It is as simple as that," declared Mr Blair, who described Ms Short's revelations as "totally irresponsible" if also "entirely consistent".
However, Mr Blair faced a complex and hazardous situation last night as he battled to contain a growing international diplomatic row, amid questions about Ms Short's future as a Labour MP and her possible prosecution under the Official Secrets Act.
The former International Development Secretary was widely considered to have breached the Act by revealing what she did about intelligence matters while commenting on the collapse on Wednesday of the case against a former spy centre worker, Mrs Katharine Gun.
The Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence against Mrs Gun, who worked at the signals intelligence agency GCHQ, despite her admission that she leaked a top-secret e-mail about an Anglo-American operation to eavesdrop on members of the UN Security Council.
In a statement in the House of Lords yesterday the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, insisted the decision was taken "on solely legal grounds" and entirely "free from any political interference". His intervention came in response to speculation that ministers had been worried that, had the trial proceeded, it would have forced disclosure of secret documents relating to his advice, as Attorney General, casting doubt on the legality of the Iraq war.
Plainly worried by the damage inflicted on the country's capacity for secrecy, Downing Street signalled a review of the Official Secrets Act. But as Number 10 sought to close down the controversy, the government also faced opposition demands that the Butler Inquiry - into the intelligence on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction - should also be able to investigate Ms Short's stunning assertion that she read transcripts of Mr Annan's private conversations while serving as a minister in the Blair government.
Ms Short dropped her bombshell on the BBC's Today programme, saying she was "absolutely" sure British spies had conducted a sustained operation at the UN prior to the war. "These things are done and in the case of Kofi's office it's been done for some time," she said.
Asked if British intelligence was involved, Ms Short replied: "Well, I know - I've seen the transcripts of Kofi Annan's conversations." And she went on: "In fact, I have had conversations with Kofi in the run-up to the war, thinking, 'Oh dear, there will be a transcript of this and people will see what he and I are saying.' "
Asked if she believed such spying operations were legal, Ms Short replied: "I don't know. I presume so. It's odd."
Mr Blair said the British security services always acted in accordance with domestic and international law. While refusing to comment on the specific allegations, Mr Blair emphasised this should not be taken to mean Ms Short's allegations were true.
He explained his refusal to confirm or deny, saying it was "the practice I must hold to" that he could neither confirm nor deny any allegation of such a kind.