The United Nations said today a secret listening device had been found in a meeting room in its European headquarters in Geneva.
The room was used by ministers from major powers last year during private talks on Iraq following the US invasion and occupation.
Ms Marie Heuze, chief UN spokeswoman in Geneva, confirmed the report by Swiss Television, which said the sophisticated bugging device had been uncovered in recent months in the Salon Francais of the Palais des Nations, formerly the League of Nations.
"I confirm that UN workmen found a listening device. An inquiry was unable to determine when the device was planted or by whom," she told Reuters.
Swiss Television said the device was found in wooden panels in the room, but Ms Heuze declined to give any details.
The foreign ministers of the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France met at the United Nations in Geneva in September 2003 for talks on Iraq.
One delegation, probably France's, is believed to have used the Salon Francais - also used last January during talks on global hunger organised by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and French President Jacques Chirac.
A Geneva-based security expert who saw photos of the device told the television the system appeared to be of Russian or Eastern European origin. Its size indicated it was three or four years old, before such circuits were miniaturised, he said.
The elegant Salon Francais, which has art deco furniture from the 1930s, is adjacent the room where the UN-sponsored Conference on Disarmament holds weekly negotiations.