According to the latest leaked documents from Edward Snowden published on Friday British and U.S. spies targeted a senior European Union official, German government buildings, and the office of an Israeli prime minister.
The targets were among more than 1,000 listed in documents provided to journalists by Edward Snowden. The Documents shows GCHQ, in collaboration with America's National Security Agency (NSA), was targeting organisations such as the United Nations development programme, the UN's children's charity Unicef and Médecins du Monde, a French organisation that provides doctors and medical volunteers to conflict zones.
The latest disclosures will add to Washington's embarrassment after the heavy criticism of the NSA when it emerged that it had been tapping the mobile phone of the German chancellor, Angela Merkel.
On January 2009 GCHQ and the NSA had targeted an email address listed as belonging to the Israeli prime minister, who at the time was Ehud Olmert. They are also monitored email traffic between then-Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and his chief of staff, Yoni Koren.
Joaquin Almunia, the European competition commissioner who oversees anti-monopoly investigations and has been involved in a long-running case involving Google, was another to appear in GCHQ documents, although it was not clear who ordered the surveillance.
An NSA spokeswoman said the agency did not use espionage to help U.S. businesses.
The spokeswoman said, "We do not use our foreign intelligence capabilities to steal the trade secrets of foreign companies on behalf of - or give intelligence we collect to - U.S. companies to enhance their international competitiveness or increase their bottom line."
"The intelligence community's efforts to understand economic systems and policies, and monitor anomalous economic activities, are critical to providing policy-makers with the information they need to make informed decisions that are in the best interest of our national security."
The European Commission said if it was true one of its senior officials had been targeted it would be "unacceptable".
A spokesman said, "This piece of news follows a series of other revelations which, as we clearly stated in the past, if proven true, are unacceptable and deserve our strongest condemnation."
"This is not the type of behavior that we expect from strategic partners, let alone from our own member states."
According to Guardian GCHQ had targeted German government buildings in Berlin was embarrassing for British Prime Minister David Cameron since he had signed an EU statement condemning the NSA's spying on Merkel.
GCHQ said it was aware of the reports but did not comment on intelligence matters. A spokesman said: "Our work is carried out in accordance with a strict legal and policy framework which ensures that our activities are authorized, necessary and proportionate."
The targets were among more than 1,000 listed in documents provided to journalists by Edward Snowden. The Documents shows GCHQ, in collaboration with America's National Security Agency (NSA), was targeting organisations such as the United Nations development programme, the UN's children's charity Unicef and Médecins du Monde, a French organisation that provides doctors and medical volunteers to conflict zones.The latest disclosures will add to Washington's embarrassment after the heavy criticism of the NSA when it emerged that it had been tapping the mobile phone of the German chancellor, Angela Merkel.
On January 2009 GCHQ and the NSA had targeted an email address listed as belonging to the Israeli prime minister, who at the time was Ehud Olmert. They are also monitored email traffic between then-Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and his chief of staff, Yoni Koren.
Joaquin Almunia, the European competition commissioner who oversees anti-monopoly investigations and has been involved in a long-running case involving Google, was another to appear in GCHQ documents, although it was not clear who ordered the surveillance.
An NSA spokeswoman said the agency did not use espionage to help U.S. businesses.
The spokeswoman said, "We do not use our foreign intelligence capabilities to steal the trade secrets of foreign companies on behalf of - or give intelligence we collect to - U.S. companies to enhance their international competitiveness or increase their bottom line."
"The intelligence community's efforts to understand economic systems and policies, and monitor anomalous economic activities, are critical to providing policy-makers with the information they need to make informed decisions that are in the best interest of our national security."
The European Commission said if it was true one of its senior officials had been targeted it would be "unacceptable".
A spokesman said, "This piece of news follows a series of other revelations which, as we clearly stated in the past, if proven true, are unacceptable and deserve our strongest condemnation."
"This is not the type of behavior that we expect from strategic partners, let alone from our own member states."
According to Guardian GCHQ had targeted German government buildings in Berlin was embarrassing for British Prime Minister David Cameron since he had signed an EU statement condemning the NSA's spying on Merkel.
GCHQ said it was aware of the reports but did not comment on intelligence matters. A spokesman said: "Our work is carried out in accordance with a strict legal and policy framework which ensures that our activities are authorized, necessary and proportionate."
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