Nov 29, 2010
LONDON - KING Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has repeatedly urged the United States to attack Iran to destroy its nuclear program, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported on its website on Sunday.
The Guardian is one of a number of newspapers to have had access to US diplomatic cables ahead of their publication on whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.
Referring to US diplomatic cables, the Guardian said that other Arab allies have secretly agitated for military action against Teheran over its disputed nuclear program. The Saudi king was recorded as having 'frequently exhorted the US to attack Iran to put an end to its nuclear weapons program,' one cable stated, according to the Guardian.
'He told you (Americans) to cut off the head of the snake,' the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Adel al-Jubeir said, according to a report of a meeting between Abdullah and US general David Petraeus in April 2008. -- REUTERS
Nov 29, 2010
US diplomats spied on dignitaries
WASHINGTON - THE United States has ordered its diplomats to play a larger intelligence role by performing espionage work like obtaining the credit card and frequent flyer numbers of foreign dignitaries, according to leaked US documents published on Sunday.
Secret cables - leaked by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks and published in newspapers including the New York Times and The Guardian in Britain - reveal that US State Department personnel are asked to glean highly personal information from UN officials and key players from countries around the world.
The cables alluding to work usually associated with the Central Intelligence Agency and other spy bodies were sent to embassies in Africa, the Middle East, eastern Europe, Latin America and the US mission to the United Nations.
For example, a classified directive sent to US diplomats under US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's name in July last year sought technical details about the communications systems used by top UN officials, The Guardian said.
These included passwords and personal encryption keys used in private and commercial networks for official communications, it reported.
The New York Times said that one cable signed by Clinton sought 'biographic and biometric information on ranking North Korean diplomats' from US diplomats at the US mission to the United Nations in New York. -- AFP
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