Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid

Claire Short, the former British Cabinet minister, has kicked up a diplomatic storm by claiming that the government of Prime Minister Tony Blair spied on UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Last year Short was a guest at a dinner in London hosted by Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi, the former Saudi Arabian ambassador to the UK, which I attended. Contrary to her popular image she strikes me as a demagogue. What she said at the party accurately reflected the situation a year before the war against Iraq. Having heard her say what she said then I thought she was treated unfairly later on; she was wronged, they tarnished her image. That was my impression until I saw her recently taking out of her purse a paper saying Blair had spied on the UN chief. It became clear that she was looking for a fight to bring down a prime minister with whom she had an irreparable falling out.

Short has caused greater damage to her own Labour Party than any number of opposition figures.

But the problems in the Labour Party are not my main concern. The important issue is the bugging of the UN chief’s offices. Did the British really spy on Annan?

Although the government has denied it, it appears that British intelligence agencies sought to spy on the UN chief, his senior aides and other UN officials in addition to a number of embassies. The agencies intercepted the mail, read faxes and e-mail and planted agents disguised as drivers and servants. Britain is not alone in doing this. All countries do it although they know that it is against international law, which protects diplomatic missions and international organizations.

Intelligence gathering by big countries is a process that spares nobody, including the UN chief himself. Former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has said that from the very first day he entered his office he always thought he was being bugged by all permanent members of the Security Council. I don’t think Annan believes differently. Everyone is bugging everyone. The UN chief knows that many have an interest in knowing what is going on inside his office. I can imagine him waving to his guests to stop talking about something he may not want others to known about. I can imagine him pointing to the ceiling to warn his guests that walls have ears and then accompany them to the coffee shop outside the building hoping no one is following them with sound monitoring equipment.

That is why I see no value in what Claire Short has been saying. It is like letting off a firecracker — it makes a loud noise and means nothing. It is not going to stop the bugging and spying or bring down Tony Blair. It is also not proof that going to war was illegal. It is just another scandal that may cause some embarrassment and prolong the agony of the Labour Party.