The US and British governments�™ spying on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is nothing new, says American author and investigative journalist Wayne Madsen.
Based on documents obtained from former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, German magazine Der Spiegel reported on Monday that the US National Security Agency and Britain�™s Government Communications Headquarters are both spying on OPEC.
According to the documents obtained by Der Spiegel, the NSA and the GCHQ have infiltrated OPEC�™s computer systems to access an internal study in the organization�™s research division.
�œThe National Security Agency and the GCHQ, its British counterpart, are very much involved in surveillance to get a hold of economic and political intelligence,” said Madsen in a phone interview with Press TV on Wednesday.
�œSo, why would they be interested in OPEC? Well, they�™ve always been interested in OPEC. OPEC was the target for the NSA and the GCHQ surveillance way back in the 70s during the oil embargos by the Arab members of the OPEC organization. They want to know what the plans are for price increases or production increases. This is why the listen in on OPEC,” he added.
Documents after documents disclosed by Snowden since June have shed some light on the scope and scale of US spying activities across the globe.
Some documents showed that US spy agencies hacked into the computer systems of other countries�™ diplomatic missions.
The leaked documents also revealed that Washington has been eavesdropping on phone calls of at least 35 world leaders including that of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, one of Europe�™s most influential leaders.
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Source: Press TV