NSA leaker: UK govt. \u00c5\u201cis now leaking documents about itself\u201d<\/p>\n
U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower, Edward Snowden says the UK government is now \u00c5\u201cleaking documents about itself\u201d, dismissing an earlier report published by The Independent<\/i>.\n<\/p>\n
The Independent<\/i>\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s front page story on Friday disclosed that “Britain runs a secret internet-monitoring station in the Middle East to intercept and process vast quantities of emails, telephone calls and web traffic on behalf of Western intelligence agencies”.\n<\/p>\n
It was the revelation, which the newspaper claimed its source was \u00c5\u201cdocuments obtained from the NSA by Edward Snowden\u201d.\n<\/p>\n
However, Snowden categorically rejected the claim saying, \u00c5\u201cI have never spoken with, worked with, or provided any journalistic materials to the Independent<\/i>\u201d.\n<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, it\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s the first time the Independent<\/i> has published any revelations obtained from the NSA documents, as it claims. Moreover, journalists working directly with the NSA leaker have so far avoided providing such a document to the Independent<\/i>.\n<\/p>\n
Snowden, himself, as reported by Glenn Greenwald in The Guardian<\/i>, has rejected the claim that he was the source for the Independent<\/i>\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s story.\n<\/p>\n
\u00c5\u201cI have never spoken with, worked with, or provided any journalistic materials to the Independent. The journalists I have worked with have, at my request, been judicious and careful in ensuring that the only things disclosed are what the public should know but that does not place any person in danger. People at all levels of society up to and including the President of the United States have recognized the contribution of these careful disclosures to a necessary public debate, and we are proud of this record\u201d, Snowden said.\n<\/p>\n
“It appears that the UK government is now seeking to create an appearance that the Guardian and Washington Post’s disclosures are harmful, and they are doing so by intentionally leaking harmful information to The Independent and attributing it to others. The UK government should explain the reasoning behind this decision to disclose information that, were it released by a private citizen, they would argue is a criminal act”, he added.\n<\/p>\n
MOL\/HE<\/p>\n<\/div>\n