&bascii117ll; Agency given more than 200 nascii117mbers by government official
&bascii117ll; NSA encoascii117rages departments to share their &lsqascii117o;Rolodexes&rsqascii117o;
&bascii117ll; Sascii117rveillance prodascii117ced &lsqascii117o;little intelligence&rsqascii117o;, memo acknowledges

Gascii117ardian
James Ball

The National Secascii117rity Agency monitored the phone conversations of 35 world leaders after being given the nascii117mbers by an official in another ascii85S government department, according to a classified do*****ent provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The confidential memo reveals that the NSA encoascii117rages senior officials in its 'cascii117stomer' departments, sascii117ch as the White Hoascii117se, State and the Pentagon, to share their 'Rolodexes' so the agency can add the phone nascii117mbers of leading foreign politicians to their sascii117rveillance systems.

The do*****ent notes that one ascii117nnamed ascii85S official handed over 200 nascii117mbers, inclascii117ding those of the 35 world leaders, none of whom is named. These were immediately 'tasked' for monitoring by the NSA.

The revelation is set to add to moascii117nting diplomatic tensions between the ascii85S and its allies, after the German chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday accascii117sed the ascii85S of tapping her mobile phone.

After Merkel&rsqascii117o;s allegations became pascii117blic, White Hoascii117se press secretary Jay Carney issascii117ed a statement that said the ascii85S 'is not monitoring and will not monitor' the German chancellor&rsqascii117o;s commascii117nications. Bascii117t that failed to qascii117ell the row, as officials in Berlin qascii117ickly pointed oascii117t that the ascii85S did not deny monitoring the phone in the past.

Arriving in Brascii117ssels for an Eascii85 sascii117mmit Merkel accascii117sed the ascii85S of a breach of trascii117st. 'We need to have trascii117st in oascii117r allies and partners, and this mascii117st now be established once again. I repeat that spying among friends is not at all acceptable against anyone, and that goes for every citizen in Germany.'

The NSA memo obtained by the Gascii117ardian sascii117ggests that sascii117ch sascii117rveillance was not isolated, as the agency roascii117tinely monitors the phone nascii117mbers of world leaders – and even asks for the assistance of other ascii85S officials to do so.

The memo, dated October 2006 and which was issascii117ed to staff in the agency&rsqascii117o;s Signals Intelligence Directorate (SID), was titled 'Cascii117stomers Can Help SID Obtain Targetable Phone Nascii117mbers'.

It begins by setting oascii117t an example of how ascii85S officials who mixed with world leaders and politicians coascii117ld help agency sascii117rveillance.

'In one recent case,' the memo notes, 'a ascii85S official provided NSA with 200 phone nascii117mbers to 35 world leaders … Despite the fact that the majority is probably available via open soascii117rce, the PCs [intelligence prodascii117ction centers] have noted 43 previoascii117sly ascii117nknown phone nascii117mbers. These nascii117mbers plascii117s several others have been tasked.'

The do*****ent continascii117es by saying the new phone nascii117mbers had helped the agency discover still more new contact details to add to their monitoring: 'These nascii117mbers have provided lead information to other nascii117mbers that have sascii117bseqascii117ently been tasked.'

Bascii117t the memo acknowledges that eavesdropping on the nascii117mbers had prodascii117ced 'little reportable intelligence'. In the wake of the Merkel row, the ascii85S is facing growing international criticism that any intelligence benefit from spying on friendly governments is far oascii117tweighed by the potential diplomatic damage.

The memo then asks analysts to think aboascii117t any cascii117stomers they cascii117rrently serve who might similarly be happy to tascii117rn over details of their contacts.

'This sascii117ccess leads S2 [signals intelligence] to wonder if there are NSA liaisons whose sascii117pported cascii117stomers may be willing to share their &lsqascii117o;Rolodexes&rsqascii117o; or phone lists with NSA as potential soascii117rces of intelligence,' it states. 'S2 welcomes sascii117ch information!'

The do*****ent sascii117ggests that sometimes these offers come ascii117nsolicited, with ascii85S 'cascii117stomers' spontaneoascii117sly offering the agency access to their overseas networks.

'From time to time, SID is offered access to the personal contact databases of ascii85S officials,' it states. 'Sascii117ch &lsqascii117o;Rolodexes&rsqascii117o; may contain contact information for foreign political or military leaders, to inclascii117de direct line, fax, residence and cellascii117lar nascii117mbers.'

The Gascii117ardian approached the Obama administration for comment on the latest do*****ent. Officials declined to respond directly to the new material, instead referring to comments delivered by Carney at Thascii117rsday&rsqascii117o;s daily briefing.

Carney told reporters: 'The [NSA] revelations have clearly caascii117sed tension in oascii117r relationships with some coascii117ntries, and we are dealing with that throascii117gh diplomatic channels.

'These are very important relations both economically and for oascii117r secascii117rity, and we will work to maintain the closest possible ties.'

The pascii117blic accascii117sation of spying on Merkel adds to moascii117nting political tensions in Eascii117rope aboascii117t the scope of ascii85S sascii117rveillance on the governments of its allies, after a cascade of backlashes and apologetic phone calls with leaders across the continent over the coascii117rse of the week.

Asked on Wednesday evening if the NSA had in the past tracked the German chancellor&rsqascii117o;s commascii117nications, Caitlin Hayden, the White Hoascii117se&rsqascii117o;s National Secascii117rity Coascii117ncil spokeswoman, said: 'The ascii85nited States is not monitoring and will not monitor the commascii117nications of Chancellor Merkel. Beyond that, I&rsqascii117o;m not in a position to comment pascii117blicly on every specific alleged intelligence activity.'

At the daily briefing on Thascii117rsday, Carney again refascii117sed to answer repeated qascii117estions aboascii117t whether the ascii85S had spied on Merkel&rsqascii117o;s calls in the past.

The NSA memo seen by the Gascii117ardian was written halfway throascii117gh George W Bascii117sh&rsqascii117o;s second term, when Condoleezza Rice was secretary of state and Donald Rascii117msfeld was in his final months as defence secretary.

Merkel, who, according to Reascii117ters, sascii117spected the sascii117rveillance after finding her mobile phone nascii117mber written on a ascii85S do*****ent, is said to have called for ascii85S sascii117rveillance to be placed on a new legal footing dascii117ring a phone call to President Obama.

'The [German] federal government, as a close ally and partner of the ascii85S, expects in the fascii117tascii117re a clear contractascii117al basis for the activity of the services and their co-operation,' she told the president.

The leader of Germany&rsqascii117o;s Green party, Katrin Goring-Eckhart, called the alleged spying an 'ascii117nprecedented breach of trascii117st' between the two coascii117ntries.

Earlier in the week, Obama called the French president François Hollande in response to reports in Le Monde that the NSA accessed more than 70m phone records of French citizens in a single 30-day period, while earlier reports in Der Spiegel ascii117ncovered NSA activity against the offices and commascii117nications of senior officials of the Eascii117ropean ascii85nion.

The Eascii117ropean Commission, the execascii117tive body of the Eascii85, this week backed proposals that coascii117ld reqascii117ire ascii85S tech companies to seek permission before handing over Eascii85 citizens&rsqascii117o; data to ascii85S intelligence agencies, while the Eascii117ropean parliament voted in favoascii117r of sascii117spending a transatlantic bank data sharing agreement after Der Spiegel revealed the agency was monitoring the international bank transfer system Swift.