Aussie media say NSA using PH as hub to track networks in Asia; Palace asks DND,DFA to check MANILA, Philippines -- The Departments of National Defense and Foreign Affairs will be tasked to check reports in Australian media that the Philippines has been made a hub for United States intelligence units tracking communications networks in Asia. The reports came out as the fallout from revelations the US’ National Security Agency has been spying on friendly governments and leaders continues. Asked to comment on an Australian news report that Washington had turned Manila into a key NSA listening post in the region, Presidential Communications and Operations Secretary Herminio Coloma said: We will check with the DND and the DFA if they have verified such report. According to the Australian reports, documents from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden -- now in exile in Russia after exposing the intelligence agency’s massive global spying on US citizens and even friendly European and Latin American leaders -- included a map pinpointing places where the US maintains listening posts in Asia. These places are, apart from Manila, in Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Phnom Penh, Bangkok, Burma, Hongkong, Taipei, Shanghai and Beijing. The Australian reports came even as Washington struggled to ease frayed nerves among its allies, especially in Europe, amid the reported monitoring of communications of key leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel. On Tuesday, NSA Director General Keith Alexander, attempting to counter international complaints about his agencys alleged excesses, said its sources for foreign telecommunications information included data provided to NSA by foreign partners, Reuters reported. He did this at a public congressional hearing on Tuesday. Alexanders disclosure marked yet another milestone in NSAs emergence from the shadows to defend its electronic surveillance mission in the wake of damaging revelations by former agency contractor Edward Snowden, added the Reuters report. It is true that in general we stay close-mouthed about intelligence liaison relationships and we only speak in the most general terms about sharing things with our friends and allies, said Paul Pillar, a former senior CIA analyst. But, he said, there was nothing wrong in correcting information that was out in public, even though Alexander probably created or exacerbated some political problems for a number of European allies with his comments. One US official said that before going public with the revelation that telecommunications metadata was collected and supplied to the United States by foreign governments like France and Spain, the Obama administration consulted with the governments concerned, added Reuters. The official spoke on condition of anonymity. Metadata is information about a phone call or email -- the length of a call and the number dialed, for example -- that does not include the communications actual content. The Washington Post, in a report it said was based on documents leaked by Snowden, also said the NSA has tapped directly into communications links used by Google and Yahoo to move huge amounts of email and other user information among overseas data centers. The report is likely to add to growing tensions between the US intelligence establishment and the tech companies, which have been struggling to assure customers overseas that they need not fear US spying. interaksyon/article/73883/aussie-media-say-nsa-using-ph-as-hub-to-track-networks-in-asia-palace-asks-dnddfa-to-check
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 10:00:26 +0000
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