Report on US eavesdropping ‘says nothing new’
(see related) (ANSA) – Rome, December 6 – A report published Friday by La Repubblica newspaper and Espresso magazine saying the United States spied on Italian leadership communications via a special undercover unit that enjoyed diplomatic immunity ”adds nothing new to already known elements on which the government has repeatedly informed parliament,” intelligence sources told ANSA.
”Nothing new has emerged to contradict repeated US assurances that they did not use in a systematic way their investigative tools against our country,” the sources also said.
La Repubblica said in its front-page article that its information was based on documents provided by former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor and whistle-blower Edward Snowden, and published pictures of a cubical structure on the roof of the US embassy in Rome which British intelligence journalist Duncan Campbell, an expert of security and intelligence issues since the 1970s, said was a secret listening post.
The sources said the alleged massive data collection on Italian communications would have been impossible and ”would require a national cooperation which did not take place”.
Also, the same sources denied alleged spying at the Italian embassy in Washington ”as confirmed by specific activities in our headquarters in the United States to verify” the reports.