THE fallout from allegations that US intelligence eavesdropped on foreign leaders grew this weekend, with Germany and Brazil leading the charge.
Berlin will send its top intelligence chiefs to Washington to push forward an investigation into claims the US spied on its leader Angela Merkel.
The Brazilian government meanwhile says it is working with other countries to draft a United Nations General Assembly resolution that would guarantee people's privacy in electronic communications.
German government spokesman Georg Streiter did not give a date for the intelligence chiefs' trip to Washington but said it was being arranged with relatively short notice.
"What exactly is going to be regulated, how and in what form it will be negotiated and by whom, I cannot tell you right now," he said. "But you will learn about it in the near future."
Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff has been outspoken on alleged US spying and took the rare step of cancelling a state visit to Washington recently after documents leaked by former National Security Agency analyst Edward Snowden showed the NSA stole computer data from Brazil's state-run oil company. Latin American and European diplomats said Brazil and Germany were leading efforts on the draft resolution, which would be non-binding, but would be seen as an expression of disapproval of alleged US espionage.
Brazil's Foreign Ministry confirmed that the country was drafting a UN resolution. Washington has contended it is necessary to intercept vast amounts of electronic data to fight terrorism effectively but the White House has said it is examining countries' concerns as part of an ongoing review of US intelligence-gathering.
A diplomat with a major European nation said the resolution could be considered by the UN General Assembly next month. It would expand the right to privacy guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which came into force in 1976.
l Editorial: page 42
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