UK spied on G20 leaders during their 2009 summit in London

Britain and the US have spied on leaders of the G20 countries, including the then-Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, during summits in London back in 2009, new revelations show.

In potentially explosive disclosures ahead of the G8 summit in Northern Ireland, The Guardian revealed Britain monitored communications between officials, especially those from Russia, Turkey and South Africa, during the two G20 meetings in April and September of 2009.

The paper said it has seen documents from Britain’s signal spying body, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), that demonstrate British spies persuaded members of foreign delegates to use specially prepared Internet cafes to be able to monitor their communications including emails and phone calls.

According to the report, at the time the Turkish finance minister, the whole South African delegate and the Russian president were intercepted with the latter being targeted by the US National Security Agency, with the knowledge of GCHQ, when Medvedev made call to Moscow.

The spying was reportedly done under orders from a senior official of the government of the then British Prime Minister Gordon Brown with the tapped information sent directly to his ministers.

The documents have been among those revealed by the US whistleblower and former CIA members Edward Snowden.

Snowden’s evidence showed the US government, especially the National Security Agency, has been conducting huge illegal surveillance globally.

The revelations about the G20 can be a great embarrassment to the British government, which is hosting a G8 summit within a few hours.