The british parliament have acknowledged membership of the UKUSA agreement. It happened in the annual report 1999-2000 from the Intelligence and Security Comittee. Link: http://www.official-documents.co.uk/document/cm48/4897/4897.htm The danish primeminister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen was handed the report in march, but apparantly decided to try to bury it. The following article was printed in Ekstra Bladet today. Yours Bo Elkjaer, Denmark BRITISH SPIES: WE ARE PART OF UKUSA The British intelligence service has admitted for the first time that they cooperate with the USA on surveillance through the UKUSA agreement. For several months now, Denmark's prime minister has had proof that the surveillance agreement behind Echelon exists. Poul Nyrup Rasmussen has had an official British acknowledgement of the spy agreement behind Echelon in his possession for several months. The British confirmation is in writing, and it confirms the fact that the British and the Americans cooperate closely on intelligence assignments under the UKUSA agreement. The UKUSA cooperation is accused of standing behind the Echelon system, and it is the first time that any of the involved parties officially mention the existence of the controversial agreement whose precise contents are still classified. The Intelligence and Security Committee of the British Parliament mentions the close cooperation in its annual report for 1999-2000. The report was delivered to Great Britain's prime minister Tony Blair in August of last year, but Denmark's prime minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen has known about the report since March of this year at least. 'The quality of the compiled intelligence clearly indicates the value of this close cooperation under the UKUSA agreement,' says the official British report, which subsequently, and in great detail, reveals how close the cooperation between the British and the Americans actually is. The report mentions as an example that the British took over the assignments of the USA's National Security Agency (NSA) for three days in 2000, when the NSA's computers broke down. For three days, the British were capable of servicing their own 'clients', as well as the USA's, by tapping telefaxes, e-mails and phone conversations. The British report confirms in writing the very same issues about which several Danish parties have been trying to get Denmark's prime minister, Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, to ask Great Britain's prime minister, Tony Blair: whether the US and Great Britain are cooperating on surveillance. NOT MY TABLE Through a secretary, prime minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen refuses to comment. He refers the matter to the Ministry of Defence. Yet in spite of Nyrup's referral, Minister of Defence Jan Trøjborg is also unwilling to comment on the Echelon case that is putting the government under increasing pressure. The chairman of the Socialist Party, Holger K. Nielsen, informs Ekstra Bladet that he will try to force Poul Nyrup Rasmussen to contact Tony Blair regarding an Echelon inquiry, possibly by going around the government to get a majority: "They might as well do it now. The pressure from the parties will continue to increase. It's unreasonable that this information should just be quietly ignored. Is it acceptable that with the information now in its possession the government keeps refusing to inform the public, to organise any kind of investigation or merely to send an inquiry to Great Britain? "No, it is not acceptable. In my opinion, they should contact Great Britain in the form of an inquiry," says Holger K. Nielsen. "This affair concerns the European countries, and I find it very unacceptable that Great Britain is hedging its bets here." "The Echelon Report from the European Parliament particularly emphasises the industrial conflicts between the USA and Europe. In my opinion, Great Britain is playing Trojan Horse in this game, which is unacceptable. Hopefully, the government will realise that they must react." Do you think they will? "They appear quite intractable. But in light of the fact that the European Parliament places such a high priority on the case, they can't keep avoiding the issue." DEMANDS CLARITY Prime minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen learned about the British report, which confirms the intelligence cooperation, in March in connection with an official question asked in a session of parliament. The question to the prime minister was submitted by member of parliament Keld Albrechtsen after Ekstra Bladet had sent a copy of the annual report of the British intelligence agency to Mr Albrechtsen for a comment. Instead, Mr Albrechtsen chose to formulate a question to the prime minister, who replied one month later, on 26 April 2001. In his reply, Poul Nyrup Rasmussen merely stated that neither the Danish Defence Intelligence Service nor the Police Department's intelligence service are willing to comment on the cooperation agreements of other countries in the intelligence field. Thus two other highly placed ministers must know about the global surveillance, i.e. Minister of Justice Frank Jensen and Minister of Defence Jan Trøjborg. A few days ago, Helge Adam Møller, MP for the Conservative Party, tried to get a majority of parliament to force Nyrup Rasmussen to ask Blair about Echelon. The Liberal Party refused to support the proposal however. Ekstra Bladet asked the Liberal Party's spokesman in the area whether it was acceptable that the government refused to inform the general public about Echelon or to ask the British about the matter. "What is seriously unacceptable is that the government has trouble deciding what to inform the parliament about," says Kristian Jensen. "The Radical Liberal Party in the government says that Denmark should do something about Echelon and the Social Democrats say it doesn't even exist. It is unacceptable to us that the government can't make up its mind on the issue. Therefore, our first demand is that the government should get control over its own legs and agree on what it knows about Echelon and on what it intends to tell the Danish parliament," says Kristian Jensen. "So we're looking for some clear answers from the government as to what it can tell us about Echelon and what the government's position actually is." After Ekstra Bladet's disclosure, Knud Erik Hansen of the Socialist Party will now request a meeting with Poul Nyrup Rasmussen on the matter. -- EOT