Algeria one of 20 African countries on UK spy list

British intelligence service targeted the Embassy of Algeria in Saudi Arabia as part of its African spy programme, the daily French newspaper Le Monde has revealed.

In documents extracted by the French newspaper it was revealed how the British intelligence services spied on 20 African countries between 2009 and 2010 according to archives of the former consultant of the National Security Agency (NSA) Edward Snowden.

The British programme included tapping into the mobile phones of company workers, satellites and ministry of international affairs, as well as spying in many embassies around the world.

“The identity of the targets is in the lists of hundreds of the GCHQ interceptions including heads of state, prime ministers in office or leaving power, diplomats, military and intelligence leaders, opposition figures and the main players in the economic and financial life of twenty African countries,” Le Monde wrote.

The newspaper also published a detailed depiction of the targeted countries including Algeria and Libya with Algeria having more of its diplomats spied on.

The Algerian ambassador to Riyadh at the time and the Libyan foreign minister were amongst those who were spied on.

Tunisia and Morocco were not on the spy list.

According to the newspaper’s investigation, the British Secret Services have diverted “satellite communications flows for spying purposes and by doing so have violated the political, economic and strategic sovereignty of the countries allied to the UK.