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2 Nov, 2013

Indonesia summons Aussie ambassador over spying claim | The Japan Times

SYDNEY – Australia’s ambassador met with Indonesian government officials who summoned him Friday following reports that the Australian Embassy in Jakarta is a hub for Washington’s secret electronic data-collection program.

A document from National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, published this week by German magazine Der Spiegel, describes a signals intelligence program called “Stateroom” in which U.S., British, Australian and Canadian embassies house surveillance equipment to collect electronic communications. Those countries, along with New Zealand, have an intelligence-sharing agreement known as “Five Eyes.”

The Australian Embassy in Jakarta was listed as one of the embassies involved in a report from Australia’s Fairfax media, along with Australian embassies in Bangkok, Hanoi, Beijing and Dili in East Timor; and High Commissions in Kuala Lumpur and Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Des Ball, a top Australian intelligence expert, told AP he had personally seen covert antennas in five of the embassies named in the report.

Read the rest: Indonesia summons Aussie ambassador over spying claim | The Japan Times.