UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan would be disappointed if reports proved true that Britain was spying on him, and if there is any bugging he wants it stopped, UN chief spokesman Mr Fred Eckhard said this evening.
"We want this action to stop if indeed it has been carried out. It undermines the secretary-general's conduct of business with other leaders. It is therefore not good for the United Nations' work and it is illegal," Mr Eckhard told reporters.
Mr Eckhard spoke after former British government minister Ms Clare Short said London conducted spying operations on Mr Annan as the US and Britain struggled - and ultimately failed - to win UN support for invading Iraq.
Asked whether British spies had been told to carry out operations within the UN, Ms Short told BBC radio: "Yes, absolutely."
Her claims threatened a fresh crisis for Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair as he tries to put the Iraq war behind him.
The government said in a statement that it would not comment on security matters but insisted Britain's intelligence services always act within the law.
Mr Eckhard said the world body was not in a position to say whether Short's statements were correct but said it planned to step up its sweeps for bugging equipment in Mr Annan's office.
"We are not in a position to determine if this happened or not. We are saying if that is true, we are disappointed and we would expect every member-state to respect the legal underpinnings to guard the confidentiality of communications," he said.
"We are throwing down a red flag and saying, 'if this is true, then stop it."
Mr Eckhard said British Ambassador Mr Emyr Jones Parry had telephoned Mr Annan on Mr Blair's behalf, but he declined to comment on the content of the conversation.