UNITED NATIONS — Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the U.S. State Department and the chief U.N. arms inspector for Iraq all denied Wednesday that U.N. weapons teams collected sensitive electronic intelligence for the Clinton administration designed to topple the government of Saddam Hussein.
"We not only have no convincing evidence of these allegations, we have no evidence of any kind," said Fred Eckhard, Annan's spokesman.
"Have we facilitated spying? Are we spies? Absolutely not," reporters were angrily told by Richard Butler, chairman of the United Nations Special Commission charged with destroying Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, known as UNSCOM.
And James P. Rubin, the State Department's spokesman, said that "at no time did the U.S. work with anyone at UNSCOM to collect information for the purpose of undermining the Iraqi regime."
The avalanche of denials was set off by articles in two major newspapers. The Boston Globe said U.S. intelligence agencies using the arms inspectors as a cover conducted an important spying operation designed to penetrate Iraq's intelligence apparatus and track Hussein's movements.
The Washington Post reported that Annan had obtained what he regarded as convincing evidence that the inspectors helped collect eavesdropping material used by Americans in efforts to undermine Iraq's government.
The Post quoted unnamed confidants of the secretary-general as saying he was deeply alarmed by the implications for the United Nations, which cannot be a party to efforts to overthrow one of its member states.
Butler and the State Department said the arms inspectors in Iraq had received "technical assistance" from the United States, including a U-2 reconnaissance aircraft.
Rubin said the aid was requested by UNSCOM and "involved the provision of intelligence and technology . . . that has been vital to the effectiveness of the United Nations carrying out its inspection mandate."
He declined to answer directly when asked whether, as a byproduct of providing the assistance, the U.S. may have obtained some sensitive information.
"It is very difficult for me to be more specific without going into the details of what U.N. inspectors or others are doing," Rubin said.
He added that none of this activity would have been necessary if Iraq had lived up to its obligations to destroy its weapons of mass destruction.
