UN reopens probe into bugging of European HQ

The UN has reopened an investigation into the discovery of a secret listening device at its European headquarters in Geneva.

The listening device was found last year during renovation work in a room known as the Salon Francais – which adjoins a main conference hall at the global body’s Geneva offices – where it could have been used to eavesdrop on private conversations.

An official said the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services had started an investigation.

The device was discovered by workmen who were renovating the room, but an initial investigation failed to determine who had planted the device.

Surveillance expert Patrick Daniel Eugster – who saw photographs of the device - said that most of the components are from Russia.

The device had probably been in place for at least three years, judging from the size of its components, said Eugster, who is head of Geneva-based Surveillance Consulting Group.

There has been no specific sweep of the Palais des Nations – the rambling 1930s complex which houses the global body’s European headquarters – in response to the discovery, but regular checks are made for listening devices, said Marie Heuze, the UN’s spokeswoman in Geneva.

“There is always some kind of control going on in the rooms, on a random basis,” Heuze said.