US secret agencies 'spied on personal e-mails'

Washington: American intelligence agencies have been accused of spying on the e-mails of millions of Americans, including those of former president Bill Clinton.

In the latest in a series of intelligence scandals to hit Washington, details of a secretive email surveillance scheme are beginning to come to light - with fresh allegations reported in the New York Times.

The Times quotes one anonymous National Security Agency (NSA) analyst who claims that electronic messages sent to and from American citizens, and says that the former president - whose wife is now the country's secretary of state - was among those targeted by the sweep.

The database system, called Pinwale, is used by NSA to intercept and examine huge volumes of email passing through American telecommunications networks.

The NSA has confirmed that Pinwale exists, although it will not comment on the latest allegations or give further details on how the system operates.

The head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which has been investigating the unauthorised surveillance claims for several years, reacted to the news of Pinwale system by suggesting that nothing illegal had taken place.

However California Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, said she had previously investigated Pinwale and believed it did not violate the law.

"We asked the questions. We were assured it was not correct," Feinstein told a Judiciary Committee hearing. "I've gone over this chapter and verse. I do not believe that any content is reviewed in this programme."

That stance is a sharp contrast with four years ago, when Feinstein told the Senate said that she had a "very heavy heart" after learning that intelligence services had acted in contravention of laws that she had helped pass.

In 2005 it emerged that President Bush had bypassed the usual process of court approval for wiretaps, encouraging NSA officials to conduct wiretaps at his command.

Accused of abusing his powers, Bush claimed it was his "constitutional responsibility" - but while Congress objected, the controversy ended last year with a compromise that effectively approved his actions and gave immunity to telecoms companies for aiding the NSA.