SHORT MAY FACE BUGGING PROBE.

Byline: OONAGH BLACKMAN Deputy Political Editor

MAVERICK ex-minister Clare Short could face a Scotland Yard probe over leaking state secrets about spying.

As more claims about international espionage emerged yesterday, Home Secretary David Blunkett said Ms Short could face investigation for claiming Britain spied on UN chief Kofi Annan.

The Mirror can also reveal that the government fears embarrassment next week about its bugging operations, when Labour MPs demand the truth from Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.

Ms Short, who quit the government at the end of the Iraq war last May, has been bitterly condemned by Labour MPs and branded "damaged goods".

She broke Cabinet secrecy rules when she went public with claims she had read transcripts of Mr Annan's intercepted conversations in the run up to the conflict. Mr Blunkett said yesterday: "We are taking a look at what is necessary to do in the cold light of day. I didn't say there will be no investigation."

Officials believe Ms Short breached the Official Secrets Act but are unlikely to punish her heavily for fear of turning her into a martyr.

Mr Blunkett added: "I wasn't shown any transcripts and I am one of the very few people - and Clare Short is not one - who have clearance for the full security material that comes through."

Asked if she breached the Secrets Act, Mr Blunkett replied: "We are weighing the detail... what needs to be done and whether what Clare Short said is the truth." In a series of revelations yesterday ex-chief UN weapons inspector Richard Butler said he had to walk in New York's Central Park to avoid bugs.

Former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali also said he was warned on his first day at work his office and home would be bugged.

And a source in the Australian intelligence agency said former UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix's mobile phone was regularly bugged.

The UN yesterday demanded Britain halt any spy operations against them, if in fact there are any.

A top aide to Mr Annan, Edward Mortimer, said: "We do realise these things happen but it was a shock to hear it from the mouth of a former Cabinet minister that the British Government had been spying on the Secretary General of the United Nations."

CAPTION(S):

MEETING: Jack Straw