Latest Snowden leaks claim GCHQ intercepts undersea cables from Cyprus
Fresh allegations surrounding the covert activities of GCHQ have been made by renegade former National Security Agency employee Edward Snowden.
They assert that a secret listening base on the island, codenamed ‘Sounder’, has been actively engaged in intercepting traffic from 14 undersea cables which pass through the island on their way to the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.
This gives the UK access to tens of millions of emails, telephone calls, instant messages and web traffic which is routed through the island.
According to leaked reports reports the station is located at a British military base at Dhekelia, Ayios Nikolaos, in a cluster of buildings visible from satellite imagery and bristling with satellite dishes and antennae.
Italian news magazine L’Espresso reported: “A number of cables connect Cyprus to Israel and Syria, obvious targets for Anglo-American spying. Other cables run from Cyprus to Lebanon, Cyprus to Egypt and Turkey to Greece and Italy.”