US far from alone in spying on its allies, say former intelligence officials

European anger at reports that the US has conducted surveillance of allies' telephone calls and e-mails glosses over a basic truth, former intelligence officials say: everyone does it.

"All governments collect information on nearly all governments," said John McLaughlin, a former acting director of the CIA. "The posture of most governments is, 'We want to collect as much info as we can, so we can be as fluent as we can when we make decisions.' It's just what governments do."

US President Barack Obama's administration has been dogged this week by disclosures detailing allegations of surveillance of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's private mobile phone, of former Mexican president Felipe Calderon's e-mails and of the collection of data on French citizens.

The leaks, all traced to documents stolen by fugitive security contractor Edward Snowden, led Obama to call Merkel on Wednesday to assure her the US "is not monitoring and will not monitor the communications of the chancellor", White House press secretary Jay Carney said.

Complaints from Europe and Mexico about surveillance echo those from Brazil. Last month, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff cancelled a state visit to Washington after revelations that the National Security Agency had monitored her e-mail and telephone exchanges with top aides.

Government surveillance has a sinister resonance in Europe and news about US spying may have economic ramifications, said Fran Burwell, a vice-president at the Atlantic Council, a Washington policy group. It may complicate talks about a trans-atlantic trade pact and has exacerbated tensions between the US and the European Union over privacy, she said.

A European Parliament committee this week backed draft rules intended to toughen a 1995 privacy-protection law and impose penalties on domestic and foreign companies that violate it.