GENEVA, Dec 17 (AFP) - The United Nations said Friday it recently found a bugging device at its European headquarters in Geneva, while a UN source hinted that similar contraptions may have been discovered in the past.
"I confirm that in the course of the renovation of the Salon Francais (French Hall), UN technical workmen found what was considered to be a sophisticated listening device," said the UN spokeswoman here, Marie Heuze.
"An investigation has failed to determine who could have planted the device," she told a news conference, reading from a statement.
A UN source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was the first time the world body had acknowledged such a discovery after a Swiss television station broke the news on Thursday evening.
"We made an investigation, but it did not identify who had been responsible for installing this device and nobody was able to say when it was planted," the source told AFP. "The investigation is now closed."
Switzerland, however, has asked the United Nations to waive its diplomatic immunity to enable Swiss police to launch their own inquiry, a spokesman said, while China's ambassador to the UN in Geneva urged for more action to be taken.
"My personal feeling is that it is really disgusting and I think something must be done to stop such kind of activities," said ambassador Sha Zukang.
"I hate it, I can tell you," he told reporters, noting that high-level Chinese officials often held meetings at the UN's sprawling offices.
It is the first time that such a device has been found and publicly revealed, but the UN source indicated that similar discoveries might have been made in the past.
"That could be," the source said, without revealing further details.
The discovery was reminiscent of allegations earlier this year by a former minister in Britain that British spies had bugged the office of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan during the tense weeks leading to the US-led invasion of Iraq in March of that year.
The bugging device in Geneva was spotted in the French Hall -- so-named because it was decorated by the celebrated French artist Jules Leleu in the 1930s -- in the first week of November, while it was being renovated, a French diplomat said.
The spacious room, with a high ceiling and fancy mirror on one wall, was used by a French delegation during a meeting of foreign ministers in September 2003 from Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States to discuss Iraq.
France's President Jacques Chirac also used the room, which is next door to the main Council Chamber where top-level discussions are held, in January when he met his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to discuss famine.
The French diplomat, however, dismissed the notion that France had been the target of the listening device, noting that whoever put it there had probably been more interested in UN discussions between New York and Geneva.
"The Salon Francais is often reserved for bilateral meetings between all of the countries because it is the most beautiful room in the Palais" des Nations -- the name of the UN's Geneva headquarters -- the diplomat said.
Paris financed, in part, the renovation of the room that took place between October 25 and November 20, he said.
It was in charge of renovating artistic objects and ornaments, while the UN team, which found the bug, had attended to the larger paintings and other items such as the carpet and ceiling.
"This room is not an important room that is why we were surprised at the discovery," said the UN source.
The source declined to speculate whether the United Nations was worried that other recording equipment may have been installed in more high-profile locations as well.
An expert contacted by Swiss TSR television, which broke the story Thursday, said the listening device had been very sophisticated and difficult to detect.
Made of components from Russia or eastern Europe, the device was probably three or four years old, said the expert.
12/17/2004 17:07 GMT - AFP