The UN bugging row has escalated with fresh allegations that former chief weapons inspector Hans Blix had his mobile phone tapped in Iraq.

Another senior UN inspector, Richard Butler, has also revealed that he knew he was being bugged....

An Australian intelligence source claimed Blix's mobile phone was monitored and his conversations recorded while he was in Iraq before the war.

"The transcripts were then made available to the United States, Australia, Canada, the UK and also New Zealand," said Andrew Fowler, an ABC investigative reporter.

He did not say who tapped Blix's phone....

--Sky News