LONDON - The editor of the Guardian newspaper says that British agents destroyed an unspecified number of his newsroom's hard drives in an apparent bid to keep Edward Snowden's leaked intelligence material safe from Chinese spies.
Alan Rusbridger made the claim in an opinion published to the newspaper's website Monday, saying that two experts from British eavesdropping agency GCHQ came to his office to oversee the process.
Rusbridger did not explicitly say why GCHQ demanded the material's destruction, but suggested it was ordered to keep it out of the hands of "passing Chinese agents."
It was not clear exactly when the incident occurred.
Rusbridger gave a vague timeline, suggesting that it happened within the past month or so. Guardian spokesman Gennady Kolker declined to comment further. GCHQ did not immediately comment.
