Government agents force the Guardian to destroy Snowden files

'The paper’s editor Alan Rusbridger said they were threatened of court action by the British government is they failed to destroy the files, containing US security secrets, or hand them to authorities.

The paper, which has revealed part of the information it apparently obtained from Snowden, was in the middle of publishing embarrassing material on mass surveillance programs led by the US National Security Agency (NSA) and its British counterpart the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).

Rusbridger said they were contacted by “a very senior government official claiming to represent the views of the prime minister” adding that the official “demanded the return or destruction of all the material we were working on.”'

Read more: Government agents force the Guardian to destroy Snowden files