TORONTO — Canadian authorities allowed the National Security Agency (NSA) to spy in the country during the G-8 and G-20 summits in Ontario in 2010, CBC News reported late Wednesday, citing documents shared by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

The national broadcaster’s website said the documents show that the NSA used the United States Embassy in Ottawa as a command post for a nearly week-long spying operation while President Barack Obama and other foreign leaders were in Canada in June 2010.

It reported that the operation was no secret to the Canadian authorities, with an NSA briefing note describing the operation as “closely coordinated with the Canadian partner”.

The documents did not reveal the precise targets of the NSA operation, but described part of the US eavesdropping agency’s mandate at the Toronto summit as “providing support to policymakers”.

A spokesman for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper declined to comment on the allegations in the CBC report. “We do not comment on operational matters related to national security. Our security organisations have independent oversight mechanisms to ensure that they fulfil their mandate in accordance with the law,” Mr Jason MacDonald said in an email to Reuters.

A spokeswoman for Canada’s equivalent of the NSA, the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC), also said it could not comment on the operations of Canada or its allies. “Under the law, CSEC does not target Canadians anywhere or any person in Canada through its foreign intelligence activities,” Ms Lauri Sullivan said. “CSEC cannot ask our international partners to act in a way that circumvents Canadian laws.”

The latest development came as another document by Snowden revealed that the NSA has been collecting details about the online sexual activity of prominent Islamist radicals in order to undermine them.

The agency targeted six unnamed “radicalisers”, none of whom is alleged to have been involved in terror plots, the Huffington Post reported.

One document argues that if the vulnerabilities they are accused of were to be exposed, this could lead to their devotion to the jihadist cause being brought into question, with a corresponding loss of authority.

As an example of vulnerabilities, it lists: “Viewing sexually explicit material online or using sexually persuasive language when communicating with inexperienced young girls.”

Vulnerabilities identified include: “Publishes articles without checking facts”; “deceitful use of funds”; “charges exorbitant speaking fees”; “attracted to fame”; and “glamorous lifestyle”.

The names of the six targeted individuals have been redacted. One is listed as having been imprisoned for inciting hatred against non-Muslims.

Another of the six is also described as a “US person”, meaning a citizen or permanent resident, but the others are not identified other than to say they are living outside the US. A document said a significant proportion of their audience was in Pakistan.

Mr Shawn Turner, press spokesman for the US Director of National Intelligence, said in an email to the Huffington Post that it was not surprising the US government “uses all of the lawful tools at our disposal to impede the efforts of valid terrorist targets who seek to harm the nation and radicalise others to violence”.

The White House has faced criticism for the NSA’s surveillance practices since the first revelations by Snowden in June.

Transatlantic tensions reached boiling point after a report was published in the Sydney Morning Herald that clandestine surveillance facilities were operating at Australian diplomatic sites throughout Asia.

Australia’s Fairfax Media reported that the embassies involved are in Beijing, Jakarta, Bangkok, Hanoi and Dili in East Timor; and High Commissions in Kuala Lumpur and Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea.

The United Nations General Assembly’s human rights committee is expected to vote next week on a resolution to protect the right to privacy against unlawful surveillance in the digital age. AGENCIES