Foreign minister hands over evidence of Argentine spying targets, with their email passwords

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Argentina's foreign minister says a who's-who of leading figures in Argentine politics have been victims of espionage, and he has the evidence to prove it.

Hector Timerman says he was handed an envelope at last week's Mercosur meeting with a list of more than 100 Argentine politicians, Cabinet ministers, diplomats and journalists that included their email usernames and secret passwords. On Monday, he handed the list over to Argentina's top prosecutor for criminal investigation.

Timerman did not name names, but said a high-ranking official who was part of the summit gave documents to him as well as a third country's official.

South American leaders condemned spying by the U.S. government, which admits collecting internet records worldwide but says it doesn't read emails unless it needs to for national security reasons.