US asked British spy agency to stop Guardian publishing Snowden revelations

Head of GCHQ rebuffed late-night request from National Security Agency amid strained relations in Five Eyes intelligence coalition

The US National Security Agency (NSA) tried to persuade its British counterpart to stop the Guardian publishing revelations about secret mass data collection from the NSA contractor, Edward Snowden, according to a new book.

Sir Iain Lobban, the head of Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), was reportedly called with the request in the early hours of 6 June 2013 but rebuffed the suggestion that his agency should act as a censor on behalf of its US partner in electronic spying.