Pak, China among top five countries on US' surveillance list

The European Union has been reportedly ranked as a key priority target according to the revealed classified documents by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The documents suggest as per the list of NSA's spying targets, China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan and North Korea are of prime importance for surveillance, Der Spiegal reports.

According to the report, the US is especially interested in gathering intelligence related to the countries' foreign policy, international trade and economic stability along with topics related to new technology and energy security which score low level priority.

Additionally, Germany, France and Japan were considered of mid-level interest.

Snowden revealed the US government's secret surveillance program aimed at collecting huge amount of web user data and telephone records potentially flouting the legal norms.

He has been charged with violation of the Espionage Act by the Obama administration and has been granted a temporary asylum by Russia, much to the ire of the US officials.