US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has told British lawmakers that the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was "bought" by the Chinese government, reports said on Wednesday.
Pompeo told a closed meeting of invited lawmakers on Tuesday that his allegation was based on a "firm intelligence foundation" but he gave no details, The Times and other media said.
The newspaper cited "multiple sources" who attended the event hosted in London by the Henry Jackson Society, a right-wing foreign policy think-tank.
"When push came to shove, when it really mattered most, when there was a pandemic in China, Dr Tedros, who was ... bought by the Chinese government," The Telegraph quoted Pompeo as saying.
"I can't say more, but I can tell [you] I'm saying this on a firm intelligence foundation, a deal was made .. there was a deal making [Tedros'] election and when push came to shove, you get dead Britons."
Pompeo and US President Donald Trump have strongly criticized the WHO's response to the coronavirus pandemic and accused it of helping China to mask the initial severity and source of the virus.
But they have not previously claimed Tedros was "bought" by Beijing.
