Malcolm Rifkind: there is NO DOUBT reports using Snowden information played into terrorists' hands Rifkind says Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger on 'weak ground' Newspaper reports based on top-secret documents about British and US electronic surveillance could have helped terrorists evade monitoring and capture, a former foreign secretary said yesterday. Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, warned stories about Britain's electronic snooping capability - leaked by rogue CIA technician Edward Snowden - might have enabled terrorists to avoid detection. The former defence and foreign secretary also defended Downing Street's efforts to have The Guardian newspaper - which published many of Mr Snowden's revelations - destroy the classified documents held on computers in its offices. He said the documents were "top secret" and the intelligence and security agencies rightly wanted them destroyed. Yesterday, Nick Clegg confirmed he backed the decision to go after the documents - but refused to endorse the detention of David Miranda, the partner of the Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald who wrote the stories based on Snowden's stolen documents. Mr Miranda's detention for nine hours at Heathrow sparked a major row this week with civil liberties groups and Lib Dem backbenchers accusing the police of abusing counter-terrorism powers. The 28-year-old was reportedly carrying some of the top secret documents when he was stopped while changing planes on route from Berlin to Rio de Janeiro where he lives with Mr Greenwald. Police also seized his hard drives and other electronic equipment. Home Secretary Theresa May has defended the detention, saying the police acted in the interests of national security. A statement released by Mr Clegg's office said: "We understand the concerns about recent events, particularly around issues of freedom of the press and civil liberties." It said the Lib Dem leader will "wait and see" the findings of a review of the case to be carried out by a terror powers watchdog, David Anderson QC. Speaking on the Today programme, Sir Malcolm, a former defence and foreign secretary directly challenged repeated claims by the BBC that the documents held by the Guardian were destroyed to avoid "embarrassment" to Government He said it was "not a question of embarrassment to the government" - but "something potentially relevant to terrorism." He said: "There's no question that the various press reports of some of the Snowden leaks - what Snowden has given to various newspapers in the United States and the United Kingdom - gave information about the way in which the intelligence agencies are able to access emails or telephone calls by people who they suspect are terrorists - procedures that are much more sophisticated than perhaps terrorists understood. He said The Guardian's editor Alan Rusbridger was not in a position to judge whether the release of "top secret information" could have "significant relevance in the battle against terrorism." Yesterday, the Mail revealed that senior Downing Street mandarin Jeremy Heywood contacted The Guardian seeking to destroy documents it held on its server from the Snowden cache. After two months of negotiations, hard disk drives were smashed in the basement of the Guardian's building. Sir Malcolm added: "I think Mr Rusbridger and the article he wrote yesterday about the destruction of his hard disc is on relatively weak ground. "Clearly if he thought that what he was doing was perfectly lawful that he was perfectly entitled to have these documents he would have told the Cabinet Secretary to "get lost." "As far as the security agencies were concerned, he said, "there was a top secret document, which the Guardian had in its possession. They wanted that back or they wanted it destroyed. On the destruction of the hard disks, Mrs May told BBC Radio 4"s The World At One: "If Government believes information that could be of help to terrorists is potentially being held insecurely, could fall into the wrong hands, I think it is right the Government should act. I don't find it strange that should be done at a senior level. Mr Snowden who worked for the CIA and the National Security Agency, has been granted temporary asylum by Russia after the US charged him with espionage. He stole a raft of top secret US government documents on the activities of the NSA before leaking them to the Guardian and US newspapers.