Feb 26 (Reuters) - U.S. officials are examining whether

the U.K. broke agreements between the two nations with a

reported demand that Apple ( AAPL ) build a backdoor into its

encrypted cloud storage systems.

Apple ( AAPL ) last week withdrew an encrypted storage feature or

U.K. users after refusing to create a backdoor that would have

allowed the government to access backups of photos and messages

- including for users outside the U.K.

In a letter dated February 25 to two U.S. lawmakers, Tulsi

Gabbard, the U.S. director of national intelligence, said that

the U.S. is examining whether the demand broke a bilaterial

agreement called the CLOUD Act that bars the U.K. from issuing

demands for the data of U.S. citizens and vice versa.