France summoned the U.S.
ambassador on Wednesday to explain allegations by transparency
lobby group WikiLeaks of what President Francois Hollande
branded "unacceptable" spying on successive French leaders.
The latest revelations of espionage among Western allies
come after it emerged the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA)
had spied on Germany and that Germany's own BND intelligence
agency had cooperated with the NSA to spy on officials and
companies elsewhere in Europe.
Hollande held an emergency meeting of his ministers and army
commanders after revelations the NSA had spied on the last three
French presidents. Government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said a
senior French intelligence official would be dispatched to the
United States to confirm the spying is over.
"France will not tolerate actions that threaten its security
and the protection of its interests," a statement from the
president's office said, adding it was not the first time that
allegations of U.S. spying on French interests had surfaced.
"Commitments were made by the U.S. authorities. They need to
be recalled and strictly respected."
The French Foreign Ministry summoned the U.S. ambassador.
After meeting Hollande, lawmakers told reporters the French
leader had informed them he would speak with President Barack
Obama later in the day.
A statement from the U.S. National Security Council said it
was not targeting and would not target Hollande's communications
but did not say whether spying had taken place in the past.
"We have to verify this spying has finished," Le Foll told
reporters, adding that ministers were told to be careful when
speaking on their mobile phones.
"Between allies this is unacceptable and incomprehensible.
France does not spy on its allies."
While Paris and Washington have good ties in general, U.N.
Security Council veto-holder France fiercely maintains its
independence on foreign policy and over the last two years there
have been moments of friction and irritation on both sides.
Hollande was disappointed by Obama's last-minute decision
not to strike Syrian government positions in 2013. U.S.
officials have frequently, in private, lambasted France's tough
stance in talks over Iran's nuclear program.
The revelations were first reported by French daily
Liberation and on news website Mediapart, which said the NSA
spied on presidents Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois
Hollande during the period of at least 2006 until May 2012.
According to the documents, Sarkozy considered restarting
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks without U.S. involvement and
Hollande feared a Greek euro zone exit back in 2012.
Le Foll said Paris had not decided whether to launch legal
proceedings as Germany had done but, amid calls from some
quarters for retaliation, played down diplomatic consequences.
"In the face of threats that we face and given the historic
ties linking us, we have to keep a perspective," he said. "We're
not going to break diplomatic ties."
Germany's top public prosecutor closed a year-long probe
earlier this month into the suspected tapping of Chancellor
Angela Merkel's cell phone by U.S. spies.
Claude Gueant, Sarkozy's former chief of staff and one of
the reported targets of the NSA, told RTL radio: "I feel like
trust has been broken."
The documents included summaries of conversations between
French officials on the global financial crisis, the future of
the European Union, ties between Hollande's administration and
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government.
The documents also contained cell phone numbers of officials
in the Elysee presidential palace, including the cell phone of
the president, WikiLeaks said.
Ironically, the French parliament will adopt on Wednesday an
intelligence bill to enhance counter-terrorism activities. It
waives the need for judicial warrants to deploy phone taps,
hidden microphones, cameras and other devices.
Critics say the law permits activities similar to the
widespread intelligence-gathering exposed by former National
Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.
REUTERS
For more details, watch Dalal Mawad's report in the video above