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WikiLeaks Reveals NSA’s Spy on French Presidents, Paris: Unacceptable

WikiLeaks Reveals NSA’s Spy on French Presidents, Paris: Unacceptable
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France said Wednesday that spying was "unacceptable between allies" after WikiLeaks said leaked documents showed that the US wiretapped President Francois Hollande and his two predecessors.

WikiLeaks Reveals NSA’s Spy on French Presidents, Paris: Unacceptable

"It is unacceptable between allies," French government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said, shortly before an emergency meeting called by Hollande with his security chiefs.

"It is difficult to accept that between allies ... there can be this kind of activity, particularly related to wiretapping linked to the president of the Republic," Le Foll said.

"When we are fighting terrorism, one has trouble imagining or understanding what would motivate an ally to spy on his allies," he added.

Le Foll also tried to play down the controversy, saying it was not something that should trigger a major crisis.

"There are enough dangerous crises in the world today," he said.

France is to convene a meeting of its defense council Wednesday after the communications - classed as "Top Secret" and revealing spying on Hollande, Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac from 2006 to 2012 - were published online by WikiLeaks, in partnership with French newspaper Liberation and the Mediapart website.

WikiLeaks has announced a plan to reveal a new collection of reports and documents on the US National Security Agency, concerning its interception of communications within the French government over the last ten years.

The whistleblowing team headed by Julian Assange published the first batch of documents proving that the NSA targeted high-level officials in Paris for a decade on their website on Tuesday.

"The French people have a right to know that their elected government is subject to hostile surveillance from a supposed ally. We are proud of our work with leading French publishers Liberation and Mediapart to bring this story to light. French readers can expect more timely and important revelations in the near future," Julian Assange said in a press-release.

The project ‘Espionnage Élysée' lists cell phone numbers, including the direct cell phone of the president. It will also feature intelligence summaries of conversations within the French government on such topics, as the global financial crisis, the future of the EU and the US spying on France.

The cache of documents includes intelligence summaries of conversations between French leaders, their countrymen and foreigner officials on critical issues, including the dispute between Paris and Washington over US spying. Among other topics, the documents also cover relations between the Hollande administration and Angel Merkel's government, and negotiations over the Greek debt crisis.

It's not the first time that the NSA has been revealed to be spying on European leaders. The agency was found to have targeted the phone of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and even used the American Embassy in Berlin as a listening station, according to documents leaked by Edward Snowden and published at the end of 2013. The revelation created a considerable rift between Washington and Berlin.

While the list of phones that were spied on is redacted, French newspaper Libération, in partnership with Wikileaks on this project, identified the numbers. They include not only individual numbers of former President Nicolas Sarkozy, his advisers and several ministries, but also of the service run by the General Secretariat of Defense and National Security [SGDSN] responsible of providing secure communications between the president and his government, also known as "the red phone." The newspaper writes, however, there is no indication that the secure links have been compromised.

Yet the US National Security council said that they have no comment on "specific intelligence allegations," but stressed that as a general rule they do not spy on leaders.

"As a general matter, we do not conduct any foreign intelligence surveillance activities unless there is a specific and validated national security purpose," the statement reads. "This applies to ordinary citizens and world leaders alike."

"We are not targeting and will not target the communications of President Hollande," said National Security Council spokesman Ned Price, without addressing what surveillance might have been done in the past.

"We work closely with France on all matters of international concern, and the French are indispensable partners."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

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