The United States’ National Security Agency (NSA) spied on three successive French Presidents over a six year period, according to WikiLeaks.
Citing “top secret intelligence reports and technical documents”, WikiLeaks says that the NSA spied on President Jacques Chirac, President Nicolas Sarkozy and President Francois Hollande between 2006 and 2012.
The news comes barely two years since allegations that the National Security Agency (NSA) had wiretapped German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Since the leaks were revealed, the office of French President Francois Hollande has released a statement saying France “will not tolerate” acts threatening its security “and the protection of its interests.”
“Commitments were made by the U.S. authorities. They need to be recalled and strictly respected,” the statement said.
Hollande is reportedly talking to security chiefs about the documents published by WikiLeaks under the title “Espionnage Elysee“. The BBC also quoted comments by a French official who said spying “between allies was unacceptable”.
At the time of this writing, Reuters is citing diplomatic sources saying that the French Foreign Ministry has summoned the U.S. ambassador to discuss the matter. The U.S. Embassy has so far declined to comment.
[Source BBC, Image by CC 3.0/GraphicTribe]