Washington: After WikiLeaks' bombshell revelation on how the United States' National Security Agency has been eavesdropping on French leaders for over a decade, the White House has come ahead to assure France that America is not spying on President Francois Hollande.
Meanwhile, reacting to the reports, France has summoned the US envoy in Paris and will also be sending an intelligence official to US to discuss the leaks, reports said.
Hours after the WikiLeaks released the NSA documents named 'Espionnage Élysée', US National Security Council spokesman Ned Price issued a statement Tuesday evening assuring that the US is "not targeting and will not target the communications of President Hollande."
"We do not conduct any foreign intelligence surveillance activities unless there is a specific and validated national security purpose...This applies to ordinary citizens and world leaders alike. We work closely with France on all matters of international concern, and the French are indispensable partners," the statement added.
The NSA is in spotlight again after the WikiLeaks' latest expose which claims that the US wiretapped Hollande and also his two predecessors - Nicolas Sarkozy (2007–2012), and Jacques Chirac (1995–2007).
RELEASE: Espionnage Élysée - how the NSA bugged Hollande, Sarkozy and Chirac https://t.co/uflJlxeJdO pic.twitter.com/k8hDycaxNV
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 23, 2015
Meanwhile, the French Presidency has issued a statement urging the US to respect its commitment and abide by the promise of not spying on French leaders.
Conseil de défense : la France ne tolèrera aucun agissement mettant en cause sa sécurité et ses intérêts pic.twitter.com/PXLIx6grYK
— Élysée (@Elysee) June 24, 2015
The statement came after the President called an emergency meeting of his country’s defence council in the morning to evaluate the claims reported by the newspaper Libération and investigative news website Mediapart.
Francois Hollande calls emergency meeting after WikiLeaks reveals US spied on three French presidents http://t.co/R7rGCcvux3
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 23, 2015
According to WikiLeaks documents, the US spy agency also snooped on French cabinet ministers and the French Ambassador to the United States.
Earlier in 2013, German press was abuzz with reports of NSA spying on Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Agitated over the claims, Merkel had called up Obama, asking for explanations over the matter.
Obama had reportedly apologized to Merkel and said that he was not in the know of the fact that her phone was being monitored, saying that he would have stopped it had he known.
The furore in Germany over the US surveillance resulted in an official inquiry into German intelligence co-operation with the United States.
However, the WikiLeaks says that its latest publication “provides much greater insight into US spying on its allies, including the actual content of intelligence products deriving from the intercepts, showing how the US spies on the phone calls of French leaders and ministers for political, economic and diplomatic intelligence”.
