US spying on France’s presidents, WikiLeaks reports

New documents released by WikiLeaks shows that the United States placed wiretaps on three for presidents of France, namely Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy, and the current leader Francois Hollande.

The spying spanned 2006 to 2012, French newspaper Liberation and the Mediapart website, said on Tuesday, quoting documents classed as “Top Secret” which include five reports from the US National Security Agency based on intercepted communications.

The most recent document is dated May 22, 2012, just days before Hollande took office, and reveals that the French leader “approved holding secret meetings in Paris to discuss the eurozone crisis, particularly the consequences of a Greek exit from the eurozone.”

Another document dated 2008 was titled “Sarkozy sees himself as only one who can resolve world financial crisis.”

Hollande called a meeting of his defence council to discuss the reports on Wednesday.

Ever since documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden showed in 2013 that the NSA had been eavesdropping on the mobile phone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, it had been understood that the US had been using the digital spying agency to intercept the conversations of allied politicians.

Still, the new revelations are bound to cause diplomatic embarrassment for the Americans, even though allies have been spying on allies for thousands of years.

Hollande said last year that he discussed his concerns about NSA surveillance with President Barack Obama during a visit to the US, and they patched up their differences.

 

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