France slams US

PARIS: Francois Hollande has lashed out at the US and summoned its ambassador to France following allegations that its National Security Agency listened to the phone conversations of the French president and his two predecessors.
France said it “will not tolerate any acts that threaten its security” after Hollande met his top intelligence officials and cabinet ministers to discuss the documents released by WikiLeaks the night before.
The president’s office called the revelations “unacceptable”, and diplomatic sources said US Ambassador Jane Hartley had been summoned to meet French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.
As the diplomatic row unfolded over the latest accusations of the US spying on a leader of a European ally, the Elysee said French authorities had already discussed the alleged espionage with their American counterparts in 2013 and in February 2014, during Hollande’s trip to Washington.
“Commitments were made by US authorities ... they have to be kept,” the seat of the French presidency said in a statement following an emergency meeting between Prime Minister Manuel Valls and other members of the government. “France ... will not accept behaviour that puts its security and the protection of its interests at risk.”
The documents — labelled “Top Secret” and appearing to reveal spying on Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and Hollande from 2006 to 2012 — were published by WikiLeaks in partnership with French newspaper Liberation and the Mediapart website.
The leak comes just weeks after President Barack Obama approved landmark legislation ending the US government’s bulk telephone data dragnet, significantly reversing US policy by reining in the most controversial surveillance programme since 9/11.
The reports also allege that the US listened to the communications of dozens of French diplomats and ministers during the period, running from 2006 to 2012.
The leaked documents include five from the NSA, the most recent dated May 22, 2012, just days after Hollande took office.
It claims Hollande “approved holding secret meetings in Paris to discuss the Eurozone crisis, particularly the consequences of a Greek exit from the Eurozone”.
It also says Hollande believed after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that she “had given up (on Greece) and was unwilling to budge”.
“This made Hollande very worried for Greece and the Greek people, who might react by voting for an extremist party,” according to the document.
The same file also alleges that the French leader went behind Merkel’s back to schedule meetings in Paris with members of the Social Democrats — Germany’s main opposition party at the time.
Another document, dated 2008, was titled “Sarkozy sees himself as only one who can resolve the world financial crisis”, and said the former French president “blamed many of the current economic problems on mistakes made by the US government, but believes that Washington is now heeding some of his advice”.
One leak describes Sarkozy’s frustration at US espionage, saying the “main sticking point” in achieving greater intelligence cooperation “is the US desire to continue spying on France”.
Chirac’s choice for appointments at the United Nations was the subject of a file dated 2006. In that same document, then foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy was described as someone who has the “propensity ... for making ill-timed or inaccurate remarks”.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said French citizens had a right to know their government was “subject to hostile surveillance from a supposed ally”, and promised more “timely and important” revelations soon.
Late on Tuesday the White House denied that US intelligence agencies were spying on Hollande but declined to respond to allegations that the NSA had targeted the communications of French leaders in the past.
The White House National Security Council initially said it “was not going to comment on specific intelligence allegations”, before adding that “we are not targeting and will not target the communications of President Hollande”.