French President Francois Hollande condemned US spying on French citizens in a call with President Barack Obama on Monday, as a row escalated over US eavesdropping on millions of French phone calls. Hollande's office said in a statement that he had expressed "deep disapproval of these practices, which are unacceptable between friends and allies because they infringe on the privacy of French citizens."
Hollande
"asked that all explanations be provided, as well as all information
that could be at the disposal of former NSA consultant Edward Snowden."
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The
statement said the two leaders had agreed "to work together to
determine the facts and the exact scope of surveillance activities"
revealed by French newspaper Le Monde.
The
two stressed that surveillance operations should be put into a
"bilateral framework" and agreed that US and French intelligence
agencies would "work together to this effect," the statement said.
France to summon US ambassador 'immediately' over spy claims - minister
France's
foreign minister announced Monday the "immediate" summoning of the US
ambassador over a report that American spies eavesdropped on millions of
calls made by French citizens.
"I
have immediately summoned the US ambassador," Laurent Fabius told
reporters as he arrived for an EU foreign ministers meeting, adding a
meeting would take place "this morning" at the ministry in Paris.
"In
light of the information from Le Monde I immediately summoned the US
ambassador, who will be received this morning at the Quai d'Orsay (the
address of the foreign ministry in Paris)," Fabius said on the sidelines
of an EU foreign ministers' meeting in Luxembourg.
"This
type of practice between partners, which violates privacy, is totally
unacceptable and we must ensure very quick that it is not still
continuing," Fabius said.
Interior Minister Manuel Valls also labelled the revelations "shocking" and "completely unacceptable" on the part of an ally.
France
is demanding explanations after a report that the US National Security
Agency secretly recorded millions of phone calls made in the country,
its interior minister said Monday.
Manuel Valls described the revelations in Le Monde newspaper as "shocking", in an interview with French radio Europe 1.
US spy agency snooped on French citizens - report
The
US National Security Agency secretly recorded millions of phone calls
made in France, daily Le Monde reported on Monday, citing documents from
former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.
The
spy agency taped 70.3 million phone calls in France over a 30-day
period between December 10 and January 8, 2013, Le Monde reported in its
online version.
According
to the paper, the NSA automatically picked up communications from
certain phone numbers in France and recorded text messages under a
programme code-named "US-985D."
Le
Monde said the documents gave grounds to think the NSA targeted not
only people suspected of being involved in terrorism but also
high-profile individuals from the world of business or politics.
US authorities declined comment to the French daily on the "classified" documents.
The
Le Monde article followed similar revelations by German weekly Der
Spiegel that US agents had hacked into the email account of former
Mexican president Felipe Calderon.
Mexican authorities have said they will be seeking answers from US officials "as soon as possible" following the allegations.
Snowden,
who has taken refuge in Russia, is wanted in the United States for
espionage and other charges after leaking details of the NSA's worldwide
snooping activities.
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