US Ambassador Summoned Due To Large-Scale Spying Reports

US Ambassador Summoned Due To Large-Scale Spying Reports

The US ambassador was summoned by the French government due to allegations about large-scale spying by the National Security Agency of the US on French citizens. This was revealed by the foreign minister of France, Laurent Fabius, during an EU meeting of foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

Explanations were demanded by both France and Mexico on latest allegations of large-scale spying that was leaked by Edward Snowden former security contractor of the US.

The National Security Agency allegedly recorded telephone calls in France as well as hacked the email account of the former president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon.

Documents that reportedly came from Snowden indicated that 70.3 million telephone calls were recorded by the NSA from December 10, 2012 and January 8, 2013.

French Interior Minister Manuel Valis indicated that the revelations by the reports were shocking. He said that it was unacceptable for an allied country to spy on France or other European countries.

The report indicated that communication from certain French phone numbers were automatically picked by the NSA using a program with the codename “IS-985D”. The report also gave indications that the NSA did not limit their targets to people suspected of involvement with terrorism, it also aimed at prominent personalities in politics and business.

No statements were given by the US Ambassador Charles Rivkin. He indicated that the ties between France and the US were close.

John Kerry, US Secretary of State, revealed that the US will discuss its international espionage program with the French following the angry reaction of Paris to alleged large-scale spying by the NSA. Kerry indicated that bilateral consultations that will deal with the issue will be conducted with the French. He added that France is among the oldest allies of the US.

Fabius indicated that a warning about the program was made last June, and France has a string reaction to it. Fabius added that the large-scale spying activities should not be allowed to continue.

Posted by James Fried on Wednesday October 23 2013, 3:02 AM EST. Ref: Al Jazeera. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0