Google – AFP, 21 October 2013
US
intelligence leaker Edward Snowden speaks during a dinner with US
ex-intelligence workers and activists in Moscow on October 9, 2013
(Wikileaks/
AFP/File)
|
Paris —
France and Mexico have angrily demanded prompt explanations from Washington
following fresh, "shocking" spying allegations leaked by former US
security contractor Edward Snowden.
The reports
in French daily Le Monde and German weekly Der Spiegel revealed that the
National Security Agency secretly recorded tens of millions of phone calls in
France and hacked into former Mexican President Felipe Calderon's email
account.
French
Interior Minister Manuel Valls described the revelations in Le Monde newspaper
as "shocking", in an interview Monday with Europe 1 radio.
The spy
agency taped 70.3 million phone calls in France over a 30-day period between
December 10 and January 8 this year, Le Monde reported in its online version,
citing documents from Snowden.
French
Interior minister Manuel Valls
speaks to journalists in Pointe-a-Pitre
on the French
Caribbean island of
Guadeloupe on October 18, 2013 (AFP/
File, Miguel Medina)
|
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 believe that the NSA targeted not only
people suspected of being involved in terrorism but also high-profile
individuals from the world of business or politics.
Valls said
the revelations would call for "precise explanations by US authorities in
the coming hours."
US
authorities declined comment to the French daily on the "classified"
documents.
The Le
Monde article followed similar revelations by Der Spiegel -- also based on
documents provided by Snowden -- that US agents had hacked into the Mexican
presidency's network, gaining access to Calderon's account.
According
to the report, the NSA said this contained "diplomatic, economic and
leadership communications which continue to provide insight into Mexico's
political system and internal stability."
The agency
reportedly said the president's office was now "a lucrative source."
Mexican
authorities said they would be seeking answers from US officials "as soon
as possible" following the allegations.
"The
Mexican government reiterates its categorical condemnation of the violation of
privacy of institutional communications and Mexican citizens," Mexico's
foreign ministry said in a statement Sunday.
"This
practice is unacceptable, illegitimate and contrary to Mexican law and
international law," the statement read.
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, which triggered a global furore when published in major newspapers
in June.
The
fugitive had been in hiding in Hong Kong since May and flew to Moscow on June
23, where he stayed in the transit area for more than a month before being
given temporary asylum and leaving the airport for a safe location.
US
President Barack Obama has since proposed reforms of US surveillance programmes
in the wake of the furore.
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