French President Francois Hollande called for “cooperation” between the United States and French intelligence services in the wake of revelations about widespread spying by the United States on French citizens.
Mr. Hollande said he had told U.S. President Barack Obama that France had a “responsibility” to “know everything” about the surveillance, government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said after a cabinet meeting.
The French leader also demanded that “all the information to which former consultant [Edward] Snowden may have had access be handed to us, so that we can be fully briefed,” she said, adding that Mr. Obama had agreed to the request.
The two leaders also concurred that spying operations “should be supervised and that the supervision, in order to be effective, had to be carried out bilaterally,” the spokeswoman said.
Le Monde newspaper reported Monday that documents leaked by intelligence whistleblower Snowden showed the US National Security Agency (NSA) scooped up 70.3 million recordings of French phone data over a 30-day period in December and January.
The spying targeted people in business, politics and the civil service as well as terrorism suspects, Le Monde said.
France reacted with indignation, calling the practice “unacceptable” and summoning the US ambassador.
