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                US Says Not Targeting Hollande's Communications

   by VOA News

   The White House says it is not targeting French President Francois
   Hollande's communications and will not do so, after transparency
   website WikiLeaks released documents that it says shows the U.S.
   National Security Agency spied on him and his two predecessors.

   There was no immediate confirmation of the accuracy of the documents,
   which were released by WikiLeaks in collaboration with French daily
   newspaper Liberation and investigative website Mediapart.

   NSA spokesman Ned Price said the Obama administration does not conduct
   any foreign intelligence surveillance unless there is a "specific and
   validated national security purpose," a standard he said applied to
   both world leaders and "ordinary citizens."

   "We work closely with France on all matters of international concern
   and the French are indispensable partners," Price said.

   The spokesman did not address whether French presidential
   communications had been wiretapped in the past.

   A French presidential aide said Hollande is expected to meet Wednesday
   with his defense council to evaluate the information published by
   Wikileaks.

   In 2013, WikiLeaks reported that the NSA had wiretapped German
   Chancellor Angela Merkel's private phone. The report sparked a
   political scandal in Germany and prompted an official inquiry.

   The U.S. reply to Germany on the matter, in September 2013, was similar
   to the one it provided France on Tuesday: that the U.S. was not
   monitoring Merkel's calls at that time and would not monitor them in
   the future.

   Tuesday's revelations come just weeks after President Obama signed a
   law ending the U.S. government's power to investigate the private phone
   and internet communications of U.S. citizens.
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   nications/2834993.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/us-says-not-targeting-hollandes-communications/2834993.html