France summoned the US ambassador on Wednesday and said it "will not tolerate any acts that threaten its security" after leaked documents indicated Washington spied on President Francois Hollande and his two predecessors. Hollande convened a meeting of top intelligence officials and cabinet ministers to discuss the documents released by WikiLeaks the night before.
The president's office called the revelations "unacceptable", and diplomatic sources told AFP that US Ambassador Jane Hartley had been summoned to meet French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Wednesday. The documents - labelled "Top Secret" and appearing to reveal spying on Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and Hollande from 2006 to 2012 - were published by WikiLeaks in partnership with French newspaper Liberation and the Mediapart website. The leak comes just weeks after President Barack Obama approved landmark legislation ending the US government's bulk telephone data dragnet, significantly reversing US policy by reining in the most controversial surveillance programme since 9/11. The White House did not comment on past activity, but said it was not targeting Hollande's communications and will not do so in the future.