Inside Story

Spying on allies

France says the US must repair the damage done after revelations NSA spied on three of French presidents.

Documents released by Wikileaks show the United States intercepted communications by Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and current president – Francois Hollande. The French government summoned the US ambassador to protest.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls is calling for a new code of conduct on intelligence issues. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was also a victim of US spying.

So why does Washington spy on its supposed allies and friends?

Presenter: Adrian Finighan

Guests:

Anne Giudicelli – founder of a risk consultancy called Terrorisc

Richard Weitz – Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute, and the Director of its Center for Political-Military Analysis

Nicolas Krameyer – head of the freedom and expression programme for Amnesty International France