French FM reiterates explanation demand to Kerry for alleged U.S. spying

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Tuesday met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, reiterating France’s request for an explanation regarding the “unacceptable” spying practices, said French Foreign Ministry in a statement.

France’s newspaper Le Monde reported on Monday that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) had secretly monitored 70.3 million phone communications in France from Dec. 10, 2012 to Jan. 8 this year.

“Mr. Laurent Fabius, Minister of Foreign Affairs, met this morning with his American counterpart, Mr. John Kerry. He reiterated to him our request for an explanation regarding the unacceptable spying practices between partners which must stop,” said the statement.

French President Francois Hollande expressed Monday his “strong condemnation” of the alleged U.S. spying practices during a phone call with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama, branding it as “unacceptable” between friends and allies, said the French Presidency Elysee.

The meeting between French and U.S. ministers provided also “an opportunity to discuss the situation in Syria ahead of the meeting of the Friends of Syria ‘Core Group’ taking place Tuesday in London, in which both ministers will participate,” added the statement.