US intelligence services tapped the phones of French president Fran?ois Hollande and his predecessors Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac for at least six years, according to reports in the French press.
Late on Tuesday the White House denied that US intelligence agencies were currently spying on Mr Hollande, but declined to respond to allegations that the National Security Agency had previously targeted the communications of the French president and those of Mr Sarkozy and Mr Chirac.
The White House National Security Council initially said it “was not going to comment on specific intelligence allegations”, before adding that “we are not targeting and will not target the communications of President Hollande”.