France's Hollande strongly condemns alleged U.S. spying: Elysee

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PARIS, Oct. 22 -- French President Francois Hollande on Monday expressed his "strong condemnation" of alleged U.S. spying during a phone call with U.S. President Barack Obama, branding it as "unacceptable" between friends and allies, said the French Presidency Elysee in a statement released on Tuesday.

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.

Speaking to his U.S. counterpart following the revelation, Hollande described the practice as "unacceptable" and "harmful to the private life of French citizens."

He also demanded an explanation from the U.S. and asked for all information former NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden may hold.

The two leaders emphasized that intelligence collection activities must be carried out under certain frameworks in order to fight terrorism efficiently.

The French and U.S. presidents "agreed to work together to determine the facts and the exact scope of surveillance activities revealed by Le Monde," said the president's office.

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