French spy chief should resign, say Sarkozy opponents

France's opposition on Tuesday called for the resignation of Bernard Squarcini, the head of the country's domestic intelligence agency, and friend of President Nicolas Sarkozy, after he was charged over spying on a journalist.

AFP/Boris Horvat

Bernard Squarcini was charged on Monday with violating confidential correspondence, illegally collecting data and violating the confidentiality of sources of a journalist with the daily Le Monde.

Under French law, preliminary charges are brought to allow magistrates to continue investigations before possibly sending the case to trial.

Investigating magistrate Sylvie Zimmerman is due to interview France's top policeman Frederic Pechenard, also close to right-wing leader Sarkozy, over the same case, and he could also face charges.

Police allegedly obtained the journalist's mobile telephone logs in 2010 in order to identify the source of leaks in a complex illegal political financing scandal linked to

L'Oréal heiress and billionaire Liliane Bettencourt.

The scandal began as a dispute between the heiress and her daughter but soon evolved into allegations that Bettencourt had been handing bundles of cash to politicians, including Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign manager.

Le Monde on Tuesday quoted what it said was Squarcini's testimony to Zimmerman in which he said that he and Pechenard had decided "in agreement" to investigate the journalist's phone log.

"I do what I'm told to do with the tools that I'm given," Squarcini reportedly told the magistrate, apparently without elaborating about who gave him his orders.

Zimmerman reportedly told Squarcini that his defence was "in agreement neither with the letter nor the spirit of the law."

The opposition Socialists' candidate in next year's presidential election, Francois Hollande, said: "I'm surprised the interior minister hasn't yet called for Mr Squarcini to resign, because what's happened is serious."

But the spy chief has the support of his superiors, including Interior Minister Claude Gueant, who is also close to Sarkozy.

Squarcini's lawyer, Patrick Maisonneuve, said the journalist "was not targeted by the technical checks" but simply caught up in steps taken to identify a mole at the justice ministry, who was subsequently fired.