Allegations of Morocco Spying Macron, Would It Strain Ties Between France and Morocco?

French newspaper Le Monde reported that the cellphones of President Emmanuel Macron and 15 then-members of the French government have been among potential targets in 2019 of surveillance by Pegasus spyware on behalf of a Moroccan security agency.

Spying allegations made public last week, which revealed governments’ use of Pegasus malware created by Israeli NSO Group, have ratcheted up tensions further. The claims emerged as part of an investigation by journalism non-profit organization Forbidden Stories and 17 media partners. 

French newspaper stated that Morocco’s cyber spying operation may have also targeted 6,000 phones belonging to Algerian officials, politicians and others.

Espionage Scandal

The Pegasus snooping scandal has shaken world politics. While initial media reports on the scandal said, the Pegasus spyware was used to monitor journalists and activists. Recently, French media revealed even world leaders had been hacked. The list of heads of government who have been hacked include one king, Mohammed VI (Morocco); three sitting presidents—Emmanuel Macron (France), Barham Salih (Iraq) and Cyril Ramaphosa (South Africa)—and three prime ministers: Imran Khan (Pakistan), Mostafa Madbouly (Egypt) and Saad-Eddine El Othmani (Morocco). Former French prime minister Édouard Philippe (France) had also been under Pegasus surveillance.

Forbidden Stories and the Amnesty International association obtained a list of 50,000 phone numbers selected by the Israeli NSO spyware since 2016 for potential surveillance and shared it with a consortium of 17 media outlets who revealed its existence on Sunday.

The two organizations stressed that most of the French politicians and journalists who had been targeted with Pegasus were being monitored at the behest of Morocco's intelligence agencies. The allegations have strained already tenuous ties.

Morocco Condemns

Morocco’s government is denying reports that the country’s security forces may have used spyware made by Israel’s NSO Group to eavesdrop on the cellphones of France’s president and other public figures.

Morocco’s government had lashed out in a statement late Tuesday at a global media consortium investigating the suspected widespread use of NSO’s Pegasus spyware to target journalists, human rights activists and politicians in multiple countries. The government threatened unspecified legal action.

“The Kingdom of Morocco strongly condemns the persistent false, massive and malicious media campaign,” the statement said. The government said it “rejects these false and unfounded allegations, and challenges their peddlers ... to provide any tangible and material evidence in support of their surreal stories.”

On Wednesday, the public prosecutor’s office ordered an investigation into what it called false allegations that Moroccan security services used NSO malware to spy on activists, journalists and politicians in multiple countries.

Macron Pushes for Israeli Inquiry

Emmanuel Macron has reportedly spoken to the Israeli prime minister, Naftali Bennett, to ensure that the Israeli government is “properly investigating” allegations that the French president could have been targeted with Israeli-made spyware by Morocco’s security services. 

In a phone call, Macron expressed concern that his phone and those of most of his cabinet could have been infected with Pegasus, hacking software developed by the Israeli surveillance firm NSO Group, which enables operators of the tool to extract messages, photos and emails, record calls and secretly activate microphones from infected devices.

NSO said Macron was not a “target” of any of its customers, meaning the company denies he was selected for surveillance using Pegasus. The company says that the fact that a number appeared on the list was in no way indicative of whether that number was selected for surveillance using Pegasus

Revelations Timing

Riccardo Fabiani, North Africa director at the International Crisis Group, said the timing of the revelations was “particularly damaging for Morocco, which is going through two major diplomatic crises with Spain and Germany. It can’t open a third front with France.” 

Most Likely Reason for Spying

Political observers believe that the main reason for Morocco to spy on French leader would be in relation to knowing the real position of France about the Moroccan Sahara.

The fact that France is also a close partner of Algeria, the main sponsor of Polisario, contributed to distrust, he added.

Economic and Security Co-Operation

Even if the spying claims embarrass Morocco and rattle France, the two countries will want to contain the fallout for the sake of economic and security co-operation, said observers. 

On one hand, Morocco is one of the largest trade partners with the European Union, mainly because of its geographical location that makes it a favourable location for major powers to court. Along with declining political and economic relations with Tunisia and Algeria, France is concerned with increasing its economical ties with Morocco against the growing influence of Spain and China.

On the other hand, Moroccan intelligence is “very alert and very effective”, according to the former French diplomat. “They have helped France a lot in investigating terrorist attacks going back to the Madrid attack of 2005, as well as staying on top of Islamist threat in Europe,” the diplomat said. “I think, if the news cycle moves on, then both countries will be quite happy to let this die,” he said.