Pegasus row: Why Morocco allegedly took an interest in French President Emmanuel Macron

Pegasus, a spyware developed by an Israeli company NSO Group, is a software that is used to hack phones

French President Emmanuel Macron leads a list of 14 current or former heads of state who may have been targeted for hacking by clients of the Israeli spyware firm NSO Group, Amnesty International has said.

Among potential targets found on a list of 50,000 phone numbers leaked to Amnesty and the Paris-based media nonprofit Forbidden Stories include Presidents Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa and Barham Salih of Iraq. King Mohammed VI of Morocco and three current prime ministers — Imran Khan of Pakistan, Mustafa Madbouly of Egypt and Saad Eddine El Othmani of Morocco — are also on the list, The Washington Post reported.

Read more: How can you be better protected against Pegasus spyware?

The Post said none of the heads of state would offer their smartphones for forensic testing that might have detected whether they were infected by NSO's military-grade Pegasus spyware. Thirty-seven phones identified in the investigation were either breached or show signs of attempted infection, the publication reported.

Prosecutors in Paris said Tuesday that they had opened a probe into allegations that Moroccan intelligence services used Pegasus to spy on several French journalists.

The investigation will examine 10 different charges, including whether there was a breach of personal privacy, fraudulent access to personal electronic devices, and criminal association.

Morocco denied the claims, saying it "never acquired computer software to infiltrate communication devices."

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Macron’s number figures amongst a large list of Moroccan numbers, indicating that the government agency, which had an interest in thousands of Moroccans also regarded the French president as a particular person of interest, according to a report by The Wire. Macron’s selection as a person of interest took place just before he left for a trip to Africa, where he made stops at Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya.

In the French system, the head of the state has to be able to receive and send secret defence information “in all places and at all times”, which means that his entourage is always travelling with highly secure portable communication facilities at various times.

The French president was also travelling to the region at a time when the North African region, which had been under the colonial rule of France, was in turmoil due to instability in Algeria, which neighbours Morocco.

Read: NSO Pegasus Spyware: Apple devices still safe for most users

Algeria’s long-term ruler, Abdelaziz Bouteflika had then announced that he would not be running for elections and with France being the colonial ruler, Morocco may have expected to get some insights about Algeria from the French government.

It is learned that the French ambassador to Algeria, Xavier Driencourt had received a notification in October 2019 by WhatsApp that his phone’s security may have been breached in May that year.

Macron could also be targeted for two other diplomatic events – a meeting of the G5 Sahel and a summit of the African Union. The French President was making stops in Ethiopia, which is the headquarters of the African Union and the centre of African multilateral diplomacy. African nations were also in the midst of ratifying a free trade agreement, which could also have been the target for Morocco’s external intelligence gathering.