France-Morocco rapprochement overshadowed by fresh Pegasus spying claims

A new investigation by the Forbidden Stories journalism consortium alleges Morocco continued using the Israeli-made spyware to target French ministers, while Paris itself briefly explored buying the same surveillance technology.

According to the investigation, President Emmanuel Macron ultimately rejected the purchase in 2020 to avoid relying on foreign technology.

The latest revelations, published on Thursday, came as French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is on an official visit to Morocco to strengthen cooperation on security and other shared interests.

The reports "pose the question of the frankness of the discussion between France and Morocco", said journalist Laurent Richard, founder of Forbidden Stories. 

Morocco systematically used Pegasus to monitor opponents, journalists and critical voices, including French politicians, both inside the country and abroad, he said.

Macron targeted

The investigation is based in part on testimony from a former Moroccan intelligence officer interviewed by Forbidden Stories, which says it obtained new evidence about the country's surveillance operations.

It provides "new proof" from "a former member of the intelligence services" about "daily espionage by the Kingdom of Morocco against dissidents and journalists" using spyware including Pegasus, Richard said.

Forbidden Stories first alleged in 2021 that Morocco had used Pegasus, developed by Israel's NSO Group, to target prominent French politicians, including Macron.

The new investigation says forensic evidence has also been found on the phones of French ministers, including Lecornu, who was allegedly targeted in 2019 while serving as minister for local authorities.

"The prime minister's [own phone] was infected by Pegasus," Richard told RFI .

"Other ministers were too – seven ministers in total. Emmanuel Macron's phone is also on the list of potential targets. So this is an extremely serious state affair."

Richard said the consortium had also examined French intelligence documents indicating that "Morocco has been using Pegasus since at least 2017".

Morocco has always rejected the accusations that it used Pegasus, filing a complaint for defamation in 2021. Rabat has also denied the most recent accusations, demanding evidence.

Paris has also refrained from comment.
"We don't know whether the subject of Pegasus was discussed," Richard said, adding that the French government had declined to answer questions about whether it had sought assurances from Morocco that such surveillance would not happen again.

Dozens of rights groups demand EU blacklist on Pegasus spyware

Journalists under surveillance

Pegasus is among the world's most sophisticated spyware tools, Richard explained. Once installed on a phone, it can secretly access messages, activate cameras and microphones, and monitor encrypted communications – all without the user's knowledge.

Richard said the latest findings suggest Pegasus was used not only against suspected criminals but also against journalists, human rights activists, lawyers and campaigners on Western Sahara.

He cited the case of imprisoned Moroccan investigative journalist Omar Radi, whose phone was allegedly monitored by the security services.

French journalists among those targeted by Israeli spyware Pegasus

According to the former intelligence source, surveillance during protests in Morocco's Rif region in 2016-2017 went far beyond phone hacking –  some devices were already infected with malware when they were sold and journalists' homes were bugged with hidden microphones.

Amnesty International has previously warned that Pegasus has been used by governments around the world to target journalists, lawyers and activists, enabling human rights abuses on a "massive scale".