French probe on defense secret after president met reporters

PARIS – The Paris prosecutor's office has opened a preliminary investigation into whether national defense secrets were compromised when a newspaper article quoted from a 2013 document — obtained after an interview with the president of France — detailing a planned airstrike in Syria.

The prosecutor's office said Monday it's opened an investigation for "compromising national defense." No one is currently targeted.

President Francois Hollande has been embarrassed by a book resulting from scores of interviews he gave two journalists from Le Monde, "A President Shouldn't Say That ...", published this fall. Before that, the journalists, Fabrice Lhomme and Gerard Davet, wrote an article based on an Aug. 30, 2013 meeting with Hollande as he awaited an OK from Washington on an airstrike in Syria.

The strike was not carried out.