Germany, US to ink no-spying deal in 2014: report

BERLIN - Germany and the United States plan to ink a no-spy agreement next year to prohibit the bilateral spying of citizens and governments as a consequence of the US spying scandal, a German newspaper reported in its Sunday edition.

The initative came after German and US officials held talks at the White House earlier in the week, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

After alleged US tapping of Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone, Merkel sent officials to Washington to clarify the allegations and to work out "a new basis of trust."

However, some parliamentarians voiced doubt, saying Washington could use such an agreement to alleviate concerns over its spying activities without making any changes on its mass surveillance in Europe.

American allies in Europe have been in an uproar over media reports that US intelligence agencies have monitored the communications of Merkel and tens of millions of phone calls in France and Spain.