Europe

Germany, US to sign no-spying deal

332789_Obama and Merkel

Germany and the US aim to sign an agreement not to spy each other including their citizens and governments.

According to Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine the bilateral deal was reached last Wednesday in the wake of talks between German and US officials at the White House.

The no-spy deal comes in the wake of the furor sparked by revelations from the former NSA leaker Edward Snowden that the US tapped into German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone in top-secret spying operations that stirred outraged in Germany, one of US’ closet allies.

German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung reports that the accord is set to be concluded early next year, citing sources close to the German government.

Revelations by Snowden indicated that the US spied on over 70 million phone records in French, 60 million in Spain and 46 million in Italy in just one month alone.

US officials claim the data was provided to the NSA under intelligence sharing arrangements with European countries.

The US spying operations have angered many people across the Atlantic and have strained relations between the US and its European allies.

In reaction to the US spying operations, Germany and Brazil have circulated a draft resolution to a UN General Assembly committee that urges an end to excessive electronic surveillance.

Brazil and Germany have both condemned the US National Security Agency’s (NSA) large-scale spying practices.

Meanwhile, the British daily the Guardian reported on Saturday that spy agencies in Germany, France, Spain and Sweden are carrying out mass surveillance of online and phone traffic in collaboration with Britain.

The newspaper says the revelation is based on the latest documents leaked by Snowden. The Guardian said that Britain’s GCHQ electronic eavesdropping centre — which has a close relationship with the US’ NSA — has taken a leading role in helping the other countries work around laws intended to limit spying.

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