Germany, US agree on efforts to rebuild trust

The US-German ties have taken a hit after media reports that US intelligence agencies have monitored the communications of Merke

The US and German politicians agreed on efforts to rebuild trust during the visit by a delegation of US lawmakers led by senator Christ Murphy in Berlin Monday.

German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and Christoph Heusgen, an adviser of Chancellor Angela Merkel, met Murphy Monday.

"I go to Europe to make clear that we must continue to fight together against terrorism despite the anger over the NSA spying programme," said Murphy.

During Murphy's Berlin visit, discussions with German central-left wing opposition SPD faction leader Thomas Oppermann and leader of Merkel's conservatives in the lower house of parliament Michael Grosse-Broemer were also planned.

"For us, the NSA affair has not ended yet," said Oppermann after the meeting with Murphy in Berlin. "We agreed to finally put an end to the totally escalated spying programme of the NSA." Both governments are working on an agreement.

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.

Murphy will visit Berlin Monday and Brussels Tuesday in an attempt to fix the damage done by the surveillance scandal.