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May 22, 2014

United States Attorney General Eric Holder testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on oversight of the Justice Department and the reform of government surveillance programs, in Washington in this January 29, 2014 file photo. Reuters pic, May 22, 2014. US Attorney General Eric Holder will travel to Germany to discuss privacy concerns after the NSA spying scandal damaged relations between the two allies, Germany said yesterday.

German interior minister Thomas de Maiziere told journalists in Washington that Holder has accepted an invitation from Berlin to explain how the US would curb spying on foreign nationals overseas.

"We will have this discussion together in Germany," he said.

The US Justice Department did not immediately confirm the trip and de Maiziere said that Holder's visit would not take place "before the summer recess."

In a speech in January, US President Barack Obama said he had taken "the unprecedented step of extending certain protections that we have for the American people to people overseas."

Obama directed the intelligence community and Holder to develop "safeguards" for the privacy of foreign citizens.

After meeting Holder yesterday, de Maiziere said details are still scarce, stressing that "no decision" has been made in Washington on what restrictions would apply to spying overseas.

But he welcomed plans to end the NSA practice of scooping up metadata from US telecoms companies, which will also apply to foreign citizens if their communications is routed through the US.

"It's going to be a long path, but I see some progress," he said.

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