Obama to finalise NSA reforms

US President Barack Obama met top spy chiefs Wednesday as he finalised a decision on how to rein in National Security Agency spying sweeps following revelations by Edward Snowden.
Obama met the heads of the NSA, CIA, FBI and the director of national intelligence as part of a string of meetings with advocates on both sides of the debate on balancing privacy and national security.
The meeting included CIA chief John Brennan, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, NSA head General Keith Alexander and Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey.
Obama was to meet top lawmakers with responsibilities overseeing the intelligence community to discuss how to reform the intelligence community.
Aides say that Obama spent considerable time during his recent vacation in Hawaii mulling new constraints on US security agencies in the wake of revelations of mass snooping by fugitive intelligence agency contractor Snowden.
The president will deliver his conclusions in a speech within weeks, and definitely before his annual State of the Union Address, which is scheduled for January 28.
A review panel tasked by Obama with looking at reforms of the intelligence community came up with 46 recommendations in a report issued in December, among them scaling back NSA activities to restore public trust.
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama invited German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Washington on Wednesday, hoping to mend fences after a row provoked by revelations of US eavesdropping on her cellphone.
Obama called Merkel to wish her a speedy recovery after her recent skiing injury and invited her to visit at a "mutually agreeable time in the coming months," the White House said in a statement.