WASHINGTON, March 2 (Xinhuanet) -- The US Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a couple of former spies could not sue the CIA for allegedly reneging on a pledge of lifetime support in return for their espionage services.

    The court ruled in an unanimous opinion that the couple, identified in court filings only by the pseudonyms John and Jane Doe, could not sue because the suit would threaten to disclose thesecret activities of the CIA.

    Doe, a former high-ranking diplomat in a Soviet-bloc nation, and his wife, were recruited by the CIA during the Cold War to spyfor the United States. The CIA promised that they would get lifetime financial support once they finished their espionage services and settled in the United States.

    The suit said the CIA helped them resettle in Seattle with false identities in 1987 and a bank job for the husband. They alsoreceived 27,000 dollars a year and became US citizens.

    The CIA stopped the stipend when the husband's salary from the bank hit 27,000 dollars, the suit said. The CIA refused to reinstate the stipend after the husband lost his job in 1997, saying the couple had received enough pay for their espionage.

    A US appeals court based in San Francisco had ruled that the couple could proceed their suit. Enditem