Snowden fear reroutes Morales plane

A plane carrying Bolivian president Evo Morales was rerouted to Austria after France and Portugal refused to let it cross their airspace because of suspicions that CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden was on board.

Officials in both Austria and Bolivia said Mr Snowden was not on the plane, which was taking Mr Morales home from a summit in Russia, where he had suggested that his government would be willing to consider granting asylum to the American.

Furious Bolivian foreign minister David Choquehuanca said France and Portugal would have to explain why they cancelled authorisation for the plane, claiming the decision had put the president's life at risk.

"We don't know who invented this lie" that Mr Snowden was travelling with Mr Morales, Mr Choquehuanca said in La Paz. "We want to denounce to the international community this injustice with the plane of President Evo Morales."

He said that after France and Portugal cancelled authorisation for the flight, Spain's government allowed the plane to be refuelled in its territory. From there the plane flew on to Vienna.

French government officials said they could not confirm whether Mr Morales' plane was denied permission to fly over France. Officials at Portugal's Foreign Ministry and National Civil Aviation Authority could not be reached for comment.

Leaks by Mr Snowden, a former National Security Agency systems analyst, have revealed the NSA's sweeping data collection of US phone records and some internet traffic, though US intelligence officials have said the programmes are aimed at targeting foreigners and terror suspects mostly overseas.

He is believed to be in a Moscow airport transit area, seeking asylum from one of more than a dozen countries.

"This is a plot by the US government to destroy President Morales' image," said Bolivian defence minister Ruben Saavedra at the VIP terminal of Vienna's airport. "We want to declare very firmly that it was an American story that Edward Snowden was on this flight."

Mr Morales himself was present during the improvised press conference but chose not to speak to reporters. He will remain at the airport until his plane has been cleared for take-off.