ESay
Gold Member
- Mar 14, 2015
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Read thoroughly what you copy and past. The pilots requested landing in Austria after a number of European countries denied passage for the plane.Oh, yes, sorry. It was not Assange, it was Snowden, who was a reason to ground the Bolivian jet.
Evo Morales grounding incident - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
According to Bolivia, the flight was rerouted to Austria when France, Spain, Portugal and Italy[3] reportedly denied access to their airspace, allegedly due to suspicions that Snowden was on board.[4]
Austria's deputy chancellor, Michael Spindelegger, said that the plane was searched, although the Bolivian Defense Minister denied a search took place, saying Morales had denied entry to his plane.[5][6] The refusals for entry into French, Spanish, and Italian airspace ostensibly for "technical reasons", strongly denounced by Bolivia, Ecuador, and other South American nations, were attributed to rumors disseminated allegedly by the US that Snowden was on board.[7][8] Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José García-Margallo, publicly stated that they were told he was on board but did not specify as to who had informed them.[4]
The President of Austria, Heinz Fischer, went to greet President Morales in his plane and shared breakfast with him.[9]
The plane took off again after Austrian officials confirmed that Edward Snowden was not on board.[10]
France apologized for the incident immediately.[11] The Spanish ambassador to Bolivia apologized two weeks later, citing inappropriate procedures.[12] The Italians and Portuguese sent official explanations to the Bolivian Government.[13]
On 3 July, Jen Psaki, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, acknowledged that the U.S. had been "in contact with a range of countries across the world who had any chance of having Mr. Snowden land or even transit through their countries".[14][15]
