Home News Opinion Business Sport S & T Features Books In-depth Jobs Classifieds Shopping International South Asia World International» WorldMadrid,July 9, 2013Spain willing to apologize for Bolivian jet incidentDPAShare · Comment · print · TOPICS World Spain politics espionage and intelligence
Spain said on Tuesday that it was willing to apologize to Bolivia for the incident last week that blocked President Evo Morales’ passage through the airspace of several European countries but insisted it was a “misunderstanding”. “If there is some misunderstanding, I have no problem apologising to the President”, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said.Spain had not closed its airspace to Mr. Morales and had authorized his plane to make a stopover for refuelling in the Canary Islands, the Minister insisted. Mr. Morales’ plane was denied over-flight rights due to suspicions that fugitive US intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden was on board.Mr. Garcia-Margallo made the comments after Bolivia summoned the ambassadors of Spain, France and Italy and the Portuguese consul to discuss the incident.Mr. Morales’ plane was forced to make an unscheduled stop on Tuesday in Austria while the President was flying home from a meeting in Moscow, where Mr. Snowden has been stuck at Sheremetyevo International Airport in diplomatic limbo since last month. The plane was searched, and Morales was able to fly on to Bolivia after a 14-hour delay.Meanwhile, Venezuela confirmed that it would respond “positively” to Mr. Snowden’s asylum request, confirming earlier suggestions it would be willing to take him in.Mr. Snowden “will have to decide when to fly, if he ultimately wants to fly here”, President Nicolas Maduro said on Monday. However, a decision on the application would first have to be made in Venezuela, he said.Mr. Morales on Saturday offered “humanitarian asylum” to Mr. Snowden in reaction to the incident with the presidential plane.Venezuela’s move brings to three the number of countries, all in South America, that have indicated they would grant asylum to Mr. Snowden, who gained worldwide attention in June when he fled to Hong Kong to reveal the existence of PRISM, a US-run global eavesdropping programme.Nicaragua, which like Venezuela and Bolivia is run by a leftist government critical of the United States, suggested on Saturday it would offer Mr. Snowden asylum. President Daniel Ortega said he would grant it “with pleasure if circumstances permit”. Washington has warned against sheltering Mr. Snowden and has asked Venezuela to extradite the 30 year-old if he enters the country.Refusal would threaten a further deterioration in the strained relations between the two countries.Mr. Snowden, who has not been seen in public since he arrived in Moscow on June 23 from Hong Kong, has limited travel options because the US has revoked his passport.The former intelligence contractor revealed that PRISM, run by the US National Security Agency, was able to intercept and log a large share of the world’s telephone and internet traffic.The US has charged him with espionage and theft of government property.
Keywords: Evo Morales, Edward Snowden, Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo, NSA surveillance, PRISM, Daniel Ortega
RELATED NEWS No contact with Snowden yet: Venezuela Nicaragua, Venezuela offer asylum to Snowden South American leaders demand apology over blocking of Bolivian plane Chapman offers Snowden asylum in her heart Text of the letter to Edward Snowden Morales’ detention draws fire in Latin America Maduro, Morales leave Russia sans Snowden London embassy bugged: Ecuador U.S. intelligence chief regrets “erroneous” remark on NSA surveillance More In: World | International | News CommentsRecommendedPost a comment Be the first one to post a comment$(document).ready(function() {comshow("pc");}); Your Name:email:
Make a comment
characters left
1. Comments will be moderated
2. Comments that are abusive, personal, incendiary or irrelevant cannot be published.
3. Please write complete sentences. Do not type comments in all capital letters,
or in all lower case letters, or using abbreviated text.
(example: u cannot substitute for you, d is not 'the', n is not 'and').
4. We may remove hyperlinks within comments.
5. Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name, to avoid rejection.
Slideshow
Egypt: Between Mubarak and Morsy Egypt witnessed deadly bouts of violence and mass street protests in the one year of Mohamed Morsy's regime as Egypt’s first freely elected president following the 2011 uprising. Opponents claimed the President had caused deep polarisation in Egypt. Mr Morsy accused the opposition of instigating violence. A glance at the unfolding of events leading to the current crisis following the ouster of President Morsy. Compiled by Deeksha Vasanthmore slideshows» 
Edward Snowden and the NSA files — story so far May 20, 2013: Edward Snowden, an employee of defence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton at the National Security Agency, arrives in Hong Kong from Hawaii. He carries four laptop computers that... »Related:Snowden rightfully charged in courts: US Slideshow
Images of the weekHighlights of the week in pictures - the odd images you might have missed and some lasting moments our editors think you should see.more slideshows»Most PopularMost CommentedEx-chief of Fukushima plant dies of cancer Spain willing to apologize for Bolivian jet incident Tibetans marking Dalai Lama’s birthday ‘fired at’ Fall of ‘Great leap Liu’ reveals web of corruption Taliban close Qatar office to protest flag fracas Solar plane completes journey Beblawi to be Egypt interim PM Abbas accepts Palestinian premier's resignation Mandela remains critical in hospital Fall of ‘Great leap Liu’ reveals web of corruption Ex-chief of Fukushima plant dies of cancer Gitmo force-feeding is ‘cruelty, not religious empathy’ Explosion rocks Hezbollah stronghold in Lebanon 
O
P
E
N
The Hindu:Home |News |Opinion |Business |Sport |S & T |Features |Books |In-depth |Jobs |Classifieds |Shopping |
The Site:|About Us |Terms of Use |Privacy Policy |Contacts |Archives |Subscriptions |RSS Feeds |Site Map
Group Sites: The Hindu |Business Line |Sportstar |Frontline |The Hindu Centre |Publications |eBooks |Images |Classifieds | Comments to: web.thehindu@thehindu.co.in Copyright© 2013, The Hindu
No comments:
Post a Comment