Spain says U.S. tipoff led it to query Bolivian flight
Source: Reuters
(Reuters) - Spain acknowledged on Tuesday that a U.S. request had led it to delay approving an overflight by Bolivia's president, but said it had given the go-ahead after receiving an assurance from Bolivia that U.S. fugitive Edward Snowden was not on the plane.
Bolivia has accused Spain, France, Portugal and Italy of closing their skies to President Evo Morales' plane last week after being told it was carrying the former U.S. spy agency contractor from Moscow to Bolivia, and demanded to know who gave them that information.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo was asked by reporters whether the alert had come from the United States. He replied: "Inter alia (among other things)."
He also confirmed the account of Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca, who said on Sunday that Garcia-Margallo had asked Bolivia for a written assurance that Snowden was not on the plane before opening its airspace.
"Spain ... granted airspace permission on the basis of the word of the Bolivian foreign minister," Garcia-Margallo said. "We believe the word of our allies and friends .
Read more: Link tohttp://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/09/us-usa-security-latinamerica-spain-idUSBRE9680OB20130709 source
= new reply since forum marked as read
Would anyone like to help me mix up a nice batch of this for the BOGers?
