The journalist who broke the story about an intelligence leaker says he has even more damaging information about US spying activities. He said this would be released if something were to happen to Edward Snowden.

Glenn Greenwald, a journalist with Britain's Guardian newspaper, which first published Snowden's revelations, told Argentina's La Nacion that the former National Security Agency contractor and Central Intelligence Agency employee had so far elected to withhold much of the information he has.

"Snowden has enough information to cause harm to the US government in a single minute than any other person has ever had," Greenwald said in an interview in Rio de Janeiro published in the Saturday edition of the paper.  

"The US government should be on its knees every day begging that nothing happen to Snowden, because if something does happen to him, all the information will be revealed and it could be its worst nightmare," Greenwald added.

He also said among the documents Snowden had hid away in several different locations were some that detail how US spy programs conduct surveillance in Latin America.

"One way of intercepting communications is through a telephone company in the United States that has contracts with telecommunications companies in most Latin American countries," Greenwald said, without naming the company.

Stranded in Sheremetyvo

Snowden, 30, has been stranded in the transit area of one of Moscow's international airports since he left Hong Kong three weeks ago. It was while he was in Hong Kong that the Guardian first published his revelations.

Since then, US authorities have been seeking to get Snowden extradited so that he can be put on trial on espionage charges.

On Friday, Snowden told activists who visited him at Sheremetyvo Airport that he planned to apply for temporary asylum in Russia until it was safe for him to travel on to a permanent destination in Latin America.

On Saturday, Russian authorities said that they had not yet received such an application from Snowden. Meanwhile, Bolivian President Evo Morales reiterated his offer of asylum to Snowden while at the same time pledging that La Paz would adhere to all "diplomatic norms and international accords."

pfd/mkg (AFP, dpa, Reuters)

Bolivia's leader Evo Morales has accused the United States of breaking international law. South American leaders joined him in condemning the diversion of Morales' jet on the suspicion that Edward Snowden was on board.

The presidents of Argentina, Ecuador, Suriname, Venezuela and Uruguay called the treatment of Morales by European leaders "an offense" to all South American nations, according to a joint statement released early Friday. The leaders had convened in the central Bolivian city of Chochabamba overnight following Morales' return from Europe.
Earlier in the week, European officials had rerouted the Bolivian president's return flight from Moscow, forcing him to land in Vienna where he remained grounded for over 13 hours. They reportedly believed that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden had been on board the airplane. Bolivian President Morales alleged that France, Italy, Portugal and Spain all revoked flight clearance for his plane based on the "false rumor."
President Morales express outrage at the move, threatening to retaliate against the United States for breaking international law.
"United we will defeat American imperialism. We met with the leaders of my party and they asked us for several measures," he said.
"We don't need a US embassy in Bolivia," Morales added. "My hand would not shake to close the US embassy. We have dignity, sovereignty. Without the United States, we are better politically, democratically."
Brazil, Colombia, Chile and Peru also condemned the diversion of Morales' plane, but did not attend the meeting.
Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden is currently believed to be residing in the Moscow airport, where he awaits approval for asylum from a number of Western nations. The US wants Snowden on charges of espionage for leaking details of a wide-reaching surveillance program, known as Prism.
South America outraged
Comments from the leaders in attendance also emerged separately from the group's official statement, expressing anger over the lingering influence of Europe and over the US' recurrent meddling in their politics.
"The leaders and authorities in Europe have to take a lesson in history and understand that we're not 500 years behind. This Latin America of the 21st century is independent, dignified and sovereign," said Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa.
"Imagine if this happened to a European head of state, if this had happened to the president of the United States. It probably would have been a casus belli, a case for war," Correa said. "They think they can attack, crush, destroy international law."
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accused the CIA of strong-arming EU officials into complying with its wishes.
"A minister of one of those European governments told me personally that it was the CIA who gave the order to [ground the plane]," Maduro said late Thursday. "The CIA is more powerful that governments."
France has already issued an apology, which Bolivian President Morales immediately rejected. However, the Argentine president renewed calls for apologizes from the other European nations to ease tensions.
The diplomatic row also sparked public ire in the Bolivia ahead of the meeting. In La Paz, small demonstrations too place outside the US and French embassies. In the city of Santa Cruz, government sympathies spray painted graffiti on the US embassy.
kms/rg (AP, AFP)

Los Presidentes de los países de la Unasur se reúnen de emergencia este jueves la ciudad boliviana de Cochabamba, tras el incidente que involucró el avión en el que viajaba el presidente de ese país, Evo Morales.

Varias naciones europeas le cerraron su espacio aéreo a la nave este martes, por rumores de que transportaba también al excontratista de la CIA -solicitado por Estados Unidos- Edward Snowden.

Presidentes de la región han coincidido en expresar indignación por el tratamiento dado a Morales, que han descrito como una amenaza a la dignidad de Bolivia y del continente.

Francia se disculpó por su papel en lo ocurrido.

Fuente: BBC

Edward Snowden not on Bolivian president's diverted plane 

A jet carrying the Bolivian president is on its way home after being forced to land at Vienna airport because of the refusal of some European countries to let it pass through their airspace. Eva Morales was returning from a visit to Moscow. He called it "an excuse to scare, intimidate and punish me". 

The US government has admitted that it had been in contact with other nations about potential flights involving Edward Snowden, the NSA whistleblower. The State Department would not comment on whether it had made any specific respresentations over Morales's flight.

Bolivian and Austrian authorities insisted Snowden was not on the plane. The extent to which the Austrian police officers searched the jet was unclear.

An Austrian official told AP that Morales's aircraft asked controllers at Vienna airport to land because there was "no clear indication" that the plane had enough fuel to continue on its journey. 

Bolivia's UN ambassador has said that the country will file a formal complaint with the United Nations over the "kidnapping" of Morales. A number of South American leaders voiced outrage at the incident, including the Argentinian president Cristina Kirchner and Rafael Correa, the president of Ecuador.

Ecuador's foreign minister Ricardo Patino says Ecuador has found a hidden microphone inside its London embassy, where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is living, and it would disclose who controls the device. Patino described it as "another instance of a loss of ethics at the international level in relations between governments"

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Flight of the plane in real time

Source: The Guardian