KUALA LUMPUR
- The British government asked Malaysia's national airline not to allow
former espionage analyst Edward Snowden to board flights to the United
Kingdom, the carrier said Friday, after he leaked details of
Washington's secret surveillance programmes.
The directive came following reports that the UK had issued an alert to
airlines around the world urging them not to allow the former CIA
employee to board flights to Britain.
The
British government told carriers to deny Snowden passage on UK-bound
flights because "the individual is highly likely to be refused entry to
the UK", the Associated Press said.
The news
agency reported that it had seen a photograph of an "alert" with a Home
Office letterhead taken Friday at a Thai airport issuing the directive.
It added that a British diplomat had confirmed the document was genuine.
The United States launched a criminal investigation after Snowden, a
former CIA technical assistant, blew the lid on the National Security
Agency's vast electronic surveillance operation.
On Friday, US Attorney General Eric Holder said he was confident Snowden would be prosecuted for "extremely damaging" leaks.
The 29-year-old, who remains in hiding in Hong Kong, has vowed to fight any bid to extradite him.
A Malaysia Airlines spokeswoman in Kuala Lumpur told AFP Friday the
carrier had received a notice asking it not to allow Snowden to board
flights to the UK.
"We have received a notice and we have issued it internally systemwide," she said in a text message.
The notice was marked as a "message from UK border" said the spokeswoman.
"Apparently the notice came from UK Border. So don't allow him on flights to UK," she added.
In Hong Kong a Cathay Pacific Airlines spokesperson told AFP it would
"not discuss communications, if any, received from governmental
agencies" due to security reasons.
The city's airport authority said it had not received any instructions about banning Snowden from boarding flights.
