Bolivia FM denies Snowden on Morales plane

Bolivia’s Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca speaks during a press conference in La Paz, Bolivia, Tuesday, July 2, 2013. Bolivia’s foreign minister says the plane bringing President Evo Morales home from Russia was rerouted to Austria after France and Portugal refused to let it to cross their airspace because of suspicions that NSA leaker Edward Snowden was on board. AP/Juan Karita

LA PAZ—Bolivia’s foreign minister on Tuesday denied that fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden was traveling aboard President Evo Morales’s plane, which was forced to make an unscheduled stop in Austria.

The minister, David Choquehuanca, told reporters that France and Portugal had closed their airspace to the presidential plane over the “huge lie” that Snowden was on board.

Morales had been on a visit to Moscow, where Snowden—who is facing espionage charges in the United States—has been holed up in an airport transit area for more than a week.