MOSCOW, July 4 (RIA Novosti) - France has apologized to Bolivia for closing its airspace to President Evo Morales.
French President Francois Hollande said in Berlin he granted permission to fly over his country as soon as he knew it was Morales' aircraft, the BBC reported.
Bolivia accused France, Italy, Spain and Portugal of violating international law after a plane carrying Morales was diverted Tuesday and searched Wednesday over suspicions that it might have fugitive US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden on board.
Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca said Morales’ plane taking him home after an energy meeting in Moscow had been forced to land in Austria after France and Portugal revoked permission for the plane to enter their airspace.
French Foreign Ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot said in a statement: “The [French] foreign minister called his Bolivian counterpart to tell him about France's regrets after the incident caused by the late confirmation of permission for President Morales' plane to fly over [French] territory,” as quoted by the British broadcaster.
The incident provoked a diplomatic scandal: the leaders of Bolivia and other South American nations demanded explanations.
Snowden, a former contractor for the US National Security Agency, is wanted by the United States for disclosing a top-secret surveillance program that allegedly targeted millions of Americans. He is believed to be in Moscow.
