"loss of international ethics " or 'super power' arrogance?
These episodes are not just a "loss of international ethics" . They point to the arrogance of the 'Developed' world. A world that will respect no international laws if they stand in the way of what it wants. A world that prefers Military Might over Diplomacy and Democracy.
Bolivia to complain to UN after Evo Morales' plane 'kidnapped'
US refuses to confirm or deny involvement in diversion of Bolivian president's plane over Snowden suspicions
Bolivia will file a complaint at the United Nations over what it calls the kidnapping of its president, Evo Morales, whose plane was diverted to Vienna, where Austrian authorities said they searched it in an attempt to find the US whistleblower Edward Snowden.
The country's ambassador to the UN, Sacha Llorenti, said the operation in Austria was an act of aggression and a violation of international law.
"We will demand appropriate explanations from those countries that submitted to North American imperialism and briefly put President Morales in such a helpless situation," Llorenti told the state radio Patria Nueva.
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The jet then flew to Austria, where Morales had to wait for over half a day. He was allowed to continue his journey only after Austrian officials boarded the jet and affirmed – as Bolivia had insisted – that Snowden was not on board.
Austria's deputy chancellor, Michael Spindelegger, claimed Morales "agreed to a voluntary inspection". But Bolivian officials denied that, and said the Austrians had risked the president's life. Bolivia's vice-president, Alvaro García Linera, said Morales was "kidnapped by imperialism".
It is assumed that the US was behind the operation, though Washington has yet to comment. Earlier in the week, the US state department said it hoped Snowden would be returned to the US to face charges of espionage and theft after a string of other countries said they would not accept his petition for asylum.
Speaking before the developments in Vienna, a state department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, rejected claims made by Snowden on Monday that the US had bullied other potential hosts, such as Ecuador, into withdrawing their offer of asylum. The US says it has only impressed upon possible host countries the seriousness of the crimes that Snowden has been charged with.
Psaki said: "We have been in contact with a range of countries that had a chance of having Snowden land or travel through their country, but I am not going to outline [who] those countries were or when this [contact] happened." She refused to confirm or deny specific involvement in the flight or address questions on whether it was a breach of diplomatic protocol, saying these were matters for European countries.
Ecuador condemns 'loss of international ethics' after country's foreign minister finds microphone hidden in embassy
The international wrangle over the future of Edward Snowden took a further twist when Ecuador declared it had found a listening device in itsLondon embassy and threatened to reveal who had planted it.
In another day of drama and diplomatic indignation, Ricardo Patiño, Ecuador's foreign minister, said the device had been discovered a fortnight ago when he had been in the UK to discuss another fugitive, the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange.
Patiño said the hidden microphone had been found in the office of Ecuador's ambassador, Ana Alban, and he condemned the development as a "loss of international ethics".
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Bolivia accused Austria of "kidnapping" the president, who was kept in Vienna for 14 hours while his plane was searched.
France, Portugal and Spain were all said to have refused permission for the president's plane to enter their airspace, raising suspicions about the pressure being exerted by the US.
The episode stoked anger in Latin America, where there is growing disquiet over the way in which the US has attempted to pressure countries into refusing to offer Snowden sanctuary.
Ecuador has said it will not consider an application for his asylum unless he is in the country. But the assistance that it gave to Assange, who has been staying at the country's at the Ecuadorian embassy in London for more than a year, has made it a focus of American and British diplomatic pressure.
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Though Patiño gave few details, it would appear that the bug was discovered on June 17 – a week before Snowden left Hong Kong. At the time, Assange and other members of WikiLeaks were providing the former intelligence analyst with legal and logistical help.
At a press conference in Quito, Patiño said: "We regret to inform you that in our embassy in London we have found a hidden microphone. I didn't report this at the time because we didn't want the theme of our visit to London to be confused with this matter. Furthermore, we first wanted to ascertain with precision what could be the origin of this interception device in the office of our ambassador."
He described the discovery of the device as "another instance of a loss of ethics at the international level in relations between governments".
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posted by Satish Sharma at
02:51
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