The British government has alerted air carriers around the world not to allow the American NSA whistleblower who exposed top-secret US electronic spying operations to board a flight to the UK.\n<\/p>\n
The travel alert on Edward Snowden, a former contract employee of the world\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s largest spy institution, the National Security Agency (NSA), appears on a Home Office letterhead and dated Monday, demanding airlines to deny him boarding because \u00c5\u201cthe individual is highly likely to be refused entry to the UK,\u201d The Associated Press reports Friday.\n<\/p>\n
The report notes that a photograph copy of the official British document was observed at a Thai airport on Friday and a British diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the legitimacy of the document and the fact that it was \u00c5\u201csent out to airlines around the world.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
The document titled \u00c5\u201cRALON Carrier Alert 15\/13\u201d had a photograph of Snowden and gave his date of birth and passport number. It said: \u00c5\u201cIf this individual attempts to travel to the UK: Carriers should deny boarding.\u201d It warned that carriers may \u00c5\u201cbe liable to costs relating to the individual\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s detention and removal\u201d should they allow him to travel.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The diplomat further asserted that such official alerts are issued to airlines that fly into Britain and that the penalty for any carrier that flies Snowden to the European country would be 2,000 British pounds (USD3,150).\n<\/p>\n
He added Snowden would likely have been deemed by the UK\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s Home Office to be detrimental to the \u00c5\u201cpublic good.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
This is while airlines in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore also confirmed receiving the British travel alert against Snowden.\n<\/p>\n
The AP report then goes on to speculate that although no formal charges have been files against the former US spy, \u00c5\u201cSnowden\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s world is now shrinking.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
The US-based major news agency then argues \u00c5\u201cif other countries follow Britain\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s example and bar his entry, Snowden would have few options for seeking refuge if he were not allowed to stay in his preferred sanctuary of Hong Kong.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
According to the report, China has not formally commented on what it plans to do with the US whistleblower, but a major Chinese newspaper has urged Beijing to use Snowden to gain information on US spying operations against China rather than expel him.\n<\/p>\n
Snowden announced in a Thursday interview with a Hong Kong-based newspaper that the US spy agency that he worked for was also engaged in massive hacking against China and Hong Kong.\n<\/p>\n
Pointing to the \u00cb\u0153extensive hacking operations\u00e2\u201e\u00a2 by the US, Snowden told the South China Morning Post<\/i> newspaper that he wanted to show \u00c5\u201cthe hypocrisy of the US government when it claims that it does not target civilian infrastructure, unlike its adversaries.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Snowden\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s new assertions about American cyber attack operations against China seriously undermines Obama administration\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s recent publicity campaign on what it alleges to be massive hacking operations by the Chinese military to \u00c5\u201csteal\u201d American corporate and government secrets.\n<\/p>\n
He further told the Hong Kong daily that the agency ran 61,000 hacking operations, with \u00c5\u201chundreds of targets\u201d in China and Hong Kong.\n<\/p>\n
The hacking operations, Snowden added, had been in place since 2009 \u00c5\u201cand targeted the Chinese University of Hong Kong, public officials, businesses and students.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
He further emphasized, \u00c5\u201cWe hack network backbones — like huge Internet routers, basically — that give us access to the communications of hundreds of thousands of computers without having to hack every single one.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The interview was reportedly the first public comments made by Snowden since Monday, when he checked out of the Hong Kong hotel where he had been staying.<\/p>\n
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