Bolivian President Evo Morales's plane has been diverted to Austria amid suspicion that U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden is on board.

David Choquehuanca, the Bolivian foreign minister, denied that Mr Snowden was on the plane.

France and Portugal allegedly declined to allow the Bolivia-bound flight to cross their airspace.

Mr Snowden is seeking asylum in several countries to evade the impending cases for him in the United States for leaking intelligence secrets.

Asylum applications

Mr Choquehuanca said that the statement: "Mr. Snowden was on board" was a complete lie.

The Bolivian president had been on a visit to Moscow, where Snowden has been in the airport transit area for more than a week now.

Mr Morales said that Mr Snowden has not sent an asylum request to Bolivia but if he does, it would be considered.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro who was also in Moscow expressed support for Mr Snowden even if he has not received an asylum request.

Mr Snowden withdrew his asylum application to Russia after the Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he could approve the asylum provided that Snowden would not include the American friends of the country.

Mr. Edward Snowden is wanted by the United States on charges of leaking national secrets he collected while working for the National Security Agency (NSA). Mr Snowden accuses the United States government of having a policy that would gather data on the American people without their permission.