KUALA LUMPUR: The British government asked Malaysia’s national airline not to allow former spy Edward Snowden to board flights to the United Kingdom, the carrier said on Friday, after he leaked details of Washington’s secret surveillance programmes.

The directive came following reports that the UK had issued an alert to airlines around the world urging them not to allow the former CIA employee to board flights to Britain.

The British government told carriers to deny Snowden passage on UK-bound flights because “the individual is highly likely to be refused entry to the UK”, the Associated Press said.

The news agency reported that it had seen a photograph of an “alert” with a Home Office letterhead taken on Friday at a Thai airport issuing the directive.

It added that a British diplomat had confirmed the document was genuine.

A Malaysia Airlines spokeswoman in Kuala Lumpur said the carrier had received a notice asking it not to allow Snowden to board flights to the UK.

“We have received a notice and we have issued it internally,” she said in a text message.The notice was marked as a “message from UK border”, said the spokeswoman.

“Apparently the notice came from UK Border. So don’t allow him on flights to UK,” she added.—AFP