The White House was notified of the detention of a Brazilian citizen.

WASHINGTON, Aug 19 (Reuters) - US authorities have not asked Britain to detain and interrogate the Brazilian partner of the American journalist who published the first leaks of espionage by Edward Snowden, the White House said on Monday.

British authorities, however, warned the United States before arresting Brazilian David Miranda, partner of American journalist Glenn Greenwald, the White House reported.

"This is a decision they made on their own, and not at the request of the United States," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters. "This is something they did independently of our direction," he added.

Miranda, 28, was detained on Sunday at Heathrow Airport in London during a layover on a flight from Berlin to Rio de Janeiro. He was questioned for nine hours under an anti-terrorism law and released without charges. The Brazilian landed in Rio on Monday.

The White House spokesman did not say when British authorities notified the U.S. about Miranda's detention, nor how the contact was made. He also did not say whether U.S. authorities received any material from Miranda's testimony or from items confiscated from her, including her computer and cell phone.

Greenwald, who lives in Rio de Janeiro and writes for the British newspaper The Guardian, recently interviewed Snowden, a former contractor for the US intelligence agency wanted by US authorities for leaking classified information. The journalist used secret documents provided by Snowden to reveal details about the surveillance methods of the US National Security Agency (NSA).

Greenwald stated on Monday that the arrest of his partner was an attempt to intimidate his work, but that he will respond with new accusations.

American Snowden is currently in Russia, where he has been granted asylum for one year, but the Barack Obama administration has been seeking ways to bring him back to the United States to face espionage charges.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Roberta Rampton)

Read below the report from Agência Brasil about the summoning, by Itamaraty (Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs), of the British ambassador in Brasília:

Itamaraty (Brazilian Foreign Ministry) summons British ambassador to discuss the detention of a Brazilian citizen in London.

Vitor Abdala
Reporter from Agência Brasil

Rio de Janeiro – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the British ambassador in Brasília, Alexander Ellis, this Monday morning (19) to express the Brazilian government's dissatisfaction with the detention of David Michael Miranda for nine hours at Heathrow Airport, in London, yesterday. The information was released a short time ago by Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota.

According to Patriota, there is no reasonable explanation for what happened at the London airport. "There is no justification for the treatment given to a Brazilian citizen, against whom there is no suspicion of involvement with terrorism or any other illicit activity, who was detained incommunicado for nine hours. We hope this will not happen again. It will be very important to convey this very clearly to the British government."

Patriota also intends to speak today with the British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, about the detention of the Brazilian citizen. He participated in a ceremony in Rio de Janeiro honoring Sérgio Vieira de Mello, a Brazilian who died ten years ago in a terrorist attack in Baghdad while heading the United Nations representation in Iraq.

Before speaking to the press in Rio de Janeiro, Patriota had criticized the "abuses and deviations" that have been committed in the name of combating terrorism around the world, in a speech during the event. The Brazilian Foreign Minister said that the fight against terrorism must respect international law.

Brazilian David Miranda is the partner of American journalist Glenn Greenwald, who exposed, in articles published in the British newspaper The Guardian, the cyber espionage strategy of the United States government. The reports were based on documents provided by Edward Snowden, a former employee of a third-party company that provided services to the US National Security Agency (NSA).

Greenwold said today, upon David Miranda's arrival in Rio, that the episode was a way to intimidate him. The Brazilian landed early at Tom Jobim/Galeão International Airport. He recounted that he was approached at the London airport by several men who told him he would be taken to a room for questioning. "They asked questions about my entire life and even took my computer, video game console, cell phone, camera, and memory cards," he reported. His passport was also retained and only returned after the interrogation.

Glenn Greenwald was waiting for his colleague in the airport lobby in Rio and considered the episode a way to intimidate him. "Now, I'm going to do much more aggressive reporting than before. I'm going to publish many more documents than before," he said.

David Miranda was returning from a trip to Germany and, while making a connection in London, was detained at the terminal, where he was interrogated under a British anti-terrorism law. The action by British security forces prompted a protest note from Itamaraty (the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs), in which the Brazilian government expressed "grave concern" about the episode. The non-governmental organization (NGO) Amnesty International also condemned the detention.