Edward Snowden due to quit Moscow in Ecuador asylum bid
Edward Snowden is regarded as a hero by some, and a villain by others
Fugitive former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden is due to fly out of Russia in the next few hours in a bid to seek asylum in Ecuador.
Reports suggest he will be on an early afternoon flight out of Moscow, heading first to the Cuban capital Havana.
Washington says it is urging countries in the "Western Hemisphere" not to let Mr Snowden enter their territory.
The US has charged him with espionage over leaked secret documents revealing US internet and phone surveillance.
In a series of rapidly moving developments on Sunday, Mr Snowden flew to Moscow from Hong Kong where he had been holed up since fleeing the US.
Once at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport it is thought he was met by Ecuador's ambassador to Moscow whose car was seen arriving by reporters.
On Sunday night it was unclear exactly where Mr Snowden was, but he was believed to be still at the airport.
BBC Moscow correspondent Daniel Sandford says it is being reported that he will fly first to Cuba and then to Venezuela before heading to Ecuador. The first plane scheduled to fly to Havana was due to leave Sheremetyevo at 14:05 Moscow time (10:05 GMT).
He will be trying to avoid any country that might arrest him on behalf of the US, our correspondent adds.
The US had been trying to extradite Mr Snowden from Hong Kong, but authorities there said the US request was incomplete and there was no legal basis to stop him from departing.
The US justice department said it was "disappointed" that Hong Kong did not arrest Mr Snowden and that it "disagrees" with its reasons for not doing so.
"We find their decision to be particularly troubling," an official said.
As Washington scrambled to stop the former analyst moving beyond its reach, an official said the US had contacted "Western Hemisphere" nations that Mr Snowden might travel to, or through.
"The US is advising these governments that Snowden is wanted on felony charges, and as such should not be allowed to proceed in any further international travel, other than is necessary to return him to the United States," the state department official said.
The US justice department also says it will seek co-operation from whichever country Mr Snowden arrives in.
'Escorted by diplomats'
Our correspondent says there seems to have been a concerted effort by China, Russia and Ecuador to help him escape the net that was closing around him in Hong Kong.
Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino, who is in Vietnam, said on Monday that Mr Snowden's asylum request was being "analysed".
Ecuador is already giving political asylum to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who has been sheltering in its London embassy for the past year.
Wikileaks said in a statement that Mr Snowden was "bound for the Republic of Ecuador via a safe route for the purposes of asylum, and is being escorted by diplomats and legal advisers from Wikileaks".
Although the US and Ecuador have a joint extradition treaty, it is not applicable to "crimes or offences of a political character".
Wikileaks said Mr Snowden's asylum request would be formally processed when he arrived in Ecuador.
Spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson told the BBC he believed history would show that the former analyst had performed "a great public service".
The US state department would not confirm a report that Mr Snowden's passport had been revoked but said it was "routine" for anyone charged with a felony. Such people should be stopped from any further international travel, a spokeswoman said.
Mr Snowden had left his home in Hawaii after leaking details of his work as an NSA (National Security Agency) analyst and the extensive US surveillance programme to the UK's Guardian newspaper and the Washington Post.
He has been charged in the US with theft of government property, unauthorised communication of national defence information and wilful communication of classified communications intelligence.
Each of the charges carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence.
The Obama administration is desperate to get its hands on Mr Snowden before he reveals any more secrets, reports BBC Washington correspondent Paul Adams.
A number of prominent politicians have called him a traitor and raised suspicion about the roles played by China and Russia, he adds.
Mr Snowden's leaks have led to revelations that the US is systematically seizing vast amounts of phone and web data under an NSA programme known as Prism.
He Snowden said earlier that he had decided to speak out after observing "a continuing litany of lies" from senior officials to Congress.
US officials have defended the practice of gathering telephone and internet data from private users around the world.
They say Prism cannot be used to intentionally target any Americans or anyone in the US, and that it is supervised by judges.
No comments:
Post a Comment