Snowden in Russia after flight from Hong Kong
Source: Agencies |
June 24, 2013, Monday
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Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor wanted by the United States for revealing highly classified surveillance programs landed in Russia yesterday, possibly as a stopover before traveling elsewhere, after being allowed to leave Hong Kong.
Snowden was on an Aeroflot flight from Hong Kong that arrived in Moscow yesterday afternoon and was booked on a flight to Cuba today, Russian news agencies ITAR-Tass and Interfax reported.
Snowden has requested asylum in Ecuador, its Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said on his Twitter account. Ecuador has been sheltering WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at its London embassy for the past year.
Snowden did not leave Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport with the other passengers. Interfax said he was spending the night in the airport's transit zone because he did not have a visa to enter Russia and rented a room in a capsule hotel.
Snowden had been in hiding in Hong Kong for several weeks after he revealed information on the highly classified spy programs. The WikiLeaks anti-secrecy group said it was working with him and he was bound for an unnamed "democratic nation via a safe route for the purpose of asylum."
The White House said President Barack Obama had been briefed on developments.
Snowden's departure came a day after the United States made a formal request for his extradition and gave a pointed warning to Hong Kong against delaying the process of returning him to face trial in the US.
The US Department of Justice said it would "continue to discuss this matter with Hong Kong and pursue relevant law enforcement cooperation with other countries where Snowden may be attempting to travel."
The Hong Kong government said Snowden left on his own accord for a third country through a lawful and normal channel.
It acknowledged the US extradition request, but said US documentation did not "fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law." It said additional information was requested from Washington, but since the Hong Kong government "has yet to have sufficient information to process the request for provisional warrant of arrest, there is no legal basis to restrict Mr Snowden from leaving Hong Kong."
The statement said Hong Kong had informed the US of Snowden's departure. It added that it wanted more information about alleged hacking of computer systems in Hong Kong by US government agencies which Snowden had revealed.
Hong Kong has an extradition treaty with the US, but the document has some exceptions, including for crimes deemed political.
Russian officials give no indication they have any interest in detaining Snowden or any grounds to do so. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said Russia would be willing to consider granting asylum if Snowden made such a request. Russia and the US have no extradition treaty that will oblige Russia to hand over a US citizen.
WikiLeaks said it was providing legal help to Snowden at his request and he was being escorted by diplomats and legal advisers from the group. Assange told the Sydney Morning Herald his organization is in a position to help because it has expertise in international asylum and extradition law.
Snowden's departure came as the South China Morning Post released new allegations from the former NSA contractor that US hacking targets in China included the nation's cellphone companies and two universities hosting extensive Internet traffic hubs. He told the newspaper that "the NSA does all kinds of things like hack Chinese cellphone companies to steal all of your SMS data."
Snowden said Tsinghua University in Beijing and Chinese University in Hong Kong, home of some of the country's major Internet traffic hubs, were targets of extensive hacking by US spies this year. He said the NSA was focusing on so-called "network backbones" in China, through which enormous amounts of Internet data pass.
Snowden was on an Aeroflot flight from Hong Kong that arrived in Moscow yesterday afternoon and was booked on a flight to Cuba today, Russian news agencies ITAR-Tass and Interfax reported.
Snowden has requested asylum in Ecuador, its Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said on his Twitter account. Ecuador has been sheltering WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at its London embassy for the past year.
Snowden did not leave Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport with the other passengers. Interfax said he was spending the night in the airport's transit zone because he did not have a visa to enter Russia and rented a room in a capsule hotel.
Snowden had been in hiding in Hong Kong for several weeks after he revealed information on the highly classified spy programs. The WikiLeaks anti-secrecy group said it was working with him and he was bound for an unnamed "democratic nation via a safe route for the purpose of asylum."
The White House said President Barack Obama had been briefed on developments.
Snowden's departure came a day after the United States made a formal request for his extradition and gave a pointed warning to Hong Kong against delaying the process of returning him to face trial in the US.
The US Department of Justice said it would "continue to discuss this matter with Hong Kong and pursue relevant law enforcement cooperation with other countries where Snowden may be attempting to travel."
The Hong Kong government said Snowden left on his own accord for a third country through a lawful and normal channel.
It acknowledged the US extradition request, but said US documentation did not "fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law." It said additional information was requested from Washington, but since the Hong Kong government "has yet to have sufficient information to process the request for provisional warrant of arrest, there is no legal basis to restrict Mr Snowden from leaving Hong Kong."
The statement said Hong Kong had informed the US of Snowden's departure. It added that it wanted more information about alleged hacking of computer systems in Hong Kong by US government agencies which Snowden had revealed.
Hong Kong has an extradition treaty with the US, but the document has some exceptions, including for crimes deemed political.
Russian officials give no indication they have any interest in detaining Snowden or any grounds to do so. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said Russia would be willing to consider granting asylum if Snowden made such a request. Russia and the US have no extradition treaty that will oblige Russia to hand over a US citizen.
WikiLeaks said it was providing legal help to Snowden at his request and he was being escorted by diplomats and legal advisers from the group. Assange told the Sydney Morning Herald his organization is in a position to help because it has expertise in international asylum and extradition law.
Snowden's departure came as the South China Morning Post released new allegations from the former NSA contractor that US hacking targets in China included the nation's cellphone companies and two universities hosting extensive Internet traffic hubs. He told the newspaper that "the NSA does all kinds of things like hack Chinese cellphone companies to steal all of your SMS data."
Snowden said Tsinghua University in Beijing and Chinese University in Hong Kong, home of some of the country's major Internet traffic hubs, were targets of extensive hacking by US spies this year. He said the NSA was focusing on so-called "network backbones" in China, through which enormous amounts of Internet data pass.
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