 |
| Credit: Reuters/Bobby Yip/Files |
◼ Snowden leaves Hong Kong, may head for Venezuela - James Pomfret and Lidia Kelly/Reuters
A source at Aeroflot said Snowden would fly from Moscow to Cuba on Monday and then planned to go on to Venezuela. The South China Morning Post earlier said his final destination might be Ecuador or Iceland.
The WikiLeaks anti-secrecy website said it helped Snowden find "political asylum in a democratic country".
It added in an update on Twitter that he was accompanied by diplomats and legal advisers and was travelling via a safe route for the purposes of seeking asylum.
"The WikiLeaks legal team and I are interested in preserving Mr Snowden's rights and protecting him as a person," former Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon, legal director of WikiLeaks and lawyer for the group's founder Julian Assange, said in a statement.
"What is being done to Mr Snowden and to Mr Julian Assange - for making or facilitating disclosures in the public interest - is an assault against the people."
◼ DESTINATION: VENEZUELA -- VIA RUSSIA, CUBA
◼ U.S. extradition request did 'not fully comply with Hong Kong law' - AP
The Hong Kong government said in a statement that Snowden left "on his own accord for a third country through a lawful and normal channel."
It acknowledged the U.S. extradition request, but said U.S. 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 U.S. of Snowden's departure. It added that it wanted more information about alleged hacking of computer systems in Hong Kong by U.S. government agencies which Snowden had revealed.
◼ 'Carrying 4 laptops with cornucopia of US intel documents' - NYT
Mr. Snowden is reportedly carrying four laptop computers with a cornucopia of American intelligence documents that he downloaded to a thumb drive this spring while working in Hawaii for the National Security Agency as an employee of Booz Allen Hamilton. The Guardian newspaper of Britain has already disclosed a week ago that Mr. Snowden provided the newspaper with documents showing that during a conference in London in 2009, the United States was able to access the communications of Dmitri A. Medvedev, then the Russian president and now the prime minister — a disclosure that will almost certainly cause Russia to review its codes and other procedures for top leaders.
◼ Pelosi booed for saying NSA leaker broke law - The HILL
◼ lPardon petition hits 100,000; WH to reply?nk - Daily Dot
◼ Paul: Snowden may tarnish his reputation by going to Russia or Cuba - HotAir
◼ 'Booked room in capsule hotel' at airport - ruvr.ru
Unprecedented security measures have been taken at the Sheremetyevo Airport in connection with former CIA officer Edward Snowden's arrival, a source familiar with the situation told Interfax.
"All necessary security measures have been taken to maintain Snowden's security and to guarantee his safe departure. Everything has been done to allow Snowden to spend the night peacefully at the airport's capsule hotel and to fly quietly to Cuba," the source said.
Reports said earlier that Snowed is currently at the Sheremetyevo Airport. "Snowden is a transit passenger who will fly to Cuba.
He is currently at the airport, where he ought to be while waiting for his next flight," the source said.
A source in Aeroflot told Interfax that Snowden had booked a room in a capsule hotel at Sheremetyevo Airport's Terminal E.
"He has arrived, but he cannot leave the terminal as he has no Russian visa," he said, adding that, WikiLeaks representative Sara Harrison, who is accompanying Snowden, has a Russian visa.
PASSPORT REVOKED... AP
◼ ON THE RUN: WIKILEAKS SAYS SNOWDEN SEEKING ASYLUM IN ECUADOR - AP
◼ Fugitive Snowden seeks asylum in Ecuador: foreign minister - Reuters