NSA leaker Edward Snowden is still confined to the transit area of a Moscow airport as he awaits asylum in Ecuador.
WASHINGTON
National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, believed to be in legal
limbo in the Moscow airport, expanded his requests for asylum to 21
countries, including China and 13 European nations, according to
WikiLeaks, but his options seemed to be narrowing on Tuesday.
WikiLeaks legal adviser Sarah Harrison delivered the requests for asylum to an official at the Russian consulate at the Moscow airport on Sunday, according to the website. WikiLeaks said some of the requests had already been delivered to the appropriate embassies.
The WikiLeaks statement said requests were made to China, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, India and European countries. Snowden had planned earlier to seek asylum in Ecuador and had requested asylum in Russia, according to the anti-secrecy group.
Early Tuesday, however, the Kremlin said Snowden had repealed his request to stay in Russia because of the terms for protection given by Moscow.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin said Monday that former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden will have to stop leaking U.S. secrets if he wants to get asylum in Russia, but added that Snowden has no plan to quit doing so.
Poland rejected Snowden's asylum request on Tuesday, and officials in Germany, Norway, Austria and Switzerland said that he could not apply for asylum from abroad. Many European countries require an asylum request to be made on their soil.
Poland's Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said Snowden had made a request for asylum in Poland, but the request had faults and was rejected. He did not elaborate.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, coincidentally wrapping up a long-planned visit to Moscow, said Tuesday that his government had not yet received an official asylum request from Snowden, but that it would be considered if and when received.
"He deserves the world's protection. He has not asked
us for it yet. When he does we will give our answer," Maduro told the
Reuters news agency in Moscow.
Last week, it looked as if Snowden might get asylum in Ecuador, but after a phone call from Vice President Joe Biden, Ecuador's president seemed to shy away from a commitment.
"We can't process an asylum request because Snowden isn't on Ecuadorean soil, and when he arrives, if he arrives, we will seek the opinion of the U.S.," President Rafael Correa said on Sunday.
Snowden, who has been on the run since releasing sensitive NSA documents, is believed to have been in Moscow airport's transit zone since his arrival from Hong Kong on June 23. The U.S. has annulled his passport.
Meanwhile, WikiLeaks posted a statement Monday evening said to be from Snowden that slammed President Obama for "using citizenship as a weapon."
"Although I am convicted of nothing, it has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person," Snowden said in the statement. "Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum.
"Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me."
The expanded requests for asylum came as the Obama administration contends with European allies angry about the release of documents that alleged U.S. eavesdropping on European Union diplomats.
Mr. Obama, in an African news conference with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, said the U.S. would provide allies with information about new reports that the NSA had bugged EU offices in Washington, New York and Brussels. But he also suggested such activity by governments would hardly be unusual.
"We should stipulate that every intelligence service -- not just ours, but every European intelligence service, every Asian intelligence service, wherever there's an intelligence service -- here's one thing that they're going to be doing: They're going to be trying to understand the world better, and what's going on in world capitals around the world," he said. "If that weren't the case, then there'd be no use for an intelligence service."
The latest issue concerns allegations, published in the German newsweekly Der Spiegel, of U.S. spying on European officials. French President Francois Hollande demanded Monday that the U.S. immediately stop any such eavesdropping and suggested the widening controversy could jeopardize next week's opening of trans-Atlantic trade talks between the United States and Europe.
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2013 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press
contributed to this report.WikiLeaks legal adviser Sarah Harrison delivered the requests for asylum to an official at the Russian consulate at the Moscow airport on Sunday, according to the website. WikiLeaks said some of the requests had already been delivered to the appropriate embassies.
The WikiLeaks statement said requests were made to China, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, India and European countries. Snowden had planned earlier to seek asylum in Ecuador and had requested asylum in Russia, according to the anti-secrecy group.
Early Tuesday, however, the Kremlin said Snowden had repealed his request to stay in Russia because of the terms for protection given by Moscow.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin said Monday that former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden will have to stop leaking U.S. secrets if he wants to get asylum in Russia, but added that Snowden has no plan to quit doing so.
Poland rejected Snowden's asylum request on Tuesday, and officials in Germany, Norway, Austria and Switzerland said that he could not apply for asylum from abroad. Many European countries require an asylum request to be made on their soil.
Poland's Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said Snowden had made a request for asylum in Poland, but the request had faults and was rejected. He did not elaborate.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, coincidentally wrapping up a long-planned visit to Moscow, said Tuesday that his government had not yet received an official asylum request from Snowden, but that it would be considered if and when received.
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in Moscow, July 2, 2013.
/
AP
Last week, it looked as if Snowden might get asylum in Ecuador, but after a phone call from Vice President Joe Biden, Ecuador's president seemed to shy away from a commitment.
"We can't process an asylum request because Snowden isn't on Ecuadorean soil, and when he arrives, if he arrives, we will seek the opinion of the U.S.," President Rafael Correa said on Sunday.
Snowden, who has been on the run since releasing sensitive NSA documents, is believed to have been in Moscow airport's transit zone since his arrival from Hong Kong on June 23. The U.S. has annulled his passport.
Meanwhile, WikiLeaks posted a statement Monday evening said to be from Snowden that slammed President Obama for "using citizenship as a weapon."
"Although I am convicted of nothing, it has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person," Snowden said in the statement. "Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum.
"Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me."
The expanded requests for asylum came as the Obama administration contends with European allies angry about the release of documents that alleged U.S. eavesdropping on European Union diplomats.
Mr. Obama, in an African news conference with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, said the U.S. would provide allies with information about new reports that the NSA had bugged EU offices in Washington, New York and Brussels. But he also suggested such activity by governments would hardly be unusual.
"We should stipulate that every intelligence service -- not just ours, but every European intelligence service, every Asian intelligence service, wherever there's an intelligence service -- here's one thing that they're going to be doing: They're going to be trying to understand the world better, and what's going on in world capitals around the world," he said. "If that weren't the case, then there'd be no use for an intelligence service."
The latest issue concerns allegations, published in the German newsweekly Der Spiegel, of U.S. spying on European officials. French President Francois Hollande demanded Monday that the U.S. immediately stop any such eavesdropping and suggested the widening controversy could jeopardize next week's opening of trans-Atlantic trade talks between the United States and Europe.
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