MOSCOW — NSA leaker Edward Snowden's prospects for political asylum
abroad narrowed rapidly Tuesday after he withdrew his request to
Russia and almost half of the 21 countries on his request list have
turned him down.
The former National Security Agency contractor abandoned his request
for asylum in Russia after President Vladimir Putin said Monday that
he must stop his anti-American activity.
Russian news agencies Tuesday quoted Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov
as saying that Snowden, unhappy with the conditions Russia has set,
had taken back his application to Moscow.
"It's true, Snowden did express a request to remain in Russia. But
having found out yesterday about Russia's position, voiced by
President Putin, about the conditions for theoretically doing so, he
rejected his intention and request to stay in Russia," RIA Novosti
quoted Peskov as saying.
Putin said Monday that Snowden would have to stop leaking U.S. secrets
if he wanted to be granted asylum in Russia, where Snowden has been
hiding out for eight days since his arrival from Hong Kong. Putin said
that while Moscow "never hands over anybody anywhere," Snowden needed
to stop harming Russia's "American partners."
Peskov added Tuesday that "handing over Snowden to a country like the
U.S., where the death penalty can be applied, is not possible."
Snowden fled to the Chinese territory of Hong Kong in May with
top-secret documents and court orders on government surveillance
operations. He has also signaled his intention to leak more of those
documents at a later date.
The U.S. government has revoked his passport and issued an arrest
warrant on charges of violating the federal Espionage Act.
From Snowden's initial list of 21 countries, at least 10 have either
turned him down flatly or said his request was invalid because he was
not physically on their territory.
Snowden broke almost a week of silence on Monday by issuing a
statement on the WikiLeaks website that said his "continued liberty
has been owed to the efforts of friends new and old, family, and
others who I have never met and probably never will."
That was followed Tuesday by a statement detailing the number of
countries, in addition to Russia, to which he had applied for asylum:
Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Finland, France, Germany,
India, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland,
Spain, Switzerland and Venezuela.
Brazil and India have turned him down. Austria, Finland, Germany,
Ireland, Norway, Poland, Spain and Switzerland said a request would be
invalid because it was not made from their own territory.
"We haven't received a visit or any sort of application from Snowden,"
Valentina Anufrieva of the Embassy of Switzerland in Moscow told USA
TODAY.
She added that Swiss asylum claims can only be filed from within
Switzerland itself.
"Only when the person's life is in danger can we make an exception,"
she said, "but that doesn't appear to be the case here."
Educator, which has given asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
at its embassy in London, has been giving mixed signals about offering
him shelter, and increasingly distancing itself from the case.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who is visiting Moscow, said
Tuesday that Snowden had "done something very important for humanity"
and deserved the "world's protection." But Maduro said that Venezuela
had not received a request from Snowden for asylum.
Earlier, a Russian security official said that Russia's Federal
Security Service and the American FBI were in talks over Snowden.
"Of course they (President Obama and Putin) don't have a solution that
would suit both sides, that is why they have ordered FSB Director
(Alexander) Bortnikov and FBI Director (Robert) Mueller to be in
contact and look for options," RIA Novosti quoted Russia's Security
Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev as saying Monday.
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