Snowden stuck in Moscow: Public support falls

Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden flew to Moscow from Hong Kong on Sunday. His ongoing presence in a Moscow airport may test the relationship between the United States and Russia. He faces U.S. charges of espionage for leaking secret government surveillance details.

By Alessandra Prentice,?Reuters, Steve Gutterman,?Reuters / June 27, 2013

A man reads a newspaper with the headline in Spanish "Snowden stuck at Moscow airport" in Quito, Ecuador, Wednesday. Snowden has requested asylum from Ecuador. A decision from the South American country could take months.

AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa

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A former U.S. spy agency contractor facing charges of espionage remained in hiding at a?Moscow airport?on Wednesday while the prospect grew of a protracted wrangle over his fate.

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Ecuador, where?Edward Snowden?has requested asylum, said a decision could take months and asked Washington to argue its case for extradition.?Russia?said Snowden, whose flight is proving a growing embarrassment for President?Barack Obama, was still in the transit area of?Sheremetyevo airport.

A leading U.S. senator sought to raise pressure on?Ecuador?by saying he would seek to end preferential access for its goods to the?United States?if it gave asylum to Snowden, while?Quito?denied it had given him any travel document.

Snowden fled the?United States?to Hong Kong this month after leaking details of secret?U.S. government?surveillance programmes, then flew on to?Moscow?on Sunday.

He has not been seen in the transit area - the zone between the departure gate and formal entry into the country - since his arrival, although a receptionist at a hotel in the transit zone said he looked at the prices there on Sunday, then left.

Russian President?Vladimir Putin?has denied that Snowden?was being interviewed by?Russian intelligence?and called any U.S. accusations that?Moscow?was aiding him "ravings and rubbish".

There was no sign of Snowden?registering for onward flights out of?Russia?on Wednesday.

"They are not flying today and not over the next three days," an Aeroflot representative at Sheremetyevo said when asked if Snowden?and his legal adviser, Briton?Sarah Harrison, were due to fly out. "They are not in the system."

'Serious security breach'

U.S. Defense Secretary?Chuck Hagel?said on Wednesday that Snowden's leaks to news media had been a "serious security breach" that damaged U.S. national security. He repeated calls for?Moscow?to hand him over.

"I would hope that the Russians do the right thing here," Hagel told a?Pentagon?news conference, adding that?Moscow?evidently had not made a final decision since Snowden?reportedly was still at the airport.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/1Bt5SJxO-Xg/Snowden-stuck-in-Moscow-Public-support-falls

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