US will not seek death penalty for Edward Snowden

The U.S. will not seek the death penalty for Edward Snowden, the former intelligence contractor responsible for leaking documents revealing classified government surveillance programs, according to a recent letter from attorney general Eric Holder.

The charges Snowden faces in the U.S. do not carry the death penalty, and the U.S. will not seek the death penalty even if Snowden were charged with additional death penalty-eligible crimes, Holder said in the letter, which was sent to Russian minister of justice Vladimirovich Konovalov and obtained by CBS News.

The letter was dated July 23. The U.S. attorney general's office declined to comment immediately.

Snowden is currently thought to be residing at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport. Last week he requested temporary asylum in Russia in an effort to avoid prosecution by the U.S. government, which has indicted Snowden on charges related to the leaks.

Should he return to the U.S., Snowden will not be tortured either, Holder said. He would be promptly brought before a civilian court convened under Article III of the U.S. Constitution and supervised by a U.S. district judge, according to the letter.

"Mr. Snowden would receive all the protections that U.S. law provides to persons charge with federal criminal offenses in Article III courts," Holder said.

Snowden would be appointed counsel and would have the right to a public jury trial, according to the letter, and he would have the right to testify if he wished to do so.

"We believe that these assurances eliminate these asserted grounds for Mr. Snowden's claim that he should be treated as a refugee or granted asylum, temporary or otherwise," Holder said.Snowden has expressed an interest in relocating to Latin America, where Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua have offered him safe harbor, but those efforts are complicated because the U.S. revoked Snowden's passport.

But Snowden is eligible for a limited validity passport for direct return to the U.S., Holder said, adding that the U.S. is willing to immediately issue such a passport.

Earlier this week Snowden was granted a document allowing him to leave the Moscow airport.

Gadgetwise Blog: Q&A: Setting Up Gmail Securely

I’m trying to download my Gmail into the Apple Mail program on a new Mac and I’m getting an error when I try to set up the account. I have Gmail’s extra verification turned on, but there’s no place in the Mac’s Mail program to enter the security code they send to my phone. What can I do?

Google’s two-step verification feature can trip up mail-setup scripts that are not equipped to handle anything more than just a standard password. In this situation — or if you have recently turned on two-step verification and found your mail program or devices can no longer get Gmail — you need to log into your Gmail account in the Web and set up an “application-specific password.”

You can find Google’s step-by-step instructions for using application-specific passwords here and a YouTube video demonstration online as well. Once you log into your account and go to your security settings, you can get to the application-specific passwords area. Here, you can type in a name for the application (like “Apple Mail”) and click a button to generate a lengthy one-time password to type into the Mail program’s password box.

Google’s site has a troubleshooting page that guides you through setting up other types of mail software to send and receive messages from your Gmail account. The page also includes links to guides for programs besides Apple Mail, like Microsoft Outlook, Windows Mail, Mozilla Thunderbird and mail programs for Android, BlackBerry and iOS devices.

Venezuela offers asylum to NSA source Edward Snowden

Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro has offered to give asylum to Edward Snowden, the former contractor of the National Security Agency who leaked documents about the agency's surveillance programs.

Maduro said in a televised speech on Friday that his country would give "humanitarian asylum."

Neighboring Nicaragua has also said it is considering offering Snowden asylum if circumstances permit, according to reports.

But there are questions as to how he will get to Venezuela. Earlier this week, a plane carrying Evo Morales, president of Bolivia, was denied permission to enter airspace over some European countries as it was returning to Bolivia from Moscow. The countries had apparently been informed that Snowden was on board and their refusal to handle the aircraft sparked protests in Bolivia and the strong complaints from the Bolivian government.

Whistle-blower site WikiLeaks, which has handled Snowden's other asylum requests, said on Friday that asylum requests have been sent to six other countries, but their names were being withheld "due to attempted U.S. interference."

Earlier in the week it said that applications for asylum or asylum assistance were submitted on behalf of Snowden to about 20 countries including Venezuela and Nicaragua through an official at the Russian consulate at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow. Snowden is thought to be in the transit facility of the airport, unable to enter Russia after the U.S. revoked his passport.

The American government has filed charges against Snowden in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia for theft of government property, unauthorized communication of national defense information and willful communication of classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorized person.

A bill introduced Thursday by members of the Icelandic Parliament seeks to grant Icelandic citizenship to Snowden, but it won't be discussed until September after the house refused to take it up on the last day of the summer session of the Parliament.

"I have to announce that Snowden will not be getting any form of shelter in Iceland because the current government doesn't even have enough spine for the parliament to discuss Snowden´s request," wrote Birgitta Jónsdóttir, member of the Icelandic Parliament for the Pirate Party, in a blog post on Friday.

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Oliver Stone on NSA Leaker Edward Snowden: 'I Would Give Him Asylum'

KARLOVY VARY – It doesn’t give Edward Snowden options, but director Oliver Stone wants to grant the National Security Agency leaker asylum.

"If I were a country, I would give him asylum. I wish I could be a country," Stone told The Hollywood Reporter from the Karlovy Vary Film Festival where he is to receive a lifetime achievement award.

The filmmaker added that he can do no more to protect Snowden from prosecution by the United States than joining fellow Hollywood stars like John Cusack, Roseanne Barr and Danny Glover to sign a petition that urges President Rafael Correa to grant Snowden’s asylum request.

Having fled the U.S., Snowden remains holed up in the transit zone at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport as a raft of international asylum requests so far go unanswered.

Stone said he was especially disappointed by leaders in Europe, and in Brazil and India, after they rejected Snowden’s asylum bids outright.

"I'm disappointed by Europe’s reaction, considering they are among the targets for the eavesdropping,” he said.

STORY: Edward Snowden: Hollywood Joins Asylum Petition to Ecuador

The director recalled the 1950s and 1960s, when an earlier generation of leaders like Indian prime minister Jawahartal Nehru, Ghanian president Kwame Nkrumah and French president Charles De Gaulle were more “neutral” about U.S foreign policy., and did not hesitate to voice criticism.

"That kind of independence has been lost in Europe,” Stone complained.

He was especially critical of German chancellor Angela Merkel who, while reacting angrily to claims of U.S. spying in Europe, has followed U.S. foreign policy as her country increasingly controls a beleaguered European Union framework.

"I do feel it has not been good for Europe," Stone said of the EU.

“It has led to the creation of a German financial empire. Now it’s just one big government out of Germany,” he added.

Stone, no stranger to political critique, is also in Karlovy Vary to introduce screenings of two episodes of The Untold History of the United States.

The 10-hour documentary series on Showtime was co-written by Peter Kuznick.

Stone said The Untold History captures an unrevealed history of the U.S. during the 20th century.

"It's all about 70 years that we have forgotten. When you see it in one piece – 10 hours – you get it," he argued.

The Bohemian spa town festival will also screen a new director’s cut of Stone’s Alexander, which expands on the original 2004 version from Warner Bros. that was two hours and 45 minutes.

"It's thre hours, 20 minutes now. I'm very happy with this version. It has a different flow,” Stone said.

The Karlovy Vary Film Festival continues through July 6.

Snowden seeks asylum from several countries, including China and Russia

Applications for asylum or asylum assistance were submitted on behalf of former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden to a number of countries including China, Russia, and India, whistle-blower site WikiLeaks said Tuesday.

Snowden, who leaked information about NSA surveillance programs, was charged by the U.S. in a federal court for theft of government property, unauthorized communication of national defense information and willful communication of classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorized person. The complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia was filed on June 14.

The asylum-related requests were submitted by hand by Sarah Harrison, WikiLeaks' legal advisor in the Snowden matter, to an official at the Russian consulate at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow late Sunday evening, WikiLeaks said.
 
Among the countries approached were Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, and Venezuela. A Russian official has confirmed receiving an application for asylum in the country, according to reports.

"The requests join or update others previously made including to the Republic of Ecuador and the Republic of Iceland," WikiLeaks said in a statement.

WikiLeaks did not provide information on the outcome of the requests, except that the requests have started to be delivered by the Russian consulate to relevant embassies in Moscow.

Snowden's request for asylum in Ecuador hasn't moved because the government of Ecuador wants him to seek asylum from Ecuador territory, according to reports. U.S. vice president Joe Biden is also said to have spoken to Ecuador President Rafael Correa to ask him not to grant Snowden asylum.

Snowden, who is said to be in the transit facility of the airport in Moscow after the U.S. revoked his passport, on Monday criticized the "deception" of U.S. President Barack Obama who last week said that he would not permit any diplomatic "wheeling and dealing" over the Snowden issue.

"Yet now it is being reported that after promising not to do so, the President ordered his Vice President to pressure the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum petitions," Snowden said in a statement released through WikiLeaks.
 
The Obama administration has now adopted the strategy of using citizenship as a weapon, Snowden wrote. "Although I am convicted of nothing, it has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person. 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."

The NSA was allowed by a court order to collect phone metadata of a large number of customers of Verizon, according to a report in the Guardian last month. The information was said to have been leaked by Snowden who also passed on documents that suggested that the NSA had real-time access to the content on servers of Internet companies like Facebook and Google.

26 U.S. senators, cutting across party lines, said on Friday they are seeking "public answers" on a number of issues related to the surveillance, including whether the National Security Agency collected in bulk other data such as credit card purchases and financial information in the U.S. besides phone records, and specific evidence of how the surveillance helped foil terrorist plots.

New legislation, introduced last week in the U.S. Senate, called the FISA Accountability and Privacy Protection Act of 2013, aims to reform the Patriot and FISA Amendments Acts to provide greater oversight and control to the government's surveillance programs.

Whistle-blowers, authors, academicians and actors have urged Correa to grant Snowden political asylum, stating that the Obama administration, U.S. Congress and most of the media have focused "their ire on the messenger," instead of focusing on the danger to citizens' freedom and privacy exposed by the revelations, and the reforms necessary to protect citizens' rights. A letter signed by Pentagon papers whistle-blower Daniel Ellsberg, author Noam Chomsky and film director Oliver Stone, among others, was released Monday by organization Just Foreign Policy.

The Snowden affair: Whatever happened to the blame game?

WASHINGTON - Edward Snowden's revelations about top-secret U.S. surveillance programs and his globe-trotting flight from prosecution have created an international furor, but there is one place the outcry has been muted: Capitol Hill.

Republicans in the House of Representatives and Senate, who have attacked President Barack Obama's administration over the 2012 Benghazi attacks and the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative political groups, have so far largely held their fire over the Snowden case.

Even Obama's toughest critics have not called for heads to roll or set oversight hearings to probe how a 29-year-old IT systems contractor was able to steal highly classified documents from the National Security Agency, take them with him to Hong Kong, leak them to major media outlets and flee to Russia.

The scandal at the IRS involved a favorite target of Republicans, who make tax reduction a major part of their political platform. In the seven weeks since the scandal unfolded, Congress has held multiple hearings and Obama fired the IRS director.

Congress also held dozens of hearings on the September 11 Benghazi attacks, which killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans. The incident has been a focal point for Republicans since presidential nominee Mitt Romney condemned Obama on the night of the attacks.

But the Snowden case is different. Republican lawmakers generally back Obama on national security programs, many implemented under Republican President George W. Bush. And extraditing Snowden involves other world powers - Russia and China - with which the United States has complicated relationships.

"There's a lack of clarity and there's a kind of political delicacy, so that the Republicans aren't sure on this one that they can be as aggressive as they were on some of those other issues that have emerged," said Julian Zelizer, a professor of public policy at Princeton University.

Some Republicans have blamed the failure of Beijing and Moscow to turn over Snowden on what they see as Obama's weak foreign policy. Several, including Senators John McCain and Orrin Hatch, said it reflected growing U.S. weakness abroad.

But lawmakers have said talk of specific remedies should wait until after a thorough investigation.

"We're going to be looking at a whole bunch of things, everything from contractors to classifications to applications and background checks. This is going to promote a pretty widespread look at how we all do all this, and I think some major changes will probably be implemented," said Republican Dan Coats, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

SMALL REFORMS

Thus far, some small reforms have been suggested.

NSA head Keith Alexander said his agency was considering starting a "two-person control" system in which no one could download secret data without another person there to approve it.

Democrat Dianne Feinstein, who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, has said Congress would consider limiting contractors' access to certain classified information.

Other senators have questioned the use of contractors, including USIS, which screened Snowden for security clearance. The Washington Post reported on Friday that a federal watchdog wants to recommend that the government's Office of Personnel Management (OPM) end ties with the company.

A spokesman for USIS said the company has been "fully cooperating" with the government and working closing with OPM, but declined further comment.

Lawmakers have questioned some practices at Booz Allen Hamilton, the NSA contractor that hired Snowden, but they have not called its executives before a hearing or demanded a reassessment of its contracts.

Republicans have been behind a years-long push to cut the government workforce and use more outside contractors. And Democrats, the more likely critics of contracting policies, dismissed criticism of Obama as political posturing.

"Many of those critics who had no problem with the previous administration, I guess they're experts in incompetence. I just think it's piling on," said Representative Gerry Connolly, a Democratic member of the House Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees.

Democratic Senator Carl Levin, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said it was too early to say what should be done about Booz Allen, and said he had heard no calls for Alexander or National Intelligence Director James Clapper to step aside.

"I don't have a reduced level of confidence (in them) because of any of these events," Levin said.

Officials at the NSA and Booz Allen were not immediately available to comment on whether there have been any changes to date in the wake of the Snowden reports.

Republicans have been reluctant to criticize the military, especially as many are fighting defense budget cuts. Alexander, the NSA director, also heads the Pentagon's cyber command.

"There has been a real hesitation to be overly critical of the administration on NSA, given a lot of members didn't understand or appreciate what it all meant," said an aide to a Republican senator who serves on the Armed Services Committee.

"Congress is complicit in this. We've authorized the damn thing," the aide said.

A group of 26 senators, led by Democrat Ron Wyden, a leading advocate of privacy rights in Congress, sent a letter to Clapper on Friday, asking that more information about the programs be publicly released.

Leaders in the Republican-led House of Representatives have held just one public hearing since the Snowden news broke.

The House Intelligence Committee called only witnesses who defended the NSA - and bashed Snowden. Republican Representative Mike Rogers, the committee chairman, praised Alexander for his long public service career.

"That's a patriot!" he said of the NSA chief.

Obama jabs Russia, China on failure to extradite Snowden

DAKAR - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday he would not start "wheeling and dealing" with China and Russia over a U.S. request to extradite former American spy agency contractor Edward Snowden.

Obama, who appeared concerned that the case would overshadow his three-country tour of Africa begun in Senegal, also dismissed suggestions that the United States might try to intercept Snowden if he were allowed to leave Moscow by air.

"No, I'm not going to be scrambling jets to get a 29-year-old hacker," he told a news conference in Dakar, a note of disdain in his voice. Snowden turned 30 last week.

Obama said regular legal channels should suffice to handle the U.S. request that Snowden, who left Hong Kong for Moscow, be returned to the United States.

He said he had not yet spoken to China's President Xi Jinping or Russian President Vladimir Putin about the issue.

"I have not called President Xi personally or President Putin personally and the reason is ... number one, I shouldn't have to," Obama said sharply.

"Number two, we've got a whole lot of business that we do with China and Russia, and I'm not going to have one case of a suspect who we're trying to extradite suddenly being elevated to the point where I've got to start doing wheeling and dealing and trading on a whole host of other issues."

Snowden fled the United States to Hong Kong in May, a few weeks before publication in the Guardian and the Washington Post of details he provided about secret U.S. government surveillance of Internet and phone traffic.

The American, who faces espionage charges in the United States and has requested political asylum in Ecuador, has not been seen since his arrival in Moscow on Sunday. Russian officials said he was in a transit area at Sheremetyevo airport.

A Russian immigration source close to the matter said Snowden had not sought a Russian visa and there was no order from the Russian Foreign Ministry or Putin to grant him one.

CHARGES OF U.S. HYPOCRISY

Snowden's case has raised tensions between the United States and both China and Russia. On Thursday, Beijing accused Washington of hypocrisy over cyber security.

Obama's remarks in Senegal seemed calibrated to exert pressure without leading to lasting damage in ties with either country.

"The more the administration can play it down, the more latitude they'll have in the diplomatic arena to work out a deal for him (Snowden)," said Andy Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.

Obama indicated that damage to U.S. interests was largely limited to revelations from Snowden's initial leak.

"I continue to be concerned about the other documents that he may have," Obama said. "That's part of the reason why we'd like to have Mr. Snowden in custody."

Still, Snowden's disclosures of widespread eavesdropping by the U.S. National Security Agency in China and Hong Kong have given Beijing considerable ammunition in an area that has been a major irritant between the countries.

China's defense ministry called the U.S. government surveillance program, known as Prism, "hypocritical behavior."

"This 'double standard' approach is not conducive to peace and security in cyber space," the state news agency Xinhua reported, quoting ministry spokesman Yang Yujun.

In Washington, the top U.S. military officer dismissed comparisons of Chinese and American snooping in cyber space.

"All nations on the face of the planet always conduct intelligence operations in all domains," Army General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told an audience at the Brookings Institution.

"China's particular niche in cyber has been theft and intellectual property." Dempsey said. "Their view is that there are no rules of the road in cyber, there's nothing, there's no laws they are breaking, there's no standards of behavior."

In Ecuador, the leftist government of President Rafael Correa said it was waiving preferential rights under a U.S. trade agreement to demonstrate what it saw as its principled stand on Snowden's asylum request.

Correa told reporters Snowden's situation was "complicated" because he has not been able to reach Ecuadorean territory to begin processing the asylum request.

"In order to do so, he must have permission of another country, which has not yet happened," Correa said.

In a deliberately provocative touch, Correa's government also offered a multimillion dollar donation for human rights training in the United States.

The U.S. State Department warned of "grave difficulties" for U.S.-Ecuador relations if the Andean country were to grant Snowden asylum, but gave no specifics.

"USEFUL" CONVERSATIONS

Obama said the United States expected all countries that were considering asylum requests for the former contractor to follow international law.

The White House said last week that Hong Kong's decision to let Snowden leave would hurt U.S.-China relations. Its rhetoric on Russia has been somewhat less harsh.

Putin has rejected U.S. calls to expel Snowden to the United States and said the American should choose his destination and leave the Moscow airport as soon as possible.

Obama acknowledged that the United States did not have an extradition treaty with Russia, but said such a treaty was not necessary to resolve all of the issues involved.

He characterized conversations between Washington and Moscow as "useful."

Washington is focused on how Snowden, a former systems administrator for the contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, gained access to National Security Agency secrets while working at a facility in Hawaii.

NSA Director Keith Alexander on Thursday offered a more detailed breakdown of 54 schemes by militants that he said were disrupted by phone and internet surveillance, even as the Guardian newspaper reported evidence of more extensive spying.

In a speech in Baltimore, Alexander said a list of cases turned over recently to the U.S. Congress included 42 that involved disrupted plots and 12 in which surveillance targets provided material support to terrorism.

The Guardian reported that the NSA for years collected masses of raw data on the email and Internet traffic of U.S. citizens and residents, citing a top-secret draft report on the program prepared by NSA's inspector general.

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Ecuador waives U.S. trade rights over Snowden case

QUITO - Ecuador said on Thursday it was waiving preferential rights under a U.S. trade agreement to demonstrate its principled approach to the asylum request of former American spy agency contractor Edward Snowden.

Officials in Quito added that the U.S. fugitive's case had still not been processed because he had not reached any of its diplomatic premises.

In a deliberately cheeky touch from the leftist government of President Rafael Correa, Ecuador also offered a multimillion donation for human rights training in the United States.

Snowden, 30, is believed to be at Moscow's international airport.

"The petitioner is not in Ecuadorean territory as the law requires," government official Betty Tola said at an early morning news conference in Ecuador.

Bristling at suggestions Quito was weighing the pros and cons of Snowden's case in terms of its own interests, officials also said Ecuador would not base its decision on its desire to renew the Andean Trade Preferences Act with Washington.

"Ecuador gives up, unilaterally and irrevocably, the said customs benefits," said another official, Fernando Alvarado.

"What's more, Ecuador offers the United States economic aid of $23 million annually, similar to what we received with the trade benefits, with the intention of providing education about human rights," Alvarado added.

"Ecuador does not accept pressure or threats from anyone, nor does it trade with principles or submit them to mercantile interests, however important those may be."

Envoy says U.S. loses trust in Hong Kong after Snowden

HONG KONG - The top U.S. diplomat in Hong Kong warned on Thursday of a "big struggle" ahead to repair Washington's trust in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory after the flight of fugitive spy agency contractor Edward Snowden.
Speaking publicly for the first time since Snowden flew from Hong Kong to Moscow on Sunday despite a U.S. request to hold him to face charges of espionage, Consul General Stephen Young told Reuters that Washington's confidence was "shaken".

"My point is simple - I've spent three years working for good relationship between Hong Kong and the U.S. and we've had a loss of trust at this point," said Young, who is due to retire later this year.

Re-building that trust, he said, "is not going to be easy because you have President (Barack) Obama's administration just starting its second term so it is not like you can say: 'We'll wait for these guys to change'."

Young did not specify how any deterioration in ties would play out but added: "I'll say specifically in law enforcement co-operation - where we have a whole series of agreements, and protocols and practices - our confidence has been shaken."

The United States and Hong Kong have enjoyed strong ties under the "one country, two systems" system that has underpinned the former British colony since it was handed over to China 16 years ago.

U.S. multinationals have a strong presence in the city while U.S. warships are frequent visitors to its highly-strategic port on the South China Sea.

Young had repeatedly praised Hong Kong officials and the strength of their ties with the United States in recent speeches, before Snowden's revelations about the scope of Washington's electronic surveillance systems.

In Washington, officials have admonished China for letting Snowden escape, but Young said he was not so worried about the broader U.S.-China relationship, given its importance and opportunities for dialogue.

"But in U.S.-Hong Kong terms, it is a bigger struggle because people in Washington don't usually wake up thinking of Hong Kong but now they do, and it is in a negative sense," he said.

Young's comments come as Hong Kong and Washington officials continue a war of words over the back-room maneuvering ahead of Snowden's departure.

U.S. Department of Justice officials have accused Hong Kong of having feigned confusion over Snowden's middle name to avoid detaining him before he fled to Russia.

They were responding to statements from Hong Kong's Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen that his officials had to wait for clarification of Snowden's middle name and passport number in U.S. documents before detaining him at Washington's request.

The U.S. authorities used the middle name James in some documents for Snowden, while a U.S. Justice Department document referred to him as Edward J. Snowden, Yuen said.

But Hong Kong immigration records showed Snowden's name as "Edward Joseph Snowden."

"These three names weren't completely the same, so we felt that there was a need for clarification. Otherwise when we issued the provisional arrest warrant, it could have caused legal problems," Yuen said.

Before any clarification could be given, Snowden left. He has asked Ecuador for asylum and is now in a transit area of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport.

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No sign of cyber leaker Snowden on flight to Cuba

MOSCOW - A Russian passenger plane left Moscow for Havana on Thursday without any sign of former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden on board, witnesses said.

Cuba is considered a possible destination for Snowden on his way to Ecuador, where he is seeking asylum.

The 30-year-old American is wanted in the United States on espionage charges and is thought to have remained in the transit area of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport since flying in from Hong Kong on Sunday.

Russia carrier Aeroflot confirmed the plane's departure but declined comment on the passenger list. Airline sources had said earlier on Thursday that Snowden had not registered foe the flight.

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Snowden 'still in Moscow airport'

Fugitive US whistleblower Edward Snowden is still in the transit area at Moscow airport, Russia's President Vladimir Putin has confirmed.

Mr Putin said the intelligence leaker remained a free man, and the sooner he chose a destination the better.

But a White House spokeswoman said Russia had a "clear legal basis" to expel Mr Snowden.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has said his country would consider an asylum application from Mr Snowden.

"We say and advocate that someone in the world should stand with this young man and protect him, the revelations he has made with courage serve to change the world," he said.

Russia says Mr Snowden has not yet passed through immigration, so technically is not yet under their jurisdiction.

The Russians have rejected American charges that they have assisted Mr Snowden.

China has also rejected similar charges, saying accusations that it allowed him to leave Hong Kong despite a warrant for his arrest were "groundless and unacceptable".

Mr Snowden flew from Hong Kong to Moscow on Sunday. He was expected to board a flight to the Venezuelan capital Caracas on Monday but never appeared.

The US has revoked Mr Snowden's passport, and he has applied for asylum in Ecuador.

He is being supported by the whistleblowing website Wikileaks, and is being accompanied by some of its legal advisers.

Ecuador is already giving political asylum at its London embassy to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

The Russian President Vladimir Putin's assertion that the fugitive American remains in the transit area at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport - at least for now - explains why the US Secretary of State John Kerry has sought to calm the flow of escalating rhetoric.

He insisted today that Washington was not looking for confrontation. Mr Kerry clearly hopes that with "calm and reasonableness", as he put it, there may still be a glimmer of a chance that Moscow may hand Mr Snowden over.

Mr Putin, though, supplied no evidence of that.

Mr Putin made it clear that he hopes Mr Snowden moves on soon.

Russia's failure to detain Mr Snowden looks set to sour relations between Washington and Moscow at a time when global problems - not least Syria - require a more concerted effort from the US and Russia.
'Common law'

Russia has no extradition treaty with the United States, but National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said that Washington wanted Moscow to extradite Mr Snowden without delay.

Earlier on Tuesday, US Secretary of State John Kerry also called on Moscow to comply with common law practices between countries and send Mr Snowden to America.

"We would simply call on our friends in Russia to respect the fact that a partner nation- a co-member of the permanent five of the United Nations [Security Council] - has made a normal request under legal systems,'' he said.

But Mr Putin said that Russian security agencies "didn't work and aren't working" with Mr Snowden.

His comments back up those of his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, who earlier insisted that "we are in no way involved with either Mr Snowden, his relations with US justice, nor his movements around the world."

The 30-year-old IT expert is wanted by the US for revealing to the media details of a secret government surveillance programme, which he obtained while working as a contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA).

He is charged with theft of government property, unauthorised communication of national defence information and wilful communication of classified communications intelligence.

'Sanctimonious mask'
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov: "He did not cross the Russian border"

Mr Snowden was in hiding in Hong Kong when his leaks were first published, and John Kerry said it would be "deeply troubling" if it became clear that China had "wilfully" allowed Mr Snowden to fly out of Hong Kong.

"There would be without any question some effect and impact on the relationship and consequences," he said.

But China is also unhappy. Its government has expressed concern about Mr Snowden's allegations that the US had hacked into networks in China.

Tuesday saw the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party praise Mr Snowden for "tearing off Washington's sanctimonious mask".
Continue reading the main story The Sheremetyevo airport transit area is Russian sovereign territory, but Russia says that in staying there, Snowden has not formally entered the countryLegally, an arriving air passenger may be said to "cross the border" only after clearing immigration, which would require an entry visaIf Russia allowed Mr Snowden to enter, it could implicate the state in helping a fugitive, analysts sayIt is thought Mr Snowden may be staying at a complex of 47 basic "capsule" hotel rooms located in the zoneIn a strongly worded front-page commentary, the overseas edition of the People's Daily said: "Not only did the US authorities not give us an explanation and apology, it instead expressed dissatisfaction at the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for handling things in accordance with law.

"In a sense, the United States has gone from a 'model of human rights' to 'an eavesdropper on personal privacy', the 'manipulator' of the centralised power over the international internet, and the mad 'invader' of other countries' networks."

Mr Snowden's leaks have led to revelations that the US is systematically seizing vast amounts of phone and web data under an NSA programme known as Prism.

US officials have defended the practice of gathering telephone and internet data from private users around the world.

They say Prism cannot be used to target intentionally any Americans or anyone in the US, and stress that it is supervised by judges.

20 May: Snowden flies from Hawaii to Hong Kong.

5 June: From Hong Kong, Snowden discloses details of what he describes as a vast US phone and internet surveillance programme to the UK's Guardian newspaper.

23 June: Snowden leaves Hong Kong on a flight to Moscow. He is currently thought to remain airside at Sheremetyevo airport.

From Moscow, Snowden could fly to Cuba, en route to Ecuador, which has said it is "analysing" whether to grant him asylum.

Venezuela had also been considered a possible destination for Snowden, however it is thought he would only pass through on his way to Ecuador.

Snowden is reported to have requested asylum in Ecuador, which previously granted haven to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in its London embassy.

Where in the World Is Edward Snowden?

 Edward Snowden left Hong Kong on Sunday on a flight for Moscow. He has applied for asylum with the countries of Ecuador and Iceland. Image courtesy of the Guardian

 

 

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden managed to escape the clutches of U.S. authorities over the weekend by being spirited out of Hong Kong on a plane for Moscow with the help of WikiLeaks.

 

Snowden was supplied with a “refugee document of passage” by the Ecuadorian government before being whisked out of Hong Kong on Sunday, according to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, speaking to reporters by phone on Monday from his hold-up at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. The U.S. revoked Snowden’s passport while he was still in Hong Kong.

 

Snowden has been charged with espionage and theft of government property.

 

Assange wouldn’t say how Snowden escaped, saying it was a “fascinating story” that would “one day be told.” Snowden’s departure from Hong Kong was entirely legal, Assange noted, citing statements made over the weekend by Hong Kong authorities who said that Snowden was allowed to leave because the U.S. request for his detainment did not comply with Hong Kong law.

 

Snowden apparently had no contact with Russian authorities prior to his departure from Hong Kong, according to Assange. He reportedly arrived in Moscow around 5 p.m. local time on Sunday with the intention of flying on to Ecuador through Cuba.

 

But either his plans changed or false news was fed to reporters, because new reports today say that Snowden was not on the Cuba-bound flight that had been booked in his name.

 

Snowden was reportedly barred from leaving Moscow’s Sheremtyevo airport since he had no Russian visa and was forced to spend the night in a $15-an-hour capsule hotel at the airport. WikiLeaks paid for Snowden’s flight out of Hong Kong and is also covering his legal expenses and lodging, according to Assange, but his stay in Hong Kong was not financed by the organization. Assange also said that documents that Snowden obtained from the National Security Agency before leaving his job, and that have not been published yet, had been “secured by the relevant journalist organizations” prior to Snowden’s departure from Hong Kong to ensure they wouldn’t be seized by authorities if he’s captured.

 

Assange would not reveal Snowden’s current whereabouts or discuss his travel plans, but said he was safe and healthy and in high spirits.

 

According to Assange and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights and the U.S. attorney for WikiLeaks and Assange, Snowden has applied for asylum with Ecuador and Iceland. Ratner also suggested that applications had been made to other countries as well, but would not specify, presumably because U.S. authorities have been pressuring countries not to grant Snowden asylum.

 

Ratner and Assange condemned the Obama administration for attempting to interfere with Snowden’s asylum requests and making “bellicose” statements accusing him of being a traitor.

 

“The U.S. is bullying countries all over the world to get Edward Snowden rendered to the U.S. where he can be prosecuted,” Ratner told reporters.

 

Ratner said that whistleblowing was a protected activity recognized by the refugee convention under the United Nations. “The U.S. itself has recognized that,” Ratner noted, and has protected whistleblowers from China and Africa who tried to expose the criminality and corruption of those governments. He said that whistleblowing “trumps any efforts to extradite” Snowden.

 

“Every person has the right to seek and receive political asylum,” Assange said. “Those rights are enshrined in the United Nations’ agreements, of which the U.S. is a party. It is counterproductive and unacceptable for the Obama administration to try and interfere with those rights. It reflects poorly on the U.S. administration, and no self-respecting country would submit to such interference or such bullying by the U.S. in this matter.”

 

Asked why Snowden didn’t approach Congress to disclose the wrongdoing he wanted to expose, or remain in Hong Kong or come to the U.S. to fight the charges against him, Assange cited the treatment of previous whistleblower Thomas Drake who attempted to report wrongdoing through internal routes and through Congress and was charged under the Espionage Act. Jennifer Robinson, a legal adviser for WikiLeaks in London, also cited the treatment that Bradley Manning received in prison during his lengthy, years-long incarceration prior to his trial.

 

Hong Kong authorities said that Snowden left “on his own accord for a third country through a lawful and normal channel” and said that Snowden had been allowed to leave because a request from the U.S. government to detain him and issue a provisional warrant of arrest “did not fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law.”

 

Snowden boarded an Aeroflot flight from Chep Lap Kok airport at 11.04 in the morning Hong Kong time, traveling on a one-way ticket with a companion believed to be human rights attorney Sarah Harrison.

 

Hong Kong authorities notified the U.S. after Snowden left.

 

“We will continue to discuss this matter with Hong Kong and pursue relevant law enforcement cooperation with other countries where Mr. Snowden may be attempting to travel,” a U.S. spokesman said.

 

 

Our View: Respect for Snowden evaporating

If Edward Snowden continues to flee the United States, hop-scotching across the world to be used as a propaganda tool by nations with far less respect for democratic ideals than the U.S., then support — as well as respect — for the NSA and FBI whistle-blower will evaporate.

On Sunday, Hong Kong defied a U.S. request for Snowden’s detainment and allowed him to travel to Russia, a nation plagued by phony elections and a constant denial of free speech. Snowden has requested asylum in Ecuador, a nation sympathetic to Cuba and Venezuela, which routinely repress non-violent dissent.

We wonder what other nations hostile to freedom will exploit the 29-year-old Snowden? Perhaps Iran next, with plans for a North Korea tour in the future?

What’s disappointing is that Snowden’s decision to leak surveillance secrets by U.S. intelligence services has sparked a much-needed reappraisal of how our nation wages the war on terror. In our opinion, snooping on phone calls and Internet usage by innocent Americans is in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The sight of too many pols and supposed media heavyweights defending these actions is disheartening. We must not allow our freedoms to be restricted in the name of “security.”

But whistle-blowing requires that the leaker take responsibility for the consequences of his actions. Edward Snowden broke the law. He needs to face a trial. This carries risks, of course, but it also provides the opportunity for Snowden to be found not guilty, or at least to increase public opposition to the snooping.

Alas, Snowden has chosen to flee, and the possibility exists that he will become a stereotypical anti-U.S. voice, exploited by despots.

As a result, disgust for his example will take precedence over his arguments on national security.

 

Why Would Ecuador Want Edward Snowden?

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (left) and Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino appear on a window of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on June 16. Assange has been living at the embassy for the past year. Patino announced Sunday that Ecuador would consider giving asylum to former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino appear on a window of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on June 16. Assange has been living at the embassy for the past year. Patino announced Sunday that Ecuador would consider giving asylum to former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Ecuador says it is considering Edward Snowden's request for asylum.

This is the second high-profile case involving leaks of classified information, asylum and the South American country. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, to prevent being extradited to Sweden where he is wanted for questioning over allegations of sexual assault. It's worth mentioning here that WikiLeaks in a statement Sunday said it is giving Snowden legal help.

So why would the Andean nation consider giving refuge to Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor accused of leaking classified surveillance information?

"It becomes the center of attention. [Ecuador's] President Rafael Correa enjoys that," says Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank in Washington, D.C. "He likes needling the U.S. This satisfies that impulse. It also gives them a sense of consistency and commitment to principles by linking it to the Assange case."

Carl Meacham, director of the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, adds: "Correa is interested in inheriting the mantle of Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro. To be able to do this with Julian Assange and Mr. Snowden puts him, in his view, as a protector of freedom of information."

But, Shifter notes, Correa probably hopes that by granting refuge to Assange and considering asylum for Snowden he can shift the focus away from Ecuador's own record of press freedom.

Human Rights Watch has criticized the country's new Communication Law, saying the measure "seriously undermines free speech."

"To some extent, Correa can try and use this [incident] to point to the hypocrisy and double standards of everyone else who's coming down hard on him," Shifter says.

As a small country, Ecuador could be vulnerable to U.S. pressure, though its oil gives it a buffer.

Ecuador is the smallest member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and one of the top sources of crude oil imports to the U.S. West Coast. It's also a beneficiary of the massive Chinese investment in South America.

"There are going to be implications and consequences" to granting Snowden asylum, says Laura Powell, a research associate at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs in Washington.

She adds: "Diplomacy is not going to get very far. The U.S. has to rely on trade sanctions" and similar measures to achieve its goals.

Shifter of IAD says that at most the U.S. won't renew the Andean Trade Preference and Drug Eradication Act that covers Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia and Peru; Ecuador would like that deal to continue.

"But it's not going to be a fatal blow," he says.

CSIS's Meacham doesn't see it that way.

"It's pretty bad for them," he says. "Their trade benefits from the Andean Trade Preference and Drug Eradication Act are important. Forty-two percent of their goods are sold to the U.S. So on paper, it's not in their interest."

Ecuador and the U.S. do have an extradition treaty, but as Meacham of CSIS notes: "Snowden is charged with espionage/treason, neither of which is covered by the extradition treaty."

Hong Kong: Snowden Has Left The Country

HONG KONG (AP) — A former National Security Agency contractor wanted by the United States for revealing two highly classified surveillance programs has been allowed to leave for a "third country" because a U.S. extradition request did not fully comply with Hong Kong law, the territory's government said Sunday.

A statement from the government did not identify the country, but the South China Morning Post, which has been in contact with Edward Snowden, reported that he was on a plane for Moscow, but that Russia was not his final destination.

Snowden, who has been in hiding in Hong Kong for several weeks since he revealed information on the highly classified spy programs, has talked of seeking asylum in Iceland.

Russia's ITAR-Tass news agency, citing an unidentified Aeroflot official, said Snowden would fly from Moscow to Cuba on Monday and then take a flight to Caracas, Venezuela.

Snowden's departure came a day after the United States made a formal request for his extradition and warned Hong Kong against delaying the process of returning him to face trial in the U.S.

The Hong Kong government said 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.

Snowden's departure eliminates a possible fight between Washington and Beijing at a time when China is trying to deflect U.S. accusations that it carries out extensive surveillance of American government and commercial operations. Hong Kong, a former British colony, has a high degree of autonomy and is granted rights and freedoms not seen on mainland China, but under the city's mini constitution Beijing is allowed to intervene in matters involving defense and diplomatic affairs.

Hong Kong has an extradition treaty with the U.S., but the document has some exceptions, including for crimes deemed political.

The Obama administration on Saturday warned Hong Kong against delaying Snowden's extradition, with White House national security adviser Tom Donilon saying in an interview with CBS News, "Hong Kong has been a historically good partner of the United States in law enforcement matters, and we expect them to comply with the treaty in this case."

Snowden's departure came as the South China Morning Post released new allegations from Snowden that U.S. 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." It added that Snowden said he had documents to support the hacking allegations, but the report did not identify the documents. It said he spoke to the newspaper in a June 12 interview.

With a population of more than 1.3 billion, China has massive cellphone companies. China Mobile is the world's largest mobile network carrier with 735 million subscribers, followed by China Unicom with 258 million users and China Telecom with 172 million users.

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 U.S. spies this year. He said the NSA was focusing on so-called "network backbones" in China, through which enormous amounts of Internet data passes.

The Chinese government has not commented on the extradition request and Snowden's departure, but its state-run media have used Snowden's allegations to poke back at Washington after the U.S. had spent the past several months pressuring China on its international spying operations.

A commentary published Sunday by the official Xinhua News Agency said Snowden's disclosures of U.S. spying activities in China have "put Washington in a really awkward situation."

"Washington should come clean about its record first. It owes ... an explanation to China and other countries it has allegedly spied on," it said. "It has to share with the world the range, extent and intent of its clandestine hacking programs."

 

U.S. charges Edward Snowden with espionage, report says

Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who leaked information about U.S. government mass surveillance programs, has been charged by the U.S. with espionage, the Washington Post reported Friday.

Federal prosecutors have filed a sealed criminal complaint against Snowden (above) and are seeking to have him arrested in Hong Kong, according to the Post, which cited unnamed U.S. officials. He is charged with espionage, theft, and conversion of government property, the report says.

By bringing the charges, the U.S. has begun a process by which it can try to have Snowden extradited to the U.S. to face trial. Snowden can fight the effort in the Hong Kong courts, however, in a process that could last several months, the Post said.

Snowden sparked a furor this month after he leaked details about two U.S. surveillance programs to the Washington Post and the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper. One program, called Prism, gives the National Security Agency access to customer data collected by large Internet firms, and the other provides access to U.S. phone call records.

Snowden has been both vilified as a traitor and hailed as a champion of the public’s right to privacy. He flew to Hong Kong last month after leaving his job as a contractor at an NSA facility in Hawaii and is thought to still be located in the Chinese territory.

U.S. officials, including President Barack Obama, have defended the programs, saying they have helped to disrupt numerous terrorist plots in the U.S. and overseas. And they say the programs are subject to rigorous oversight.

Snowden has since expanded his accusations, saying NSA analysts can access the contents of a U.S. target’s phone calls and emails without a court order.

The complaint against Snowden was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, a jurisdiction where Snowden’s former employer, Booz Allen Hamilton, has its headquarters, the Post reported.