Snowden to seek asylum in Ecuador
WASHINGTON — Admitted intelligence leaker Edward Snowden took flight Sunday in evasion of U.S. authorities, seeking asylum in Ecuador and leaving the Obama administration scrambling to determine its next step in what became a game of diplomatic cat-and-mouse.
The former National Security Agency contractor and CIA technician fled Hong Kong and arrived at the Moscow airport, where he planned to spend the night before boarding an Aeroflot flight to Cuba.
Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said his government received an asylum request from Snowden, and the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks said it would help him.
“He goes to the very countries that have, at best, very tense relationships with the United States,” said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., adding that she feared Snowden would trade more U.S. secrets for asylum. “This is not going to play out well for the national security interests of the United States.”
The move left the U.S. with limited options as Snowden’s itinerary took him on a tour of what many see as anti-American capitals.
Ecuador in particular has rejected the United States’ previous efforts at co-operation, and has been helping WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange avoid prosecution by allowing him to stay at its embassy in London.
Snowden helped The Guardian and The Washington Post disclose U.S. surveillance programs that collect vast amounts of phone records and online data in the name of foreign intelligence, but often sweep up information on American citizens.
Officials have the ability to collect phone and Internet information broadly but need a warrant to examine specific cases where they believe terrorism is involved.
Snowden has been in hiding for several weeks in Hong Kong, a former British colony with a high degree of autonomy from mainland China. The United States formally sought Snowden’s extradition from Hong Kong but was rebuffed; Hong Kong officials said the U.S. request did not fully comply with their laws.
The U.S. Justice Department rejected that claim, saying its request met all of the requirements of the extradition treaty between the U.S. and Hong Kong.
A State Department official said the United States was in touch through diplomatic and law-enforcement channels with countries that Snowden could travel through or to, reminding them that Snowden is wanted on criminal charges and reiterating Washington’s position that Snowden should only be permitted to travel back to the U.S.
Russia’s state ITAR-TASS news agency and Interfax cited an unnamed Aeroflot airline official as saying Snowden was on the plane that landed Sunday afternoon in Moscow.
Upon his arrival, Snowden did not leave Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.
One explanation could be that he wasn’t allowed; a U.S. official said Snowden’s passport had been revoked, and special permission from Russian authorities would have been needed.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki refused to comment on Snowden’s passport specifically but said individuals facing arrest warrants could have their passport withdrawn.
“Such a revocation does not affect citizenship status. Persons wanted on felony charges, such as Mr. Snowden, should not be allowed to proceed in any further international travel other than is necessary to return him to the United States,” Psaki said in a statement.
But a U.S. official said that if a senior official in another country or with an airline orders it, a country could overlook the withdrawn passport.
The Russian media report said Snowden intended to fly to Cuba on Monday and then on to Caracas, Venezuela. U.S. lawmakers scoffed. “The freedom trail is not exactly China-Russia-Cuba-Venezuela, so I hope we’ll chase him to the ends of the Earth, bring him to justice and let the Russians know there’ll be consequences if they harbour this guy,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
With each suspected flight, efforts to secure Snowden’s return to the United States appeared more complicated if not impossible.
The United States does not have an extradition treaty with Russia, but does with Cuba, Venezuela and Ecuador. Even with an extradition agreement though, any country could give Snowden a political exemption.
The likelihood that any of these countries would stop Snowden from travelling on to Ecuador seemed unlikely.
While diplomatic tensions have thawed in recent years, Cuba and the United States are hardly allies after a half century of distrust.
Venezuela, too, could prove difficult. Former president Hugo Chavez was a sworn enemy of the United States and his successor, Nicolas Maduro, earlier this year called Obama “grand chief of devils.”
The two countries do not exchange ambassadors.
Assange’s lawyer, Michael Ratner, said Snowden’s options aren’t numerous.
“You have to have a country that’s going to stand up to the United States,” Ratner said. “You’re not talking about a huge range of countries here.”
That is perhaps why Snowden first stopped in Russia, a nation which has complicated relations with Washington.