Iceland won’t comment on Snowden asylum push

REYKJAVIK — Iceland refused on Friday to say whether it would grant asylum to Edward Snowden, who revealed secret U.S. surveillance programs, and whose supporters want him to copy chess master Bobby Fischer and seek the island’s citizenship for protection.

An Icelandic businessman linked to anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks said Thursday he had readied a private plane in China to fly Snowden, reported to be in Hong Kong, to Iceland, if its government would grant asylum.

But the authorities stuck to a non-committal stance on the American, a former National Security Agency worker.

“To apply for asylum in Iceland, the individual in question must be present in Iceland and make the application in his or her own name,” a spokesman for the Interior Ministry said.

Asked if Iceland would grant asylum or citizenship if Snowden arrived, the spokesman said it was not possible to answer that at this stage.

The businessman who has arranged the plane for Snowden, Olafur Vignir Sigurvinsson, told Reuters on Friday that contacts with the government continued. He said nothing short of an asylum guarantee, or citizenship, would ensure Snowden’s safety.

“If he hasn’t done it already, he is probably in the process of applying for citizenship,” he added.

Such a move would mirror that of Fischer, who was granted Icelandic citizenship by parliament after the chess player got into trouble with the United States for evading taxes and breaking sanctions by playing a match in Yugoslavia in 1992.