Moscow (CNN) The man who leaked details of U.S. government surveillance programs was on the run late Sunday seeking asylum in Ecuador with the aid of the anti secrecy group WikiLeaks the organization and Ecuador's Foreign Ministry announced.
Edward Snowden the onetime contract analyst for the National Security Agency left Hong Kong after the U.S. government sought his extradition on espionage charges WikiLeaks said. He landed in Moscow where a CNN crew spotted a car with diplomatic plates and an Ecuadorian flag at the Russian capital's international airport.
WikiLeaks which facilitates the publication of classified information did not disclose what country would be Snowden's final destination. But Ecuador has already given WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange refuge in its embassy in London for a year after he unsuccessfully fought extradition to Sweden in British courts.
And Washington is asking Ecuador as well as Cuba and Venezuela not to admit Snowden a senior Obama administration official told CNN on Sunday. The United States also is asking those countries to expel him if they do admit him the official said and a source familiar with the matter told CNN that the U.S. government has revoked Snowden's passport.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said it was routine to revoke the passports of people charged with felonies. She would not comment specifically on the status of Snowden's passport but said 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.
Snowden Chinese text claims examined NSA 50 plots prevented since 9/11 Man offers NSA leaker flight to IcelandSnowden left Hong Kong legally and is headed to Ecuador via a safe route for the purposes of asylum WikiLeaks said in a statement issued Sunday afternoon. He is accompanied by diplomats and lawyers for WikiLeaks including former Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon according to a statement from the organization.
The WikiLeaks legal team and I are interested in preserving Mr. Snowden's rights and protecting him as a person said Garzon who also represents Assange. What is being done to Mr. Snowden and to Mr Julian Assange for making or facilitating disclosures in the public interest is an assault against the people.
Assange fled to the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden where he is wanted for questioning over allegations that he raped one woman and sexually molested another. Assange has repeatedly said the allegations are politically motivated and that he fears Sweden would transfer him to the United States.
There are no charges pending against Assange in the United States. But a U.S. Army private who military prosecutors say leaked a vast cache of classified documents to WikiLeaks is now being court martialed on charges of aiding the enemy and he faces life in prison if convicted.
Snowden has admitted he was the source who leaked classified documents about the NSA's surveillance programs to the British newspaper the Guardian and to The Washington Post. The documents revealed the existence of programs that collect records of domestic telephone calls in the United States and monitor the Internet activity of overseas residents.
NSA chief Snowden 'betrayed' our trust
Snowden gave up a comfortable life in order to bring to light what he believed was serious wrongdoing on the part of our political officials said Glenn Greenwald the Guardian columnist who co authored the stories. And he's now at best going to spend the rest of his life on the run from the most powerful government on Earth.
What does it mean legally Thwarted terror plot details revealedThe revelation of the leaks rocked the Obama administration and U.S. intelligence community raising questions about secret operations of the NSA and whether the agency was infringing on American civil liberties. Snowden told the Guardian that he exposed the surveillance programs because they posed a threat to democracy but administration officials said the programs are vital to preventing terrorist attacks and are overseen by all three branches of government.
We have not in a single case had a place where a government official engaged in willful effort to circumvent or violate the law. Zero times have we done that Gen. Keith Alexander the NSA's director told ABC's This Week.
Snowden was a Hawaii based computer network administrator for Booz Allen Hamilton an NSA contractor. Alexander said Snowden betrayed the trust and confidence we had in him and is not acting in my opinion with noble intent.
This was an individual with top secret clearance whose duty it was to administer these networks Alexander said. He betrayed that confidence and stole some of our secrets.
He said the super secret communications intelligence agency has changed passwords and procedures since Snowden's disclosures But at the end of the day we have to trust that our people are going to do the right thing.
But Greenwald said Snowden has been extremely judicious about what he has revealed.
I know that he has in his possession thousands of documents which if published would impose crippling damage on the United States' surveillance capabilities and systems around the world. He has never done any of that Greenwald told CNN. If his goal were to harm the United States there were all sorts of things he could have done from uploading those documents on the Internet to selling them to a foreign intelligence service.
Hong Kong Extradition request didn't comply with requirements
Snowden left Hong Kong on Sunday through a lawful and normal channel the government of the semi autonomous Chinese territory said Sunday. The U.S. government anounnced Friday that it was charging Snowden with espionage and theft of government property and asked Hong Kong authorities to hold him for extradition proceedings.
In a statement Sunday Justice Department spokeswoman Nanda Chitre said Hong Kong authorities had informed U.S. officials of Snowden's departure.
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 she said.
The U.S. government had also asked Hong Kong to issue a provisional arrest warrant for Snowden the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region said in a statement. But HKSAR officials said there were problems with the request.
Since the documents provided by the U.S. government did not fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law the HKSAR government has requested the U.S. government to provide additional information Hong Kong officials said.
Because Hong Kong didn't have enough information there is no legal basis to restrict Mr. Snowden from leaving Hong Kong the government said.
A Justice Department official said Sunday that the United States had met requirements with its request disputing the assertion from authorities in Hong Kong.
They came back to us with a few questions late Friday and we were in the process of answering those questions the official said. We believe we were meeting those requirements. As far as the relationship with Hong Kong goes this raises questions and we will continue to discuss with authorities there.
Hong Kong's lack of intervention came after Snowden told the South China Morning Post that U.S. intelligence agents have been hacking computer networks in Hong Kong and mainland China for years.
Hong Kong said it wanted to have some words with the United States about that.
The HKSAR government has formally written to the U.S. government requesting clarification on earlier reports about the hacking of computer systems in Hong Kong by U.S. government agencies Hong Kong officials said in the same statement. The HKSAR government will continue to follow up on the matter so as to protect the legal rights of the people of Hong Kong.
Snowden 'told the truth in the name of privacy ' Paul says
U.S. federal prosecutors have charged Snowden with theft of government property unauthorized communication of national defense information and willful communication of classified communications intelligence to an unauthorized person. The latter two counts amount to espionage under the federal Espionage Act.
President Barack Obama top legislators and national security officials defend the surveillance programs Snowden detailed as necessary to combat terrorism and argue that some privacy must be sacrificed in a balanced approach. In a chat session moderated by the Guardian last week Snowden said he went ahead with the leak because Obama worsened abusive practices instead of curtailing them as he promised as a candidate.
Obama has been receiving updates on the Snowden case from national security aides a senior administration official told CNN.
But Snowden's revelations also sparked criticism of U.S. spy chief James Clapper who told the Senate Intelligence Committee in March that the NSA didn't wittingly collect data on millions of Americans. After Snowden's revelations Clapper told NBC that he answered in what I thought was the most truthful or least untruthful manner to the question from Sen. Ron Wyden D Oregon.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky told CNN's State of the Union that both Clapper and Snowden will be judged by history.
Mr. Clapper lied in Congress in defiance of the law in the name of security. Mr. Snowden told the truth in the name of privacy said Paul the son of former Libertarian turned Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul.
Paul said that unlike civil rights protesters who broke the law and submitted to the courts to make a statement Snowden faces a disproportionate penalty. But he added that Snowden's actions may be judged more harshly if he cozies up to an oppressive government overseas.
If he goes to an independent third country like Iceland and if he refuses to talk to any sort of formal government about this I think there's a chance that he'll be seen as an advocate of privacy Paul said. If he cozies up to either the Russian government the Chinese government or any of these governments that are perceived still as enemies of ours I think that that will be a real problem for him in history.
CNN's Phil Black reported from Moscow. CNN's Matt Smith and Catherine E. Shoichet reported from Atlanta. CNN's Jill Dougherty Nic Robertson Holly Yan Jake Carpenter Joe Johns Dan Lothian AnneClaire Stapleton Carol Cratty Melissa Gray and Steve Brusk contributed to this report.
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