Edward Snowden Likely to Win Approval to Stay in Russia
Russia is likely to extend fugitive intelligence contractor Edward Snowden #39;s asylum status next week, an official with the state migration service said Frida...

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Edward Snowden Likely to Win Approval to Stay in Russia - Video

MOSCOW, July 11 (Reuters) - Russia will most probably extend former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden's temporary asylum on the grounds that "his life is endangered", an official close to the country's Federal Migration Service (FMS) was quoted as saying on Friday.

Snowden fled to Russia after leaking details of secret state surveillance programs and Moscow granted him a year-long asylum on Aug. 1, 2013, upsetting Washington which wants to try the American at home on charges including espionage.

The presence of Snowden in Russia has strained relations between Moscow and Washington, also at odds over the crises in Syria and Ukraine as well as human rights, security and trade issues.

"I see no problem in prolonging the temporary asylum. The circumstances have not changed. As before, Snowden's life is endangered so the FMS has grounds to extend his status," Vladimir Volokh, head of an advisory body to the migration authorities, told the Interfax news agency.

Russia's Federal Migration service refused to comment and Snowden's Russian lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, was not available for comment, his assistant said. (Writing by Gabriela Baczynska, editing by Elizabeth Piper)

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Edward Snowden's Temporary Asylum Will Likely Be Extended ...

After more than a year of public dispute about whether National Security Agency contractor-turned-whistleblower Edward Snowden should have addressed his concerns about the scope of U.S. surveillance with his superiors rather than leak thousands of classified documents, the NSA said it has and will continue to retain a trove of Snowdens email records.

The admission came Thursday in a letter responding to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from journalist Matthew Keys, who sought Snowdens email records and information regarding his contactor status with the intelligence agency. Pamela Phillips, the NSAs top FOIA officer, explained in the letter to Keys that many of the documents were found to be currently and properly classified, while others could interfere with law enforcement proceedings, could cause an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, could reveal the identities of confidential sources or would reveal law enforcement techniques and procedures.

Phillips, according to the document posted on Keys website, The Desk, also noted that there are no emails indicating that Mr. Snowden contacted agency officials to raise concerns about NSA programs.

This disclosure comes after NSA brass and other officials within the Obama administration have criticized Snowden, who has maintained that he leaked thousands of classified and top secret agency documents detailing spying practices inside the U.S. and around the world out of conscience. Snowden's detractors are critical of his actions because they feel he did not first try to address his concerns with his superiors within the NSA or CIA, where he was also employed. Former White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said as recently as two months ago that the issue should have been handled internally.

There were and there are numerous avenues that Mr. Snowden could have used to raise other concerns or whistleblower allegations, Carney told reporters, as quoted by Bloomberg. The appropriate authorities have searched for additional indications of outreach from Mr. Snowden in those areas and to date have not found any engagements related to his claims.

The NSA has since released a single email exchange between Snowden and the NSAs Office of General Counsel from 2013 in which Snowden asked whether some of the ongoing surveillance ran in accordance with the Constitution.

I actually did go through the channels, and that is documented," Snowden told Brian Williams of NBC two months ago."The NSA has records, they have copies of emails right now to their Office of General Counsel, to their oversight and compliance folks, from me raising concerns about the NSAs interpretations of its legal authorities.

The response, more or less, in bureaucratic language, was: You should stop asking questions.

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NSA Admits Retaining Snowden Emails Despite Claiming He Never Raised Surveillance Issues Internally

Former U.S.-based National Security Agency (NSA) employee Edward Snowden's plea to extend his asylum in Russia is expected to be approved soon, said a Russian migration official.

Vladmir Volokh, head of a key advisory council to Russia'a federal migration service said in a statement to the Russian news service interfax that he did not see any problem in prolonging Snowden's asylum.

Anatoly Kucherena, Snowden's Russian attorney said that Snowden had applied for a continual of asylum after his current temporary asylum had expired on July 31.

An investigation by The Post's Greg Miller reveals that the U.S. had no information on Snowden's day-to-day existence. U.S. officials did not even have the slightest knowledge about Snowden's whereabouts in Russia, said the investigation.

The relations between U.S. and Russia have worsened since Russia ignored U.S. requests to return Snowden, reports the Washington Post.

(Posted on 12-07-2014)

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Russia to approve Snowden's visa extension application for continued asylum