US pressures Russia on Snowden slams China

(MENAFN - Arab Times) WASHINGTON June 24 2013 (AFP) -The White House pressured Russia to expel fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden and warned China it had harmed efforts to rebuild trust by allowing him to leave Hong Kong.

As intrigue in the case mounted Snowden vanished in Moscow not taking a flight to Cuba on which he was booked -- possibly on a journey scheduled to end up in Ecuador.

He was said by Russian officials to have spent Sunday night in a "capsule hotel" at Moscow''s Sheremetyevo airport awaiting his onward connection.

Russia''s Interfax news agency known for its strong security contacts confirmed that he was not on the Havana flight and quoted an informed source as saying he was likely already out of the country.

Snowden had arrived in Moscow on Sunday from Hong Kong from where he leaked to the media details of secret cyber-espionage programs by both US and British intelligence agencies.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange himself holed up in Ecuador''s embassy in London to avoid claims of sexual assault in Sweden said Snowden was "safe" after leaving Hong Kong with a refugee document supplied by Quito after the United States revoked his passport.

And Snowden made another revelation sure to irk the US government.

He told the South China Morning Post in a story that appeared Tuesday that he joined the NSA contractor Booz Allen Hamilton from which he stole secrets on the surveillance programs specially to gain access to information on such activities and spill it to the press.

"My position with Booz Allen Hamilton granted me access to lists of machines all over the world the NSA hacked" he told the Post. "That is why I accepted that position about three months ago." The interview was conducted June 12.

President Barack Obama said Washington was using every legal channel to apprehend Snowden.

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US pressures Russia on Snowden slams China