Ecuador says yet to weigh Snowden asylum amid US row

06-27-2013, 13h26

QUITO (AFP)

Ecuador's president said Thursday he had yet to consider letting US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden enter his country as tensions with the United States rose, with Washington warning Quito against granting the fugitive asylum.

The Ecuadoran leftist government defiantly pulled out of a trade pact with the United States, claiming it had become an instrument of "blackmail" as Quito considers Snowden's asylum bid.

But despite voicing support for Snowden, the Andean nation denied reports that it authorized a "safepass" travel document for the former National Security Agency contractor and said it would not be able to process his asylum bid until he enters Ecuadoran territory.

"Would he be allowed to arrive on Ecuadoran territory? This is something that, in principle, we haven't considered," President Rafael Correa told a news conference.

"We would probably examine it, but for now he is in Russia," he said, adding that Ecuador's ambassador to Russia met Snowden just once on Monday in the transit area of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport and that no more contact had been made.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, whose anti-secrecy website has assisted Snowden, said on Monday that Quito had given Snowden a "refugee document of passage" that would allow him to travel here.

The US Spanish-language television network Univision published on its website what appeared to be a "safepass" document with the letterhead of Quito's consulate in London, asking authorities in transit countries to "give the appropriate help" as the bearer travels to Ecuador.

"You request asylum when you are on a country's territory. Snowden is not on Ecuadoran territory, so technically we cannot even process the asylum request," Correa said.

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Ecuador says yet to weigh Snowden asylum amid US row