Snowden rejects call for meeting in Moscow with German parliament’s NSA inquiry panel

BERLIN National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden is rejecting calls to meet in Moscow with a German parliamentary inquiry into the extent of surveillance by the U.S. and its allies.

Lawmakers from the inquiry panel had hoped to travel to Moscow soon for an informal meeting with Snowden. The plan emerged after opposition parties demanded that Germany allow Snowden to come to Berlin to testify but the government said doing so would hurt relations with the U.S.

Snowden's German lawyer, Wolfgang Kaleck, wrote to the committee Friday that he discussed the matter with Snowden and there is "no room or need for an oral, 'informal' meeting in Moscow," where the American has temporary asylum, the news agency dpa reported. He argues substantial testimony is only possible in Germany.

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Snowden rejects call for meeting in Moscow with German parliament's NSA inquiry panel