US
scrambles to find Edward Snowden and urges Russia to co-operate
Washington
criticises China for allowing NSA whistleblower to leave but
Snowden's whereabouts remain a source of confusion
24
June, 2013
The
attempt by Edward Snowden to escape the clutches of US authorities
descended into farce when the 30-year-old surveillance whistleblower
outpaced the world's biggest intelligence apparatus in a
round-the-world chase that was still under way on Monday.
Washington
could barely disguise its fury at the manner in which Snowden was
hustled out of Hong Kong, despite the US having revoked his passport
and demanded his detention. The White House made it clear that
China-US relations had been placed under great strain.
Snowden
was believed to be in Russia on Monday and attempting to fly to
Ecuador. Yet journalists who boarded a flight from Moscow to Havana,
a suspected lay-over stop on Snowden's journey, reported that the
former National Security Agency contractor was not on the plane,
despite reports that he had checked in.
Jay
Carney, the White House spokesman, was sharply critical of Hong
Kong's decision to allow Snowden to leave. He said the administration
did not believe the explanation that it was a "technical"
decision by Hong Kong immigration authorities. "The Hong Kong
authorities were advised of the status of Mr Snowden's travel
documents in plenty of time to have prohibited his travel as
appropriate. We do not buy the suggestion that China could not have
taken action."
Speaking
in Dehli on Monday, US secretary of state John Kerry expressed
frustration that China had failed to detain Snowden. "It would
be deeply troubling, obviously, if they had adequate notice, and
notwithstanding that, they make the decision wilfully to ignore that
and not live by the standards of the law."
Carney
said the US was working on the assumption that Snowden was still in
Russia, and said the administration was urging the authorities in
Moscow to turn Snowden over to the US. "We have a strong
co-operative relationship with the Russians on law enforcement
matters," Carney said, in remarks that were notably less pointed
than those directed at China. "We have known where he is and
believe we know where he is now," Carney said.
Amid
farcical scenes at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow, an Aeroflot flight
to Havana, packed with journalists, took off apparently without him.
As the Airbus A330 began to roll back from the gate, Nikolai Sokolov,
an Aeroflot gate employee, said: "He's not on board."
Around
two dozen journalists settled in for the 12-hour journey to Havana –
a flight on which no alcohol is served.
Ricardo
Patino, Ecuador's foreign minister, speaking in Hanoi, said it was
considering an asylum request by Snowden, but did not know where he
was. "I cannot give you information about that. We are in
contact with the Russian government, but this specific information
about this precise situation of Edward Snowden, we cannot give it to
you right now, because we don't have it."
Patino
read out what he said was a statement from Snowden, in which the
whistleblower compared himself to WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning,
currently on trial in the US for "aiding the enemy".
Snowden apparently said: "It is unlikely that I will have a fair
trial or humane treatment before trial, and also I have the risk of
life imprisonment or death."
Reporters at Sheremetyevo Airport awaiting the arrival of Snowden's Aeroflot flight from Hong Kong. Photograph: Novoderezhkin Anton/ITAR-TASS
More
details emerged on Monday about Snowden's last few days in Hong Kong.
Albert Ho, a solicitor who acted for the former NSA contractor in
Hong Kong, told the Guardian that Snowden has asked him to make
inquiries of the authorities about their intentions. "I talked
to government officials on Friday seeking verification of whether
they really wanted him to go, and in case they really wanted him to
go, whether he would be given safe passage."
Ho
said Snowden made up his mind on Friday to leave for Moscow. "It
was evident that extradition proceedings would begin quite quickly,"
Ho said.
Another
source with knowledge of events in Hong Kong said Snowden appeared
nervous when he left, and that he was not sure whether he might be
heading into a trap. "It happened very suddenly, in one or two
days. Before that he was thinking of staying and fighting the case,"
the source said.
"He
well understood what the different situations were – and the
consequences. Things were changing all the time. He knew that he was
in trouble, but he didn't panic. He understood the consequences of
what he had done, making enemies of many people, but he didn't regret
it."
The
WikLeaks founder Julian Assange, in a conference call from the
Ecuadorean embassy in London where he is sheltering from Swedish
extradition attempts, said he knew where Snowden was. It was unclear,
however, how big a part Assange and WikiLeaks had played in Snowden's
escape from Hong Kong. Assange said Wikileaks had paid for Snowden's
travel costs and lodgings since he left Hong Kong.
Asked
about how Snowden had been able to travel after his US passport had
been revoked, Assange said Snowden had been "supplied with a
refugee document of passage by the Ecuadoran government".
Another
lawyer who acted for Snowden in Hong Kong, Robert Tibbo, asked about
WikiLeaks' role in brokering Snowden's asylum deal: "All I can
say is that this is a very complex situation."
Hong
Kong authorities, in announcing Snowden's departure, issued a
statement Sunday saying the US extradition request "failed to
comply with legal requirements under Hong Kong law".
But
US officials insisted that no objection had been raised in a series
of high-level diplomatic exchanges. "At no point, in all of our
discussions through Friday, did the authorities in Hong Kong raise
any issues regarding the sufficiency of the US's provisional arrest
request," the Justice Department said in a statement issued in
the early hours of Monday. "In light of this, we find their
decision to be particularly troubling."
Obama
administration officials revealed that federal judges in the eastern
district of Virginia secretly issued a warrant for Snowden's arrest
on 14 June on charges of unauthorised disclosure of classified
information and theft of government property. Multiple US government
agencies worked extensively behind the scenes to convince Hong Kong
to arrest and extradite Snowden on a warrant also issued on 14 June.
But not even a phone call on 19 June placed by attorney general Eric
Holder to his Hong Kong counterpart convinced Hong Kong to comply
with the US request.
In
Washington on Monday, Carney denied that the US would "give up"
if Snowden was allowed to leave Russia and revealed that pressure was
already being put on Ecuador. "We are in touch through
diplomatic and law enforcement channels with countries that might
serve as a final destination or transit route," he said.
In
heated exchanges, the White House rejected comparisons with its
previous support of "political dissidents" made by a
Russian journalist at the briefing. "There is a big difference,"
said Carney. "Snowden has been indicted with a criminal
offence".
The
Russian journalist was shushed quiet by another reporter in the White
House press room when attempting to ask a follow-up question.
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