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NSA spy leaks: Edward Snowden leaves Moscow airport

1 August 2013 Last updated at 13:51 GMT


Lawyer Anatoly Kucherena showed a photocopy of the document given to Mr Snowden

US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden has left the Moscow airport where
he has been staying since June after being granted temporary asylum.

Mr Snowden's lawyer said he had left after receiving the papers he needed to enter Russian territory from Sheremetyevo Airport's transit zone.

The US has charged Mr Snowden with leaking details of its electronic surveillance programmes.

Russia's decision is likely to further strain its ties with the US.

The BBC's Daniel Sandford in Moscow says a strongly worded US reaction can be expected shortly.

Mr Snowden arrived in Moscow on 23 June from Hong Kong, after making his revelations.

The affair has caused diplomatic ructions around the world, upsetting the United States' close allies and traditional enemies.

'Most pursued man'

~~~~~
Snowden leaks timeline

* 5 June: First leak published in the Guardian saying the NSA is collecting the telephone records ..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22793851 .. of millions of Americans
* 6 June: Details of the Prism programme ..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22811580 .. published by Guardian and Washington Post
* 9 June: Guardian identifies Edward Snowden ..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22836378 .. as source of the leaks, at his own request
* 14 June: US files criminal charges ..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23012317 .. against Mr Snowden
* 23 June: Mr Snowden leaves Hong Kong ..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23021767 .. for Moscow, applies for asylum in Ecuador
* 2 July: Bolivian leader Evo Morales' plane apparently searched for Mr Snowden ..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-23158242
6 July: Bolivia, Venezuela and Nicaragua say they would offer Mr Snowden asylum ..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23201774
12 July Snowden gives news conference ..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23283684 .. saying he is seeking asylum in Russia
~~~~~

Mr Snowden left the airport at about 14:00 local time (10:00 GMT), the airport press office told the BBC.

Despite a heavy presence of journalists, his departure was apparently not spotted by media.

His lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, said: "His location is not being made public for security reasons, since he is the most pursued man on the planet.

"He himself will decide where he will go."

The whistleblowing organisation Wikileaks, which has been helping him since he made his revelations, said in a tweet ..

Edward Snowden was granted temporary asylum in Russia for a year and has now left Moscow airport under the care of WikiLeaks' Sarah Harrison

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) August 1, 2013

.. that he had been given asylum.

"Edward Snowden was granted temporary asylum in Russia for a year and has now left Moscow airport under the care of Wikileaks' Sarah Harrison," it said.

Ms Harrison is a member of the Wikileaks legal team and has been helping Mr Snowden.

Mr Kucherena also said he had been awarded temporary asylum and showed a photocopy of the document issued to his client.

The document, which resembles a Russian ID card and features a fingerprint, shows an issue date of 31 July and expiry date of 31 July 2014.

'Rather insignificant'


Edward Snowden fled to Moscow from Hong Kong in June

US Attorney General Eric Holder has given Moscow an assurance that Mr Snowden will not face the death penalty if extradited.

But the Russians say they do not intend to hand him over.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said previously that Mr Snowden could receive asylum in Russia on condition he stopped leaking US secrets.

Mr Putin's foreign policy advisor Yury Ushakov said the situation was "rather insignificant" and should not influence relations with the US.

"We know what sort of noise surrounds this [situation] in America, but we have not received any signals from the United States," he said.

US President Barack Obama is due to visit Moscow next month.

Mr Obama was holding a private meeting with US legislators in the Oval Office on Thursday to discuss the surveillance programmes run by the National Security Agency.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23535524#TWEET841660

.. one Russian 'marriage' done .. it's near time Edward got married now ..

remember Anna Chapman? .. of the 2010 spy swap ..
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=89915706

====== .. ironic isn't it .. Snowden

Gordievsky: Russia has as many spies in Britain now as the USSR ever did

KGB's former spy chief in Britain says he has no regrets about betraying the Soviet Union as he likens Putin to Mussolini

Luke Harding - theguardian.com, Tuesday 12 March 2013 04.07 AEST


Oleg Gordievsky says he is the only agent to defect from the KGB in the
1980s to survive. 'I was supposed to die,' he says. Photograph: Steve Pyke

Three decades ago, Oleg Gordievsky was dramatically smuggled out of the Soviet Union in the boot of a diplomatic car. A strident figure of a man, he passed to the British vital details of Moscow's espionage operation in London.

These days, Gordievsky is a shadow of his former self. He walks with a stick and is stooped, following an episode five years ago in which he says he was poisoned. But though diminished, Gordievsky remains combative and critical of his homeland.

more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/11/russian-spies-britain-oleg-gordievsky

moving to such a free and open country ..