Edward Snowden to seek temporary asylum in Russia
Whistle-blower tells activists and officials he is out of options; Putin insists leaks must stop
Fugitive US intelligence whistle-blower Edward Snowden plans to seek asylum in Russia until he is able to travel to a Latin American country, he told a group of activists and officials yesterday.
Encamped at a Russian airport evading the reach of United States authorities, Snowden said he had sacrificed a comfortable life in disclosing US spying secrets but had no regrets.
"A little over one month ago, I had family, a home in paradise," he said in his first public remarks on what he sees as the personal cost of incurring Washington's anger by disclosing details of its electronic surveillance.
"I also had the capability without any warrant to search for, seize, and read your communications. Anyone's communications at any time. That is the power to change people's fates," he told human rights activists at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport. He has been living in its transit area since arriving on June 23 from Hong Kong, where he made his initial revelations.
Snowden, 30, in remarks relayed by the anti-secrecy group Wikileaks, said he would seek temporary asylum in Russia.