'More disclosures to come' from Snowden in Hong Kong

A journalist who helped US whistle-blower Edward Snowden disclose top-secret details of an internet surveillance programme, angering the Obama administration, said yesterday there were more secrets to expose.

"We are working on stories [...] that we think are very valuable for the public to know that don't in any way harm national security but that shine a light on this extremely secretive though momentous agency," Glenn Greenwald told CNN, referring to the National Security Agency, which runs the programme Snowden has exposed.

Greenwald, a columnist with British newspaper The Guardian, and Washington-based colleague Ewen MacAskill, interviewed Snowden in Hong Kong before the the 29-year-old checked out of his Tsim Sha Tsui hotel at the weekend.

McAskill told CNN that Snowden was still in Hong Kong, but did not provide any further details of his whereabouts. "I probably suspect there will be a long drawn-out legal process here in Hong Kong. I'd imagine there's now going to be a real battle between Washington and Beijing and civil rights groups as to his future."

Snowden's latest employer, Booz Allen Hamilton, a government contractor, said yesterday it had fired him "for violations of the firm's code of ethics and firm policy". It said he had earned a salary of US$122,000 a year. The company called Snowden's actions shocking and said he had been a Booz Allen employee for less than three months. The Obama's administration is weighing whether to charge Booz Allen with leaking classified surveillance secrets while it defends the broad US spy programme that it says keeps America safe from terrorists.

Snowden previously worked for the CIA and likely obtained his clearance there. But like others who leave the government to join private contractors, he was able to keep his clearance.