RUSSIA is waiting on a promised request for asylum from fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden that risks straining relations with Washington.
Snowden on Friday dramatically summoned activists to the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport where he has been marooned without a passport for three weeks after arriving on a flight from Hong Kong.
But a day after saying he would immediately request asylum from Russia, officials in Moscow say they are not aware of any approach by the former National Security Agency contractor.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov appeared on Saturday to want to distance himself from the controversy, insisting the government was "not contacting" Snowden and that he had found out about the details of his meeting with activists through the media.
"Russian laws specify a procedure for obtaining political asylum and the first step is approaching the Federal Migration Service," he added, quoted by Russian news agencies.
The United States has told Moscow Snowden must be extradited home to face justice over his leaking of sensational details about US surveillance activities, a demand President Vladimir Putin has rejected.
Snowden, 30, making his first publicised appearance since arriving in Moscow, told the activists he wanted to claim asylum in Russia until he could safely travel to Latin America for a permanent sanctuary.
He had said he would make the asylum request on Friday evening.
The head of Russia's Federal Migration Service Konstantin Romodanovsky said on Saturday "there is for the moment no application from E. Snowden".
If one was made, it would be examined "according to normal legal procedures", he added.
Curiously, Snowden had last week withdrawn a request for asylum in Russia after Putin insisted he could stay only if he stopped releasing information that harmed the United States.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Russia awaits Snowden asylum request
Dengan url
http://beritalangitawan.blogspot.com/2013/07/russia-awaits-snowden-asylum-request.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Russia awaits Snowden asylum request
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Russia awaits Snowden asylum request
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar