NSA leaker Snowden may move soon from Russia airport

Journalist gather in June at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow, where NSA leaker Edward Snowden has been in hiding.

Given paperwork he needs to leave the transit area of a Russian airport, NSA leaker Edward Snowden may be moving out of hiding Wednesday.

Former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden may soon be moving from a Moscow airport transit area where he has been holed up for weeks, an airport source told Reuters Wednesday, after having been given documents he needs to leave.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Snowden, who is wanted by the United States for leaking details of U.S. government intelligence programs, was given documents allowing him to leave Sheremetyevo Airport and enter Russia.


Immigration authorites declined immediate comment.

Snowden has been stuck in the transit area since June 23 after his U.S. passport was annulled and he had no other paperwork that allowed him entry to Russia or any other country.

Nicaragua, Bolivia and Venezuela all have offered political asylum, but none is reachable by direct commercial flight from Moscow. More than 20 countries refused to accept the American.

Snowden, whose presence in Moscow has strained U.S.-Russian relations, has not ruled out seeking
Russian citizenship, said Anatoly Kucherena, his Russian lawyer.