Asylum for spy

President Vladimir Putin said yesterday.

Kommersant daily cited Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that Russia would consider such a request from Snowden, if it were made.

“We will take action based on what actually happens. If we receive such a request, it will be considered,” he told the newspaper.

Snowden’s whereabouts were shrouded in mystery as US lawmakers demanded his immediate extradition from Hong Kong over his sensational leaking of an Internet surveillance programme.

Snowden (29), a technology expert working for a private firm subcontracted to the US National Security Agency, checked out of his Hong Kong hotel after revealing his identity to the British-based Guardian newspaper on Sunday.

His explosive leaks last week of vast surveillance programmes run by the NSA that trawl through telephone and Internet records have triggered widespread consternation, gaining him admirers but also critics.  — AFP/Xinhua.