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Former US intelligence technician Edward Snowden has departed Hong Kong and is heading to a third destination through “legal” means, the local government confirmed. “Snowden today voluntarily left Hong Kong for a third country through legal and normal means,” a Hong Kong government spokesman said in a press statement.
The statement added that Hong Kong had “not obtained adequate information” to handle a provisional arrest warrant for Snowden issued by the US.
A government spokesman also said that Snowden, a former contractor with the National Security Agency (NSA), had left voluntarily.
Snowden’s final destination may be Cuba, Ecuador, Iceland or Venezuela, according to various reports
Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted a source at the Aeroflot airline as saying there was a ticket in Snowden’s name for a Moscow-Cuba flight.
Another Russian news agency Itar-Tass cited a source as saying Snowden would fly from Havana to the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said it was looking into the situation and confirmed Snowden may be planning to travel through Moscow as a transit passenger en route to another destination.
Al Jazeera’s Peter Sharp, reporting from Moscow, said that Iceland said it has not received any formal request for asylum from Snowden and that it is unclear whether Russian authorities can intervene at this point.
The Wikileaks anti-secrecy website said yesterday it helped Snowden leave Hong Kong and find “political asylum in a democratic country, travel papers and safe exit from Hong Kong”. It said he was currently in Russian airspace and travelling with Wikileaks legal advisors.
Earlier, the South China Morning Post (SCMP), which has carried exclusive interviews with Snowden in Hong Kong, first reported that Snowden was en route to Moscow.
Snowden flew out of Hong Kong yesterday morning on board Aeroflot SU213 flight, the SCMP said. The flight is due to land at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport at 5:05pm, according to the airline’s website.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on Sunday that he was unaware of the location or plans of former the NSA whistle-blower.
Al Jazeera’s Craig Leeson, reporting from Hong Kong, said that other airlines heading to the UK were given memorandums earlier to look for Snowden if he boarded the plane.
Documents previously leaked by Snowden revealed that the NSA has access to vast amounts of Internet data such as emails, chat rooms and video from large companies, including Facebook and Google, under a government programme known as Prism.
Hong Kong, a former British colony, reverted to Chinese rule in 1997 and although it retains an independent legal system, and its own extradition laws, Beijing has control over Hong Kong’s foreign affairs.
Iceland refused on Friday to say whether it would grant asylum to Snowden Hamilton who worked at an NSA facility in Hawaii.Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said earlier this month that Russia would consider granting Snowden asylum if he were to ask for it and pro-Kremlin lawmakers supported the idea, but there has been no indication he has done so.
Snowden’s reported departure came despite a US arrest warrant and extradition request to authorities in Hong Kong, where he arrived on 20 May. — Al Jazeera
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