WikiLeaks: Snowden has not yet accepted asylum offer

Former US spy agency contractor Edward Snowden has not yet formally accepted asylum in Venezuela, the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks said after a Russian lawmaker posted a statement to that effect on Twitter and then deleted it.

WikiLeaks said on its own Twitter feed that states involved in deciding an asylum destination for Snowden, who fled the US last month, “will make the announcement if and when the appropriate time comes”.

Snowden, who is wanted in the US on espionage charges after revealing details of secret surveillance programmes, is believed to be holed up in the transit area at a Moscow airport where he arrived on June 23 from Hong Kong.