US to penalise any nation offering Snowden asylum

US sanctions against any country offering asylum to Edward Snowden have advanced in Congress as the 30-year-old National Security Agency leaker remained in a Moscow airport while Russia weighed a request for him to stay permanently.

The measure introduced by Republican senator Lindsey Graham demands the state department co-ordinate with politicians on setting penalties against nations that seek to help Snowden avoid extradition to the US. Authorities there want him prosecuted for revealing details of the government’s massive surveillance system.

The Senate appropriations committee approved the proposal unanimously by voice vote as an amendment to next year’s $50.6bn (€38bn) diplomacy and international aid bill.