Snowden cancels asylum application to Russia

Whistleblower Edward Snowden’s attempts to seek refuge have hit problems after he cancelled his asylum bid in Russia and several European countries said any applications would not be considered if they were made from abroad.

Whistleblower Edward Snowden’s attempts to seek refuge have hit problems after he cancelled his asylum bid in Russia.

The Irish Government is being urged to accept an asylum application from the whistleblower, but under Irish law people making asylum applications must already be in the country.

Several other European countries said any applications would not be considered if they were made from abroad.

People Before Profit TD, Richard Boyd Barrett, is calling on the Goverment to grant him asylum here.

He said: "Edward Snowden has applied for asylum to this country and I think he is a very deserving case.

"He has done the world a service by highlighting the fact that our so-called allies in the US are spying on the European Union, of which we are a part.

"Also, this is a country where we the Government has said it is in favour of whistleblowers."

President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said that Mr Snowden withdrew his request when he learnt about the terms Moscow has set. Mr Putin had said on Russia is ready to shelter Mr Snowden, currently living in the transit area of Moscow airport, as long as he stops leaking US secrets. Mr Putin also said he had no plans to turn over Mr Snowden to the United States.

Meanwhile several of the other countries where he has applied for asylum have said he cannot apply from abroad. Germany, Norway, Austria, Poland, Finland and Switzerland all said he must make his request on their soil.

Requests have also been made to Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Ecuador, France, Iceland, India, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Spain and Venezuela.

The WikiLeaks website posted a statement from Mr Snowden in which he criticises president Barack Obama for “using citizenship as a weapon.”

“Although I am convicted of nothing, (the United States) has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person,” he says. “Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum.

“Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me.”

The US has cancelled Mr Snowden’s passport, and Ecuador, where he had initially hoped to get asylum, has been giving mixed signals about offering him shelter.

The expanded requests for asylum come as the Obama administration tries to deal with European allies angry about the release of documents that alleged US eavesdropping on European Union diplomats.

Mr Obama said he would provide allies with information about new reports that the NSA had bugged EU offices in Washington, New York and Brussels. But he also suggested such activity by governments would hardly be unusual.