Snowden gets Russia asylum

Edward Snowden

Fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden yesterday stepped out of the Moscow airport where he was marooned for over five weeks, after Russia granted him one year's asylum to the fury of the United States.
Snowden slipped out of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, where he has been staying since June 23, in a cloak-and-dagger operation overseen by his Russian lawyer but unnoticed by the hordes of media trying to follow his every move.
The White House said it was "extremely disappointed" that the former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor was given asylum by Moscow and said it would now review the need for a US-Russia summit in September.
Snowden, 30, is wanted on felony charges by the United States after leaking sensational details of vast US surveillance programmes, but Russia has refused to extradite him.
The fugitive was whisked away in a taxi to an undisclosed location, leaving his lawyer to reveal that he had received temporary asylum in Russia just two weeks after making an application.
"Snowden has left Sheremetyevo airport. He has just been given a certificate that he has been awarded temporary asylum in Russia for one year," his lawyer Anatoly Kucherena told AFP.
In a statement released by the WikiLeaks anti-secrecy website, Snowden thanked Russia for giving him asylum and slammed the administration of US President Barack Obama for having "no respect" for international or domestic law.
"But in the end the law is winning," Snowden said.
Kucherena said Snowden's new place of residence would be kept secret for security reasons.
Interviewed by Rossiya 24 television, Kucherena held up a scanned copy of Snowden's asylum certificate. It was issued on July 31, valid until July 31 of 2014, and is complete with his fingerprint.
Kucherna said that Snowden would eventually emerge into public view and give interviews to the press. But he said Snowden first required an "adaptation course" after so long in the transit zone.