Edward Snowden leaves Hong Kong for Russia asks Ecuador for Asylum Snowden left for Third Country
Edward Snowden leaves for third country : leaves Hong Kong for Russia or Cuba, NSA whistleblower Snowden flies out of Hong Kong
The whistleblower Edward Snowden, who leaked details about US snooping, has left Hong Kong for Russia.
His departure was revealed on the website of the Hong Kong newspaper the South China Morning Post, which said that Russia was not thought to be his intended final destination.
His departure has now been confirmed by the Hong Kong government.
It was thought that the eventual destination could end up being Iceland or Ecuador, but Russia's Interfax news agency says he may be heading to Cuba.
Interfax are saying that there is a flight ticket in his name from Moscow to Cuba.
He is understood to have left Hong Kong on the Russian airline Aeroflot flight SU213 to Moscow.
The paper said it left Hong Kong around 11am local time (4am UK time) and was due to arrive in Moscow around 5.15pm local time (1pm UK time). It is believed to be currently in the air.
The twitter feed of the Wikileaks whistleblowers' website said Snowden is currently over Russian airspace and is being accompanied by its legal advisers.
Snowden left Hong Kong after The White House asked the autonomous Chinese territory to extradite him, after he was charged in the US with espionage.
The website of the South China Morning Post said: "US whistleblower Edward Snowden has left Hong Kong on an Aeroflot flight to Moscow, credible sources have confirmed to the South China Morning Post.
"Moscow will not be his final destination."
WikiLeaks, which has published previous revelations about activities by America's security services, said it had helped Snowden secure political asylum in a "democratic country".
A twitter post said: "WikiLeaks has assisted Mr Snowden's political asylum in a democratic country, travel papers and safe exit from Hong Kong."
The Hong Kong government has said that although the US had sought his extradition, the request did not fully comply with requirements.
Snowden was revealed earlier this month to have been the man who leaked to the Guardian and Washington Post newspapers information about monitoring by America's National Security Agency.
Snowden told the Guardian the National Security Agency has been keeping details of millions of phone calls by Americans and monitoring the use by foreigners of internet sites including Google, Facebook and Yahoo.
The Russian President's office said it has not been given any information about Mr Snowden's imminent arrival.
5 years ago