American journalist Glenn Greenwald says he believes former spy contractor Edward Snowden will soon seek refuge in Venezuela.
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Glenn Greenwald, the American journalist who first published top-secret information on U.S. surveillance programmes using data leaked by former spy contractor Edward Snowden.
Speaking from his home in Rio de Janeiro, The Guardian blogger and columnist said he had spoken to Snowden about the fugitive's asylum plans via an encrypted online chat on Tuesday.
[Glenn Greenwald, American Journalist]:
"There are news reports today that he has formally accepted the asylum offer from Venezuela. Whether those news reports are accurate or not, I don't want to comment on but, I think personally, just speaking for myself, that of the three options, that one seems like the more plausible."
Snowden, seen here speaking to The Guardian Newspaper, is wanted by the United States on espionage charges.
He is believed to be holed up in the transit terminal of Moscow's main airport, where he has been stuck for weeks after the U.S. voided his passport and threatened consequences for any country that offered the American refuge.
Greenwald says conversations with the wanted man have led him to believe Snowden's trove of National Security Agency documents are not in the hands of foreign governments.
Meanwhile, Venezuela's foreign minister said the contractor had not officially accepted his country's offer of asylum, as of Tuesday.