/ 23 June 2013

Plane believed to be carrying Snowden lands in Moscow

Edward Snowden.
Edward Snowden.

Reporters at Sheremetyevo international airport said on Sunday there was no immediate sign of Snowden, who is charged by Washington with espionage, but Russian media suggested he may have been whisked away by car to a foreign embassy in Moscow. 

A source at the Russian airline Aeroflot said earlier on Sunday that Snowden planned to fly from Moscow to Cuba on Monday and then go on to Venezuela.

The South China Morning Post reported that Snowden had left Hong Kong for Moscow, and that his final destination might be Ecuador or Iceland.

The WikiLeaks anti-secrecy website said Snowden was heading for an unnamed "democratic nation". No-one was immediately available for comment at the embassies of Venezuela and Ecuador.

President Vladimir Putin's spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said he was unaware of Snowden's plans and the foreign ministry declined comment on whether he had asked for asylum. – Reuters