Officials with Kremlin links question whether whistle-blower is in Moscow

Russia bluntly rejected Washington's demands to extradite US National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, saying on Tuesday that the whistle-blower hasn't crossed the Russian border.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov insisted that Russia has nothing to do with Snowden or his travel plans. He wouldn't say where Snowden is, but hit out angrily at Washington for demanding his extradition and warning of negative consequences if Moscow fails to comply.

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday urged Moscow to "do the right thing" and turn over Snowden.

Lavrov said: "We consider the attempts to accuse Russia of violation of US laws and even some sort of conspiracy, which on top of all that are accompanied by threats, as absolutely ungrounded and unacceptable. There are no legal grounds for such conduct of US officials."

An aircraft believed to be carrying Snowden landed in Moscow on Sunday from Hong Kong where he had been hiding for several weeks to evade US justice. Ecuador is considering his asylum application.

Adding to the confusion, other Russian officials with links to the Kremlin questioned whether Snowden is in Moscow.

"Where did this theory come from that Snowden is in Russia? No one saw him on the Hong Kong flight and no one saw him at the airport," tweeted Alexei Pushkov, who heads the lower house of parliament's foreign affairs committee.

Vast amounts

The defiant tone underlined the Kremlin's readiness to challenge Washington at a time when US-Russian relations are strained over Syria and a Russian ban on adoptions by US citizens.

US and Ecuadorian officials said they believed Snowden, who disclosed the broad scope of two highly classified US counter-terror surveillance programs, is still in Russia. The programs collect vast amounts of US citizens' phone records and worldwide online data in the name of national security.

While the US does not have an extradition treaty with Russia, the White House publicly urged the Kremlin to send Snowden back to the US, while officials privately negotiated with their Russian counterparts.

"We are expecting the Russians to examine the options available to them to expel Mr Snowden for his return to the United States," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

Lavrov said the Russian government found out about Snowden's reported flight from Hong Kong only from news reports.

"We have no relation to Mr Snowden, his relations with US justice or his travels around the world," the foreign minister said. "He chooses his route himself, and we have learned about it from the media."

A representative from WikiLeaks has been traveling with Snowden, and the organization is believed to be helping him in arranging asylum. Its founder, Julian Assange, said on Monday that Snowden was only passing through Russia and had applied for asylum in Ecuador, Iceland and possibly other countries.

Some experts said it was likely that Russian spy agencies are questioning Snowden on what he knows about US electronic espionage against Moscow. The Kremlin has previously said Russia will be ready to consider Snowden's request for asylum.

AP-AFP

(China Daily 06/26/2013 page12)