Whereabouts of US spy Snowden unknown

Former U.S. spy agencycontractor Edward Snowden's whereabouts were a mystery on Mondayas Russia defied White House pressure to send him back to theUnited States and stop him fleeing Moscow on his globe-crossingescape from U.S. prosecution.

Snowden, whose exposure of secret U.S. governmentsurveillance raised questions about intrusions into privatelives, was allowed to leave Hong Kong on Sunday after Washingtonhad asked the Chinese territory to arrest him on espionagecharges.

The 30-year-old flew to Moscow as a transit stop beforeheading elsewhere, several sources said. But reports that hewould fly to Cuba were put in doubt when witnesses could not seehim on the plane, despite heightened security before take-off.

Ecuador, which has sheltered the founder of the WikiLeaksanti-secrecy group, Julian Assange, said it was consideringSnowden's request for asylum and that human rights were it mainconcern. There are no direct commercial flights to Quito fromMoscow.

"He didn't take the flight (to Havana)," a source atRussia's national airline Aeroflot told Reuters.

As speculation grew about where he would go next - Ecuador,Venezuela or Cuba at a later date to escape the crowd ofjournalists aboard Monday's flight to Havana - Washington wasstung by Russian defiance.

Snowden's flight to Russia, which like China challenges U.S.dominance of global diplomacy, is an embarrassment to PresidentBarack Obama who has tried to "reset" ties with Moscow and builda partnership with Beijing.

The White House said it expected the Russian government tosend Snowden back to the United States and lodged "strongobjections" to Hong Kong and China for letting him go.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said during a visit toIndia that it would be "deeply troubling" if Moscow defied theUnited States over Snowden, and said the fugitive "placeshimself above the law, having betrayed his country".

But the Russian government ignored the appeal and PresidentVladimir Putin's press secretary denied any knowledge of Snowden's movements.

Asked if Snowden had spoken to the Russian authorities,Peskov said: "Overall, we have no information about him."

He declined comment on the expulsion request but otherRussian officials said Moscow had no obligation to cooperatewith Washington, after it passed legislation to impose visa bansand asset freezes on Russians accused of violating human rights.

US HYPOCRISY

"Why should the United States expect restraint andunderstanding from Russia?" said Alexei Pushkov, the head of theforeign affairs committee in the lower house of parliament.

Putin has missed few chances to champion public figures whochallenge Western governments and to portray Washington as anoverzealous global policeman. But Russian leaders have notparaded Snowden before cameras or trumpeted his arrival.

Since leaving Hong Kong, where he feared arrest andextradition, Snowden has been searching for a country that canguarantee his security.

Ecuador's foreign minister, Ricardo Patino, said during atrip to Vietnam that Quito would take into account a U.S.request about Snowden and is in "respectful" contact with Russiaabout him. He gave no details of the U.S. request.

"We will consider the position of the U.S. government and wewill take a decision in due course in line with the (Ecuadorean)constitution, the laws, international politics and sovereignty,"Patino told a news conference in Hanoi.
A source at Aeroflot said on Sunday Snowden was booked onthe flight due to depart for Havana on Monday at 2:05 p.m. (1005GMT). But a correspondent aboard could not see him and the seathe was supposed to occupy, 17A, was taken by another passenger.

It was not immediately clear whether the plane had a crewsection where Snowden might have been concealed.

US Senator Charles Schumer said Putin had probably knownabout and approved Snowden's flight to Russia, and saw "the handof Beijing" in Hong Kong's decision to let Snowden leave.

But taking the higher ground after being accused of hackingcomputers abroad, the Chinese Foreign Ministry expressed "graveconcern" over Snowden's allegations that the United States hadhacked computers in China. It said it had taken up the issuewith Washington.

CHILL

Some Russians have praised Snowden's revelations. Othersfear a new chill in relations with the United States.

"We are a pretty stubborn country and so is the UnitedStates. Both are mighty countries, so I would say this has agood potential to turn into a big fuss in bilateral relations,"said Ina Sosna, manager of a Moscow cleaning company.

"I guess it would be best if they just let him move on fromRussia to avoid any more controversy over him being here."

Snowden was assisted in his escape from Hong Kong byWikiLeaks, whose founder Assange said he had helped to arrangedocuments from Ecuador. WikiLeaks said diplomats and SarahHarrison, a legal researcher working for the anti-secrecy group,accompanied him.

Ecuador, like Cuba and Venezuela, is a member of the ALBAbloc, an alliance of leftist governments in Latin America thatpride themselves on their "anti-imperialist" credentials. TheQuito government has been sheltering Assange at its Londonembassy for the past year.

Snowden, who had worked at a U.S. National Security Agencyfacility in Hawaii, had been hiding in Hong Kong, a formerBritish colony that returned to China in 1997, since leakingdetails about secret U.S. surveillance programmes to news media.

He has been charged with theft of federal governmentproperty, unauthorised communication of national defenceinformation and wilful communication of classifiedcommunications intelligence to an unauthorised person, with thelatter two charges falling under the U.S. Espionage Act.

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