US spy disappears after arrival in Moscow
The US spy wanted by Washington, Edward Snowden, did not emerge Sunday with other passengers in the terminal after he landed in Moscow on a flight from Hong Kong, as some fellow travellers said he may have been whisked away direct from the airport tarmac.
Snowden was not among the passengers on the Aeroflot flight who emerged into the public area of Terminal F at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport after the flight from Hong Kong arrived Sunday, an AFP correspondent reported.
But some passengers told AFP they saw a car parked next to the plane after it taxied to the terminal building, leaving the possibility he may have been taken away separately from the other passengers.
"They were getting luggage straight from the plane into the car. It seemed a little strange. I saw three pieces of luggage," Aeroflot passenger Jason Stephens from the United States told AFP.
AFP correspondents also said they saw a diplomatic car at VIP arrivals with an Ecuadorean flag. It was accompanied by an SUV, also apparently from the embassy.
Snowden's final travel plans have not been confirmed but a source within Aeroflot told Russian media he planned to head to Venezuela via Havana on Monday.
Rossiya 24 state rolling news channel speculated the ex operative could be spending the night at one of the South American embassies in Moscow.
Unidentified 'diplomats' escorting Snowden: WikiLeaks
Unidentified diplomats are escorting former US intelligence operative Edward Snowden in his bid to secure political asylum in a country yet to be disclosed, whistleblowing website WikiLeaks said on Sunday.
"Mr Edward Snowden, the American whistleblower who exposed evidence of a global surveillance regime conducted by US and UK intelligence agencies, has left Hong Kong legally," WikiLeaks said in a statement.
"He is bound for a democratic nation via a safe route for the purposes of asylum, and is being escorted by diplomats and legal advisors from WikiLeaks."
Snowden, 30, will head to Venezuela via Cuba after he arrives in Moscow on Sunday, Russian media reported.
Snowden requested that WikiLeaks "use its legal expertise and experience to secure his safety", the statement added.
WikiLeaks, whose founder Julian Assange has spent a year holed up in Ecuador's London embassy, said Snowden's asylum request will be formally processed once he arrives at his final destination.
"The WikiLeaks legal team and I are interested in preserving Mr Snowden's rights and protecting him as a person," said former Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon, legal director of Wikileaks and lawyer for Assange.
"What is being done to Mr Snowden and to Mr Julian Assange -- for making or facilitating disclosures in the public interest -- is an assault against the people."
Assange, a 41-year-old former computer hacker from Australia, walked into the Ecuador embassy on June 19, 2012 and claimed asylum in a sensational bid to avoid extradition to Sweden for questioning over alleged sex crimes.
The South American country granted his request, accepting his fears that if sent to Sweden he might be passed on to the United States and prosecuted for publishing thousands of classified war logs from Iraq and Afghanistan and a cache of diplomatic cables.
Britain has refused to grant him safe passage to Ecuador.