Russians grant US security leaker a year’s stay

US National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has been granted asylum in Russia for one year and left the transit zone of Moscow airport, his lawyer says.Anatoly Kucherena said he handed over the papers to Mr Snowden yesterday and the fugitive then left Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport where he had been stuck since his arrival from Hong Kong on June 23.

Mr Snowden’s whereabouts will be kept secret for security reasons, he said.

The US has demanded that Russia send him home to face prosecution for espionage, but President Vladimir Putin has dismissed the request.

Mr Putin had said that Mr Snowden could receive asylum in Russia on condition he stops leaking US secrets. Mr Kucherena has said Mr Snowden accepted the condition.

The Guardian newspaper published a new report on Wednesday about US intelligence-gathering based on information from Mr Snowden, but Mr Kucherena said the material was provided before he promised to stop leaking.

Mr Snowden, who revealed details of a US intelligence programme to monitor internet activity, has received offers of asylum from Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia and said he would like to visit those countries. However, the logistics of reaching any of those countries are complicated because his US passport has been revoked.

The Snowden case has further strained US-Russian ties already tense amid differences over Syria, US criticism of Russia’s human rights record and other issues.

Mr Snowden’s father has said on Russian television that he would like to visit his son and Mr Kucherena said he is arranging the trip. The secret-spilling group WikiLeaks said its legal adviser Sarah Harrison is now with Mr Snowden. The group also praised Russia for providing him shelter.

“We would like to thank the Russian people and all those others who have helped to protect Mr. Snowden,” WikiLeaks said on Twitter. “We have won the battle – now the war.”

Mr Putin’s foreign affairs aide, Yuri Ushakov, sought to downplay the impact the asylum move would have on the US-Russia relations.

“This issue isn’t significant enough to have an impact on political relations,” he said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies.

He said that the Kremlin hasn’t heard any signal from Washington that Mr Obama could cancel his visit to Moscow ahead of next month’s G20 summit in St Petersburg.