Ed SnowdenNSA leaker Edward Snowden wants to seek asylum in Russia, according to a Parliament member who was among about a dozen activists and officials to meet with him Friday in the Moscow airport where he’s been marooned for weeks.
Duma member Vyacheslav Nikonov told reporters of Snowden’s intentions after the meeting behind closed doors in the transit zone of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport.
A photo attributed to a Human Rights Watch representative who attended the meeting was posted on the Guardian and other websites, in the first image to appear of Snowden since the newspaper broke the story of widespread U.S. Internet surveillance based on his leaks.
Snowden is believed to have been stuck in the transit zone since June 23, when he arrived on a flight from Hong Kong, where he had gone before his revelations were made public.
He had been expected to transfer in Moscow to a Cuba-bound flight, but did not get on the plane and had not been seen in public since then.