Snowden's Arrival In Moscow Strains Relations

Whistleblower Edward Snowden is set to leave Moscow later for Cuba - the next step on his journey to evade US justice as he seeks asylum in Ecuador.

Washington has urged Russia to do it can to expel the former CIA intelligence analyst and send him to the US before he gets the chance to take the expected flight to Havana.

Snowden, who was allowed to leave Hong Kong on Sunday, is wanted on spying charges in the US, which is trying to extradite him.

The Aeroflot airline said he registered for the Havana flight using his US passport, which American officials say has been revoked  as part of an effort to prosecute him for revealing highly classified government secrets.

The US state department said Mr Snowden should not be allowed to travel any further as an international manhunt for him is launched, and his departure from the Chinese territory is threatening to strain the diplomatic relations between the US and Russia and Beijing.

The US said it was disappointed by Hong Kong's "troubling" failure to arrest the analyst, who was hiding there after apparently leaking information about monitoring by the National Security Agency to The Guardian and The Washington Post.

And there is growing anger in America over Russia's decision to allow him access to the country.

Mr Snowden's route since leaving Hawaii and his possible next destinations

US Senator Charles Schumer said Russian President Vladimir Putin probably knew of and approved Mr Snowden's flight to Russia, and predicted "serious consequences" for a US-Russian relationship already strained over Syria and human rights issues.

Mr Schumer told CNN: "Putin always seems almost eager to stick a finger in the eye of the United States - whether it is Syria, Iran and now of course with Snowden."

He said he also saw "the hand of Beijing" in Hong Kong's decision to let Mr Snowden leave.

China said on Sunday it was "gravely concerned" by Mr Snowden's claim that US spies had hacked Chinese IT targets, particularly as the Obama administration has painted the US as a victim of Chinese government computer hacking.

The debacle is a major embarrassment for President Barack Obama, who has been trying to reset ties with Russia and build a partnership with China.

A twitter picture of Mr Snowden's plane in Moscow. Credit @Russian_Market

Senate intelligence committee chairwoman Dianne Feinstein said: "I want to get him caught and brought back for trial. I think the chase is on and we'll see what happens."

Ecuador, which has been sheltering Julian Assange, the founder of the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, at its London embassy for the past year, once again took centre stage in the international diplomatic saga.

Ecuadorean foreign minister Ricardo Patino said the country was "analysing" his request for asylum, which "has to do with freedom of expression and with the security of citizens around the world".

Venezuela, Cuba and Ecuador are all members of the ALBA bloc, an alliance of leftist governments in Latin America that pride themselves on their "anti-imperialist" credentials.

Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon, the legal director of WikiLeaks, who is assisting Mr Snowden and is a lawyer for Mr Assange, said: "The WikiLeaks legal team and I are interested in preserving Mr Snowden's rights and protecting him as a person.

"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."

The manhunt for Edward Snowden has prompted protests

WikiLeaks said he was being accompanied by Sarah Harrison, whom it described as a UK citizen, journalist and legal researcher.

Mr Snowden claimed the NSA has been keeping details of millions of phone calls by Americans and monitoring the use by foreigners of internet sites including Google, Facebook and Yahoo.

He left Hong Kong after the White House asked the autonomous Chinese territory to extradite him. He had earlier been charged in the US with espionage.

The Hong Kong government said although the US had sought his extradition, the request did not fully comply with requirements and he was therefore free to leave.

A US Department of Justice spokesperson said: "The US is disappointed and disagrees with the determination by Hong Kong authorities not to honour the US request for the arrest of the fugitive.

"The request for the fugitive's arrest for purposes of his extradition complied with all of the requirements of the US-Hong Kong Surrender Agreement.

"At no point, in all of our discussions through Friday, did the authorities in Hong Kong raise any issues regarding the sufficiency of the US's provisional arrest request.

"In light of this, we find their decision to be particularly troubling."

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