Beyond Moscow: Where Is Edward Snowden Going Next?
Edward Snowden is leaving on a jet plane and doesn't know when he'll be back again, oh no, he's on the go. The former government contractor left Hong Kong on a one-way flight to Moscow Sunday, with Wikileaks' help, where he will catch another flight to another "diplomatic" country, after Hong Kong announced they were no longer housing Snowden in the early hours of Sunday morning because the U.S. extradition request didn't comply with Hong Kong law.
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There's a whole lot of conflicting information out there, but this is what we know: The New York Times reports the man who leaked sensitive National Security Agency information is on Aeroflot flight SU213, a one-way trip to Moscow, with one other person, who Wikileaks all but confirmed is Sarah Harrison, one of Julian Assange's closest advisors. He's allegedly scheduled to land in Moscow around 5 p.m. local time (10 a.m. EST) but RT.com sources say Snowden is actually already on the ground. Dmitry Peskov, Valdimir Putin's spokesman, said Russia would roll out the red carpet for him last week, should he choose to travel there. But statements from Wikileaks signal that Moscow is only a stop over for Snowden. Assange told the Sunday Morning Herald Post that Wikileaks arranged for Snowden to meet with diplomats from his desired destination, which is, according to Assange, a "democratic country," though he declined to say which one.
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Wikileaks released this statement Sunday morning:
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.
Mr Snowden requested that WikiLeaks use its legal expertise and experience to secure his safety. Once Mr Snowden arrives at his final destination his request will be formally processed.
Hong Kong released a statement Sunday morning announcing they didn't comply with requests to detain Snowden from the U.S. because, well, this is embarrassing. According to Hong Kong, the U.S. didn't fill out the legal forms properly:
"Since the documents provided by the U.S. government did not fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law, the HKSAR government has requested the U.S. government to provide additional information ... As the HKSAR government has yet to have sufficient information to process the request for provisional warrant of arrest, there is no legal basis to restrict Mr Snowden from leaving Hong Kong."
That will certainly warm diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China
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Various reports gathered by Reuters are pushing forward the idea that Moscow isn't a be-all-end-all destination for Snowden. It's merely a connecting flight to somewhere smaller, usually warmer, with even fewer diplomatic ties to the U.S.
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His rumored destinations are:
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Cuba
Venezuela
Ecuador
Iceland
So we know the former Booz Allen Hamilton contractor is on the way to Moscow. Separate Russian news agencies are reporting Snowden is scheduled to fly from Moscow to Havana, Cuba, where he'll catch another flight to Caracas, Venezuela, his alleged ultimate destination. Reuters is now reporting he'll fly to Havana on Monday before eventually going to Caracas. Snowden originally told The Guardian's Glenn Greenwald that Iceland was his safe-haven of choice all along, despite initially travelling to Hong Kong instead. Now it appears the Wikileaks team has convinced him that Venezuela has a complicated relationship with the U.S. and is much less likely to comply to U.S. pressure. Snowden's been holed up in China since arriving at the end of May, changing hotels, speaking with local newspapers as recently as the same day he made his request to move to Iceland, but all the while planning what to do next. But now he's on the move, an international jet-setter flying from one country to the next, each with an increasing amount of antagonism towards the U.S. as the last.
