WASHINGTON: The United States has warned Russia against giving US surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden a ‘propaganda platform.’
“Providing a propaganda platform for Mr. Snowden runs counter to the Russian government’s previous declarations of Russia’s neutrality,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said at a press conference on Friday.
“It’s also incompatible with Russian assurances that they do not want Mr. Snowden to further damage US interests,” Carney added.
Russia should return Snowden to the United States, the White House spokesman stated.
Earlier in the day, Snowden met with representatives of international human rights organizations in the international transit zone of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, where he is currently ensconced.
Tanya Lokshina, a Human Rights Watch representative who attended the meeting, said Snowden believes that “the only way for him to have safety guarantees for temporary stay in Russia is apparently to get an asylum in Russia.”
On June 6, The Guardian reported that a top secret US court order allows the US National Security Agency to collect data on the millions of US citizens who are customers of the phone company Verizon.
On the same day, The Washington Post reported that the NSA had direct access to internet servers, saying their source, a career intelligence officer, was horrified about the capabilities of the systems used by the US intelligence agency.
On June 9, Snowden admitted his role in the leaks in a 12-minute video posted by The Guardian.
The NSA scandal took even broader dimensions when Snowden revealed information about its espionage activities targeting friendly countries.
