In yet another sign that the United States is declining in stature on the world stage, Russia granted American fugitive Edward Snowden a year’s asylum on Thursday, allowing the former U.S. spy agency contractor to slip quietly out of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport after more than five weeks in limbo. It has also been announced that the United States will “close an unspecified number of embassies around the world” because of “security concerns,” AFP reports. The closures will take place on Sunday.
The White House, which wants Snowden sent home to face trial for leaking details of government surveillance programs, is doing very little of substance to challenge Russia in doing the right thing. President Barack Obama might boycott a summit with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in September and one official said high-level talks next week were “up in the air”. Putin must thinking long and hard over his choices now.
“We see this as an unfortunate development and we are extremely disappointed by it,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said. “We are evaluating the utility of the summit.” Such tough language. It could start an international incident.
Edward Snowden was offered a job by Russia’s top social networking site on Thursday, hours after the former intelligence contractor received a year-long asylum in Russia.
“We invite Edward Snowden to Petersburg and will be happy if he decides to join the star team of programmers at VKontakte,” Pavel Durov, one of the founders of the St. Petersburg-based VKontakte, Russia’s answer to Facebook, said on his profile.
Snowden’s temporary asylum papers allow him to work in Russia, according to Anatoly Kucherena, a lawyer close to the Russian authorities, who has been assisting the American.
Seeking to avoid U.S. prosecution, Snowden arrived to Moscow from Hong Kong on June 23 has been stuck in the transit zone of the Sheremetyevo airport for more than a month before slipping out on Thursday with new refugee documents.
Snowden is also a useful propaganda tool for Moscow, which often accuses Washington of preaching on human rights abroad what it does not practice at home.
Durov of VKontakte, or “InTouch”, which says it has more than 210 million registered profiles and up to 47 million daily users, said he took pride in Russia’s decision to harbor Snowden.
