Snowden leaves Moscow airport for safe harbour

Fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden has left the Moscow Sheremetyevo airport where he has been holed up for over a month, after being granted temporary asylum for one year in Russia, his Russian lawyer said Thursday.

“Snowden has left Sheremetyevo airport. He has just been given a certificate that he has been awarded temporary asylum in Russia for one year,” his lawyer Anatoly Kucherena told AFP. An airport spokeswoman added that he had left within the last two hours.

His new location will not be disclosed for security reasons, his lawyer said. “His location is not being made public for security reasons since he is the most pursued man on the planet. He himself will decide where he will go.”

“He has gone to a safe place. I hope you will be understanding about this information,” Kucherena told Rossiya 24 television, holding up a scanned copy of Snowden’s certificate granting him a year’s temporary asylum in Russia.

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