Snowden denies giving secrets to China, Russia

Fugitive US whistleblower Edward Snowden has denied handing secret documents to Russia or China, reports said Friday.

The former National Security Agency contractor gave all the classified documents in his possession to journalists he met in Hong Kong before flying to Moscow, he told the New York Times.

Snowden was granted asylum by Moscow in August. He did not take the documents to Russia “because it wouldn’t serve the public interest,” he told the paper.

He also claimed he was able to protect the documents from Chinese intelligence services, whose capabilities he was familiar with from his work with the NSA.

“There’s a zero-per-cent chance the Russians or Chinese have received any documents,” he said.

US officials have expressed concern that Snowden may have passed secret documents to foreign intelligence services. He has been charged with espionage for leaking NSA documents to the media.

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