Edward J. Snowden, the fugitive former US security contractor, broke his silence on Monday for the first time since he flew to Moscow eight days ago, issuing a statement that denounced President Barack Obama for revoking his passport, opposing his asylum requests and leaving him a "stateless person."
In the statement posted on the website of WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy group that has been assisting him, Snowden, 30, also accused Obama and the US government of seeking to intimidate him and deceive the world because of his disclosures about the vast global surveillance efforts of US intelligence agencies.
Snowden cited Obama's assertion last week that he would not permit any diplomatic "wheeling and dealing" with other countries that might wish to grant him asylum. Nonetheless, Snowden said, Vice President Joe Biden had been pressuring "the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum petitions."
Biden telephoned President Rafael Correa of Ecuador last week and asked him not to grant Snowden asylum, Correa said Saturday.
"The Obama administration has now adopted the strategy of using citizenship as a weapon," Snowden said in the statement. "Although I am convicted of nothing, it has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person. Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum."
The statement was the first direct word from Snowden about his predicament since his flight to Moscow from Hong Kong on June 23 despite a US request to the Hong Kong authorities to arrest Snowden, who has been accused of violating espionage laws. His disclosures have caused major embarrassment to the Obama administration and tensions with other countries, including China, Russia and members of the European Union.
Snowden has still not been publicly seen in Russia, but officials there have said he is ensconced in a Moscow airport international transit lounge, trying to determine his next step, and has technically not entered Russian territory.
His statement on the WikiLeaks website came as Snowden's case appeared to be causing tensions between the government of Ecuador and Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder. Assange has been camped out in Ecuador's Embassy in London for more than a year, given asylum there to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning on allegations that he sexually assaulted two women.
"The conduct of Assange has bothered me a little and this morning I spoke with the foreign minister to tell him not to speak about our country's situations," Correa said Monday in an interview with Agence France-Presse.
Correa was apparently displeased by comments Assange made Sunday on the ABC program "This Week" regarding Biden's telephone call. Assange characterized that call as an effort to pressure Correa.
"What does he know about the call from Joe Biden?" Correa was quoted as saying in the AFP interview. "And he says that he called to pressure me. I have never permitted a call to put pressure on me."
Correa was also quoted as saying in the AFP interview that if Russia granted Snowden asylum, that "could definitely resolve Mr. Snowden's situation."
On Sunday, in an interview with The New York Times, Correa denied any strains in his country's relations with Assange, adding that the WikiLeaks founder was welcome to stay in the London embassy for 50 years if he so desired.
© 2013, The New York Times News Service