Edward Snowden 'not likely to gain asylum in Ecuador for months'
Miriam Elder (in Moscow)
Julian Borger
The Guardian
Wednesday 26 June 2013 12.26 EDT
Ecuador has said it could take months to decide whether to grant asylum to Edward Snowden, potentially confining the US whistleblower to the halls of a Russian airport for weeks to come.
Ricardo Patino, Ecuador's foreign minister, said Snowden's case was similar to that of the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, who has been granted asylum at the country's embassy in London.
"It took us two months to make a decision in the case of Assange, so do not expect us to make a decision sooner this time," Patino said during a visit to Malaysia. He said Ecuador would "consider all the risks" in granting asylum, including concerns that it could harm trade ties with the US…
The Guardian article continues on to reference this story, from The Hill…
Top Dem threatens to block trade deal with Ecuador over Snowden
Julian Pecquet
The Hill
06/26/13 07:09 AM ET
Ecuador can kiss its trade preferences with the United States goodbye if it offers asylum to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, a key lawmaker told The Hill.
“There's been issues about Ecuador all along,” said Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.), the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee. “And if they do this, there's no basis for even discussing it…”
The Hill article notes that Ecuador
“…had been hoping to renew and extend a trade deal aimed at getting impoverished farmers to cultivate flowers and broccoli instead of coca leaves.”
The Guardian quotes an anonymous source, who states…
“…Snowden's US passport has been cancelled, he has no other identification documents in his hands…So he's required to stay in Sheremetyevo's transit zone, since he can't leave Russia or buy a ticket…”
And, the piece also references
Wikileaks’ official Twitter site, noting that organization
“…proposed that Snowden would be bound to the Moscow airport for the foreseeable future…”
Stay tuned…