Russia: No Official Approach From Snowden

Russia says it has still not received a formal request for asylum from CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Snowden broke three weeks of silence on Friday and said he would be seeking temporary asylum in the country.

He told a group of human rights activists he hoped to stay in Russia until he had won "safe passage" to Latin America.

Snowden, who has been stranded at a Moscow airport since June 23, said he would be making an asylum request later that day.

However, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying: "We are not in contact with Snowden "

Snowden flanked by members of Human Rights Watch

Mr Lavrov said that under Russian law asylum seekers must first make an official appeal to the Federal Migration Service (FMS).

FMS director Konstantin Romodanovsky said on Saturday it had not received an approach from Snowden.

Washington has urged Moscow to return the 30-year-old to the US, where he is wanted on espionage charges after revealing details of secret surveillance programmes.

His leaks about US spying, including eavesdropping on global email traffic, have caused a furore in the US, which has revoked his passport.

There is worldwide support for Snowden among human rights activists

Snowden, who worked for the National Security Agency (NSA), revealed that the body has access to vast amounts of data from companies including Facebook and Google under a government programme called Prism.

He fled to Hong Kong and then flew to Moscow where he and Russian officials say he has remained in the transit zone of the city's Sheremetyevo airport. He has no visa to enter Russia.

Mr Snowden has asked some 20 countries for asylum and received offers from Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia.

But he said on Friday that Western states had made it "impossible for me to travel to Latin America and enjoy the asylum granted there".

Last week a plane carrying Bolivian President Evo Morales home from Russia was denied access to the airspace of several European countries on suspicion that Snowden was on board.

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