Snowden's Arrival In Moscow Strains Relations

The departure of whistleblower Edward Snowden from Hong Kong to Moscow threatens to strain diplomatic relations between the US and Russia and China.

The former US spy agency contractor sought asylum in Ecuador after leaving the Chinese territory on Sunday morning - scuppering Washington's efforts to extradite him on espionage charges.

The US has already said it is "disappointed" by Hong Kong's "troubling" failure to arrest the ex-CIA analyst, who has been hiding there for two weeks.

And there's growing anger in America over Russia's decision to allow him access to the country.

US Senator Charles Schumer charged that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely knew and approved of Mr Snowden's flight to Russia and predicted "serious consequences" for a US-Russian relationship already fraught over Syria and human rights.

Mr Schumer told CNN: "Putin always seems almost eager to stick a finger in the eye of the United States - whether it is Syria, Iran and now of course with Snowden."

Mr Snowden's route since leaving Hawaii and his possible next destinations

He also saw "the hand of Beijing" in Hong Kong's decision to let Mr Snowden leave.

China said on Sunday it was "gravely concerned" over new claims by Mr Snowden that US spies had hacked Chinese IT targets, particularly as the Obama administration has painted the US as a victim of Chinese government computer hacking.

The debacle is a major embarrassment for President Barack Obama, who has been trying to reset ties with Russia and build a partnership with China.

The US State Department said Mr Snowden should not be allowed to travel further as an international manhunt for him is launched.

Russia's Itar-Tass news agency said there is a flight ticket in his name from Moscow to Havana, Cuba today and that he will then fly on from there.

But the chief of Cuba's International Press Center, Gustavo Machin, said he had no such information.

A twitter picture of Mr Snowden's plane in Moscow. Credit @Russian_Market

The US has revoked Mr Snowden's passport, and says the "chase is on" to catch him.

Senate intelligence committee chairwoman Dianne Feinstein said: "I want to get him caught and brought back for trial. I think the chase is on and we'll see what happens."

Ecuador, which has been sheltering the founder of the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, at its London embassy for the past year, once again took centre stage in the international diplomatic saga.

Ecuador's foreign minister Ricardo Patino said the country was "analysing" his request for asylum, which "has to do with freedom of expression and with the security of citizens around the world".

Venezuela, Cuba and Ecuador are all members of the ALBA bloc, an alliance of leftist governments in Latin America that pride themselves on their "anti-imperialist" credentials.

Spanish Judge Mr Baltasar Garzon, legal director of Wikileaks, who is assisting Mr Snowden and lawyer for Mr Assange said: "The WikiLeaks legal team and I are interested in preserving Mr Snowden's rights and protecting him as a person.

A still picture of Sarah Harrison taken from a video put out by WikiLeaks

"What is being done to Mr Snowden and to Mr Julian Assange - for making or facilitating disclosures in the public interest - is an assault against the people".

WikiLeaks said he was being accompanied by Sarah Harrison, described by them as a UK citizen, journalist and legal researcher.

Mr Snowden left Hong Kong after The White House asked the autonomous Chinese territory to extradite him. He had earlier been charged in the US with espionage.

The Hong Kong government has said that although the US had sought his extradition, the request did not fully comply with requirements. It said that as a result, he was free to leave.

A US Department of Justice spokesperson said: "The US is disappointed and disagrees with the determination by Hong Kong authorities not to honour the US request for the arrest of the fugitive.

"The request for the fugitive's arrest for purposes of his extradition complied with all of the requirements of the US-Hong Kong Surrender Agreement.

"At no point, in all of our discussions through Friday, did the authorities in Hong Kong raise any issues regarding the sufficiency of the US's provisional arrest request.

"In light of this, we find their decision to be particularly troubling."

Mr Snowden was revealed earlier this month to have been the man who leaked to the Guardian and Washington Post newspapers information about monitoring by America's National Security Agency.

He claimed the NSA has been keeping details of millions of phone calls by Americans and monitoring the use by foreigners of internet sites including Google, Facebook and Yahoo.

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