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Saturday 29 June 2013
HOME»NEWS»WORLD NEWS»SOUTH AMERICA»ECUADOR
Joe Biden telephones Ecuador president to ask him not to grant asylum to Edward Snowden
Joe Biden, the American vice president, has telephoned the president of Ecuador to ask him not to grant asylum to Edward Snowden.
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa speaks during his programme 'Enlace Ciudadano' Photo: AFP
By Harriet Alexander7:49PM BST 29 Jun 20136 Comments
Rafael Correa, speaking on Saturday during his weekly televised address, said that the "cordial" conversation took place on Friday.
"He asked that we please reject the asylum application that Snowden has made," said Mr Correa, according to Ecuadorean newspaper El Telegrafo.
"But for us to be able to assess the application, Mr Snowden has to be inside Ecuadorean territory. When he is there, we can consider the application."
Edward Snowden, the man behind the leak of highly-embarrassing data that showed how America spied on its own people and eavesdropped on millions of conversations, fled the US to Hong Kong in May. He has since travelled from Hong Kong to Moscow, where he is believed to be still in the transit lounge of the airport – unable to enter Russia, but without the requisite travel documents to journey onwards to most countries.
Mr Correa, whose Left-wing government is frequently at odds with the United States, said he told Mr Biden that Ecuador had requested the extradition of two of its citizens – a request with the US ignored. Roberto and William Isaias, who ran the collapsed bank Filanbanco, are wanted in Ecuador – having fled to Miami in 2003. They deny all allegations of corruption.
Saturday 29 June 2013
HOME»NEWS»WORLD NEWS»SOUTH AMERICA»ECUADOR
Joe Biden telephones Ecuador president to ask him not to grant asylum to Edward Snowden
Joe Biden, the American vice president, has telephoned the president of Ecuador to ask him not to grant asylum to Edward Snowden.
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa speaks during his programme 'Enlace Ciudadano' Photo: AFP
By Harriet Alexander7:49PM BST 29 Jun 20136 Comments
Rafael Correa, speaking on Saturday during his weekly televised address, said that the "cordial" conversation took place on Friday.
"He asked that we please reject the asylum application that Snowden has made," said Mr Correa, according to Ecuadorean newspaper El Telegrafo.
"But for us to be able to assess the application, Mr Snowden has to be inside Ecuadorean territory. When he is there, we can consider the application."
Edward Snowden, the man behind the leak of highly-embarrassing data that showed how America spied on its own people and eavesdropped on millions of conversations, fled the US to Hong Kong in May. He has since travelled from Hong Kong to Moscow, where he is believed to be still in the transit lounge of the airport – unable to enter Russia, but without the requisite travel documents to journey onwards to most countries.
Mr Correa, whose Left-wing government is frequently at odds with the United States, said he told Mr Biden that Ecuador had requested the extradition of two of its citizens – a request with the US ignored. Roberto and William Isaias, who ran the collapsed bank Filanbanco, are wanted in Ecuador – having fled to Miami in 2003. They deny all allegations of corruption.