National Security Agency leak source Edward Snowden, who leaked a trove of agency secrets and sparked a debate over government surveillance, is meeting with human rights officials in Moscow's Sheremetyevo international airport's transit zone.
The New York Times' Ellen Barry reports that Snowden is meeting with "around eight" human rights officials in his ongoing effort to receive political asylum. Snowden requested the meeting with the human rights officials via an email yesterday, amid Snowden's claims that the U.S. is waging an "unlawful" campaign to block him from seeking asylum.
According to Barry, Snowden has received asylum offers from Venezuela, Russia, Bolivia, Nicaragua, and Ecuador. He will submit an asylum application to Russia today to guarantee his safety until he can get to Latin America "eventually." He wants help in guaranteeing his safe passage.
"No actions I take or plan are meant to harm the U.S.," Snowden said, according to Barry. "I want the U.S. to succeed."
Here's a new photo of Snowden, from Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth:
Here's a photo of Snowden taken by @HRW's @TanyaLokshina in Moscow airport now. Meeting has started. http://t.co/i5U3cL8mHE
— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) July 12, 2013
Russia's Life News obtained leaked video of Snowden's meeting:
And here's a good shot of what the scene looked like in the run-up to Snowden's appearance:
