Russia gives Snowden document allowing him to leave airport

24072013

Russia’s migration service has provided fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden with a document that allows him to leave the Moscow airport transit zone where he has been holed up for the last month, a report said in Moscow today. The document confirms that his application for asylum in Russia is being considered but allows Snowden to cross the Russian border so long as border guards do not object, RIA Novosti news agency said. The agency added that the document was initially given to the lawyer helping him, Anatoly Kucherena, who was now on his way to Sheremetyevo airport and about to arrive. Snowden earlier this month applied for asylum, a process that could take up to three months. Kucherena has said he may even apply for Russian citizenship