NSA leaker Edward Snowden has chosen to take political asylum in Venezuela, tweeted senior Russian State Duma official Aleksey Pushkov, although he deleted the post minutes later.
“Predictably, Snowden has agreed to [Venezuelan President Nicolas] Maduro’s offer of political asylum. Apparently, this option appeared most reliable to Snowden,” Pushkov, the head of the lower house’s Committee on Foreign Affairs tweeted.
However, the post was deleted from the MP’s page on the microblog just minutes after it appeared.
“Information about Snowden accepting Maduro’s offer of asylum comes from [Russian TV channel] Vesti 24 newscast at 18:00. Contact them for all questions,” Pushkov tweeted shortly afterwards.
RT attempted to reach Pushkov via telephone for comment, but he was not answering. The MP’s aide has turned her telephone switched off.
Earlier, Maduro confirmed that Venezuela had received an official request for asylum from the NSA whistleblower on Monday.
“We received a letter requesting asylum” from Snowden, the Venezuelan leader said. The US fugitive "will need to decide when he will fly here," Maduro told a media conference.
Last week, Maduro said Venezuela would provide Snowden with a safe haven from “persecution from the empire.” .............................................;
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