WikiLeaks: NSA leaker Snowden applied for asylum in six more countries

Edward Snowden has applied for asylum in six additional countries,
according to WikiLeaks, the group that is helping the National Security Agency
leaker.

WikiLeaks tweeted on
Friday that Snowden had applied for asylum in another six countries. Earlier
this week, WikiLeaks said Snowden had applied for asylum in 21 countries.

His options for leaving the transit zone in a Moscow airport, where he has allegedly been stuck since traveling to Russia from Hong
Kong last month, have quickly dwindled,
as most countries either rejected the asylum request or said Snowden would have to be
on their soil to make the request.

WikiLeaks said it would not name the new countries where
Snowden requested asylum “due to attempted U.S. interference.”

{mosads}The accusation of interference stems in part from the difficulty the Bolivian president had returning home from Russia this week.

On Tuesday, the plane carrying Bolivian President Evo
Morales was forced to land in Austria and was searched. The 12-hour delay followed rumors that the plane might be carrying Snowden. Morales was traveling back to Bolivia from Moscow, and Bolivia was
viewed as one of the countries that might be willing to grant Snowden’s asylum
request.

The Bolivian foreign minister said that Portugal and France
would not allow the aircraft to enter their airspace, though France denied
this.

On Wednesday, Bolivia’s foreign ministry condemned
a U.S. request to extradite Snowden, saying Morales and Snowden never met in
Russia. Bolivian officials said the “strange, illegal, unfounded and
suggestive” extradition request would be returned to the U.S. immediately.

The U.S. has charged Snowden with espionage and is seeking
to prosecute him. It filed an extradition request with Hong Kong,
but Hong Kong officials said it was not complete, and allowed Snowden to leave
the country.