Egypt, Elsewedy review progress on Ain Sokhna phosphate complex    US employment cost index 3.6% up in year to June 2025    Egypt welcomes Canada, Malta's decision to recognise Palestinian state    Pakistan says successfully concluded 'landmark trade deal' with US    Sterling set for sharpest monthly drop since 2022    Egypt, Brazil sign deal to boost pharmaceutical cooperation    Modon Holding posts AED 2.1bn net profit in H1 2025    Egypt's Electricity Ministry says new power cable for Giza area operational    Egypt's Al-Sisi, Italian defence minister discuss Gaza, security cooperation    Egypt's FM discusses Gaza, Nile dam with US senators    Aid airdrops intensify as famine deepens in Gaza amid mounting international criticism    Egypt exports first high-tech potato seeds to Uzbekistan after opening market    Health minister showcases AI's impact on healthcare at Huawei Cloud Summit    On anti-trafficking day, Egypt's PM calls fight a 'moral and humanitarian duty'    Egypt strengthens healthcare partnerships to enhance maternity, multiple sclerosis, and stroke care    Egypt keeps Gaza aid flowing, total tops 533,000 tons: minister    Indian Embassy to launch cultural festival in Assiut, film fest in Cairo    Egyptian aid convoy heads toward Gaza as humanitarian crisis deepens    Culture minister launches national plan to revive film industry, modernise cinematic assets    I won't trade my identity to please market: Douzi    Sisi sends letter to Nigerian president affirming strategic ties    Two militants killed in foiled plot to revive 'Hasm' operations: Interior ministry    Egypt, Somalia discuss closer environmental cooperation    Egypt's EHA, Huawei discuss enhanced digital health    Foreign, housing ministers discuss Egypt's role in African development push    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Three ancient rock-cut tombs discovered in Aswan    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Egypt's Irrigation Minister urges scientific cooperation to tackle water scarcity    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Russia would consider asylum for US cyber leaker
Although whistleblower Snowden has not publicly mentioned option of seeking asylum in Russia, Moscow officials seize opportunity to criticise US 'hypocrisy'
Published in Ahram Online on 11 - 06 - 2013

Russia would consider granting asylum to the American who has exposed top-secret US surveillance programmes, if he were to ask for it, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said on Tuesday.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stopped short of saying Moscow would accept Edward Snowden, but pro-Kremlin lawmakers spoke out in favour of the idea, tapping into a lingering Cold War rivalry with the United States and a vein of anti-American sentiment Putin has often encouraged.
"Promising Snowden asylum, Moscow takes upon itself the defence of people persecuted for political reasons," Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the international affairs committee in the lower house of parliament, said on Twitter.
"There will be hysteria in the United States. They recognise this as their right alone," he said.
Putin and other Russian officials have often accused the United States of hypocrisy, saying it tries to impose standards of human rights, freedom and democracy on other nations while falling far short of them itself.
"This is an ideological catastrophe for the United States," Pushkov said, referring to Snowden's release of top secret details of National Security Agency eavesdropping programs.
Snowden, who provided the information for reports that revealed broad monitoring of phone call and Internet data by the NSA, fled to Hong Kong and has said he hopes that Iceland might grant him asylum.
'We'll consider it'
He is not known to have mentioned the possibility of asylum in Russia, where the government taps the phones of opposition members and keeps close tabs on social networks, but Peskov was quoted in Russian daily Kommersant as saying Moscow was open to such an approach.
Asked by Reuters whether Russia would be inclined to grant a request from Snowden, the spokesman said: "It is impossible (to say) now. No one has applied yet. If he says: I request (political asylum), then we will consider it."
Accused by the West of curtailing democracy and civil liberties over 13 years in power, Putin has missed few chances to champion public figures who challenge Western governments, and to portray Washington as an overzealous global policeman.
He has pursued warm ties with US foes such as the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, and this year granted Russian citizenship to Gerard Depardieu after the French actor abandoned his homeland to escape high taxes.
In 2010, the Kremlin suggested Wikileaks founder Julian Assange should be nominated for a Nobel prize.
"By tapping telephones and conducting surveillance on the Internet, the US security services have violated the laws of their own country. In this sense Snowden, like Assange, is a rights defender," Pushkov tweeted on Tuesday.
Russia recently began criticising the United States in annual reports on the state of human rights around the world – fighting back for the drubbing Russia gets in yearly rights reports by the US State Department.
In another pointed intervention, Putin offered on Friday to send Russian troops to the Golan Heights buffer zone between Israel and Syria, after Austria said it would withdraw from a U.N. peacekeeping force. His proposal went down badly in the West because of Russia's support for the Syrian government.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/73748.aspx


Clic here to read the story from its source.