Friday, he was getting his first taste of freedom — or at least the sort of freedom afforded to a high-profile American fugitive in Russia

(CBS News) Only about six weeks ago, the question was “where is Edward Snowden.” Now, he’s gone to ground again.

The former NSA contractor’s whereabouts inside Russia are being kept secret, reports CBS News correspondent Charlie D’Agata, but his lawyer says he’s in a secure location; a private home with American friends and — when he’s comfortable — he may consider making an appearance to the media.

A new photo emerged on Russian media outlets Friday morning showing Snowden’s surprise getaway the preceding day from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, where he remained stuck for weeks following his June 23 arrival from Hong Kong.

Friday, he was getting his first taste of freedom — or at least the sort of freedom afforded to a high-profile American fugitive in Russia. The year-long asylum he’s been granted does not enable him to travel outside of Russia’s borders.

His Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena said Snowden wants to build a new life in the country, to rent an apartment and 부산출장안마 find a job. Job offers are already rolling in. The head of Russia’s own Facebook-like “VKontakte” website offered the secret spiller gainful employment just hours after he left the airport on Thursday.

President Vladimir Putin has said the former NSA contractor will only be welcome in Russia if he stops spilling secrets about the United States’ spy operations.

In an interview on “Russia Today,” Snowden’s father praised president Putin for keeping his son safe.

“It’s the honourable thing to do, and as not just a citizen of the United States, but a global citizen of this planet, an occupant of the Earth, I am so thankful for what they have done for my son,” Lon Snowden told the network earlier this week.

But life in Russia will be a far cry from the comforts of Snowden’s former home in Hawaii. Although Moscow is home to more billionaires than anywhere else in the world, low wages for average workers mean a lower standard of living.

Snowden may also struggle because he can’t speak Russian.

James Nixey, of the London-based think tank Chatham House, says Snowden’s options are limited.

“I can’t imagine… that he will be in a suburban, Moscow ghetto. I think it’s more likely that he will live a relatively comfortable, if not entirely free, life,” Nixey tells CBS News, acknowledging that it won’t be entirely free because people are going to be keeping tabs on him.

When President Putin first found out the Snowden issue had landed in his lap, he was dismissive, saying he would have preferred “not to deal with these issues; it’s like shearing a baby pig: a lot of squealing, but not much wool.”

Now, however, Snowden may have even more opportunity to squeal to Russian intelligence agents.

Related Posts

The actor’s messy personal life has included a wild night that left a New York hotel room in shambles and sent Sheen to a hospital, and a guilty plea last summer to assaulting his third wife, Brooke Mueller, in Aspen, Colo|PASADENA, Calif|CBS respects the way Warner Bros|(The two are now divorcing.) Sheen filled gossip pages again by spending last weekend partying in Las Vegas, possibly with Michelle “Bombshell” McGee, whose disclosures about an affair with Jesse James torpedoed Oscar-winner Sandra Bullock’s marriage last winter|A reporter suggested a person in a different line of work would be fired for involvement in similar incidents}
“He did not commit the offense of prostitution
“This is a movement of defensive assets operating in an air-to-air role only,” the statement continued. “They are not deploying to take part in any military action against Syria. The (prime minister) has made clear no decision has been taken on our response and the gGovernment has said that there will be a Commons vote before direct military involvement.” U.S. officials describe the Pentagon decision as prudent planning and say it doesn’t suggest the carrier would play a role in any possible strikes in Syria. The officials were not authorized to discuss ship movements publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The U.S. had kept two carriers in the region, but budget cuts in February forced officials to cut to one. CBS News correspondent David Martin reports two submarines — one American, one British — are in the eastern Mediterranean along with four American destroyers and a fifth on the way — all armed with cruise missiles. That’s more than enough firepower for a strike Pentagon officials say would be limited to fewer than 50 targets. Each of the destroyers carries about 40 cruise missiles – a satellite-guided weapon that carries a 1,000-pound warhead, has a range of 1000 miles or more and is accurate to within about 15 feet. Standard procedure would be for the ships to fire an opening salvo at night, wait for satellites to assess the damage and re-strike any targets that were not destroyed — a process that could take a few days. Any strike against Syria, Martin points out, would be designed to convince its dictator, President Bashar Assad, never to use chemical weapons again. But airstrikes never succeeded in changing the behavior of another Mideast dictator — Iraq’s Saddam Hussein — until he was finally captured and hanged.

No comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *