Asylum Request: Ecuador to consult UN on Snowden

AROMO: President Rafael Correa said on Saturday he has spoken with US Vice President Joe Biden about Edward Snowden, and that the American official asked Ecuador to reject the fugitive intelligence leaker’s asylum request.

Correa said Ecuador would consult with the United States before making a decision but that ultimately it is up to Quito whether to grant asylum to the young man who has made bombshell revelations about covert US surveillance of phone records and Web traffic. Correa said the conversation took place Friday, as Biden called and “passed on a polite request from the United States to reject the request”.

Correa said he explained to Biden that Ecuador cannot process Snowden’s asylum request because he is not physically in the South American country.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 30^th, 2013.