Iceland received informal approach over Snowden seeking asylum

[ProSense]

Iceland received informal approach over Snowden seeking asylum

(Reuters) - Iceland has received an informal approach from an intermediary who says Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who exposed the U.S. government's secret surveillance programs, wants to seek asylum there...the former employee of contractor Booz Allen Hamilton who worked in an NSA facility in Hawaii, made world headlines after providing details of the program to the Guardian and Washington Post and then fleeing to Hong Kong.

In a column in Icelandic daily Frettabladid, WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson wrote that a middleman had approached him on behalf of Snowden.

"On 12 June, I received a message from Edward Snowden where he asked me to notify the Icelandic government that he wanted to seek asylum in Iceland," Hrafnsson, who is also an investigative journalist in Iceland, told Reuters.

The Icelandic government, which has refused to say whether they would grant asylum to Snowden, confirmed it had received the message from Hrafnsson.

- more -

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/18/us-usa-security-iceland-snowden-idUSBRE95H0OQ20130618

Strange. Why did he go to Hong Kong? Also, if this request was made on June 12, why didn't he mention it yesterday?

Snowden Explains Why He Didn’t Go Straight To Iceland

Edward Snowden, the self-proclaimed source of recently leaked top secret National Security Agency documents, has explained why he went to Hong Kong instead of straight to Iceland, the country where he has said he would like to seek asylum.

"Leaving the US was an incredible risk, as NSA employees must declare their foreign travel 30 days in advance and are monitored," Snowden wrote during a live chat on The Guardian's website. "There was a distinct possibility I would be interdicted en route, so I had to travel with no advance booking to a country with the cultural and legal framework to allow me to work without being immediately detained. Hong Kong provided that. Iceland could be pushed harder, quicker, before the public could have a chance to make their feelings known, and I would not put that past the current US administration."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/18/us-usa-security-iceland-snowden-idUSBRE95H0OQ20130618

[ProSense]

1. No comment? n/t

[cali]

4. not everyone shares your obsession

next thing you know you'll be posting about what he had for breakfast and he took a shit this morning.

[ProSense]

5. Well,

"next thing you know you'll be posting about what he had for breakfast and he took a shit this morning."

...that par for the course: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=profile&uid=152034&sub=trans

[cali]

6. do you actually think I care whether you post a link to my transparency page?

and I note that you're running around name calling. Unlike you, I don't feel the need to frantically alert.

you look increasingly.....

[ProSense]

7. Well,

"do you actually think I care whether you post a link to my transparency page?

and I note that you're running around name calling. Unlike you, I don't feel the need to frantically alert. "

...I can't read your mind, but I detect an attempt to blame me for this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=profile&uid=152034&sub=trans

[ljm2002]

2. Soooo, he's not a Red Chinese spy then?

I can't see him seeking asylum in Iceland if his real interest was giving away our secrets to China.

He already explained why he didn't go to Iceland in the first place, as your link shows. So I'm not sure why you included the question of why he went to Hong Kong.

As to why he didn't mention his request for asylum in Iceland, who knows. Why is it relevant?

[ProSense]

3. Well, after all the denials yesterday

"Soooo, he's not a Red Chinese spy then?"

...he clearly isn't a spy, as far as we know.