WikiLeaks plane 'ready' to bring Snowden to Iceland

[FarCenter]

REYKJAVIK: A chartered private jet is ready to bring US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden to Iceland from Hong Kong, a businessman connected to whistleblowing website WikiLeaks said on late Thursday.

"Everything is ready on our side and the plane could take off tomorrow," Icelandic businessman Olafur Sigurvinsson, head of WikiLeaks partner firm DataCell, told Channel2 television.

"We have really done all we can do. We have a plane and all the logistics in place. Now we are only awaiting a response from the (Icelandic) government," added the boss of Datacell, which handles donations to WikiLeaks.

The private jet belongs to a Chinese firm and has been chartered at a cost of more than $240,000 thanks to individual contributions received by Datacell, he said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/WikiLeaks-plane-ready-to-bring-Snowden-to-Iceland/articleshow/20693314.cms

Ambassador: Snowden can only be granted asylum if in Iceland

The Icelandic ambassador to China has said that US whistleblower Edward Snowden can only be granted asylum by Iceland if he is in the country.

Kristin Arnadottir explained in an emailed statement to the South China Morning Post that Icelandic law states that a person can only submit an application for asylum if he or she is in the country. She added that the Iceland Ministry of the Interior deals with issues such as these and handles all asylum applications.

http://www.icenews.is/2013/06/19/ambassador-snowden-can-only-be-granted-asylum-if-in-iceland/

[Cali_Democrat]

1. "The private jet belongs to a Chinese firm"

Interesting.

Very interesting indeed.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. That could put Iceland in an awkward position.

They are a US ally, and there is an extradition treaty. They could refuse to extradite him, of course, but they are very small and we are very large. Sometimes it's hard to stand up to the big dog on the block. We shall see.

[FarCenter]

3. Every government, including Hong Kong, is going to stall

The most likely outcome is that he remains sort of free, but incommunicado, somewhere outside the US. The Abdul Qadeer Khan solution.