"Ecuador cools on Edward Snowden asylum as Assange frustration grows"

[applegrove]

Ecuador cools on Edward Snowden asylum as Assange frustration grows

by Rory Carroll and Amanda Holpuch at the Guardian News

http://m.guardiannews.com/world/2013/jun/28/edward-snowden-ecuador-julian-assange

"SNIP................................


Amid signs Quito was cooling with Snowden and irritated with Assange, Correa declared invalid a temporary travel document which could have helped extract Snowden from his reported location in Moscow.

Correa declared that the safe conduct pass issued by Ecuador's London consul – in collaboration with Assange – was unauthorised, after other Ecuadorean diplomats privately said the WikiLeaks founder could be perceived as "running the show".

According to the correspondence, which was obtained by the Spanish-language broadcaster Univision and shared with the Wall Street Journal, divisions over Assange have roiled Ecuador's government.

Ecuador's ambassador to the US, Nathalie Cely, told presidential spokesman Fernando Alvarado that Quito's role in the drama was being overshadowed by the WikiLeaks founder, who has sheltered in Ecuador's London embassy for the past year to avoid extradition.

..............................SNIP"

[SidDithers]

1. DU rec...nt

Sid

[railsback]

2. And Correa had nothing but praise for Joe Biden after their half hour 'chat'.

[Cha]

4. that's right.. Good ol VP Biden.. :)

[Cha]

3. I bet Assange is hoping they're not cooling on his ass.

[Thinkingabout]

5. Right now the US is in a good position, Snowden has his passport pulled, he is where ever, not where

he thought he would be, and I think the US should just leave him alone. No extradition, no free transportation back to the US, no trial, and the US is not responsible for the cost of a sentence. The FBI knows every key stroke he made while at the NSA and I don't think they feel as he has enough information to harm our country so what does he have as a bargaining chip to play on now. It's over Snowden, you are washed up. If you return to the US you will be placed on trial for espionage. Also in order to extradite him from China all charges needed to be presented, now that we are extraditing from China, this rule is out the door. Looks like the cause is not backing him anymore so have fun where ever you are.

[JI7]

6. it would be funny if this whole thing results in Assange being kicked out of there also

[longship]

7. What do we know now?

Correa has said that the document delivered to Snowden in HK was not vetted through the Ecuadorean government. Correa also expressed his displeasure about this. Understandable.

But from what as been reported the document was apparently signed by the Ecuadorean counsel in London, one of the people under whose care Assange resides within their embassy.

My interpretation is that Assange must be careful here, lest he piss off his hosts for the last year. Whether he's burned the counsel is yet to be seen, but Correa indicated earlier that there may be consequences. (Not his words.)

But Assange, or his Wikileaks organization, has obviously been in contact with Snowden for some time and may have orchestrated a flight from Hong Kong to Moscow and from there to Quito via Havanna. Regrettably, for those concerned, this did not work out. Snowden missed the Havanna leg -- undoubtedly to the anger of the journalists who booked that flight.

That places Snowden apparently still in the
Sheremetyevo transit zone.

This morning on ABC, whether you like him or not, Assange said two things which may shed some light, albeit oblique illumination.

First, is this about contact with Snowden.

Our legal people have been in contact with Mr. Snowden. I can't say anything about the present situation.

Fairly non-committal. No biggie. We have reportage of their connections and this is not surprising that Assange would claim it was ongoing.

Then he said this:

Mr. Snowden's father as a parent, of course he is worried in this situation, every father would be worried in this situation. We have established contact with Mr. Snowden's father's lawyer to put some of his concerns to rest.

Well, that's a conversation that is subject to verification. And although I am unsure about Assange, I do not think he's dumb enough to make a statement like that which can so easily verified if it wasn't true.

I am beginning to think that Assange may be an honest broker in this affair. Or he may see himself as such, albeit a self-serving one.

But here's the catch. He has been living at the bequest of the Ecuadorean government for over a year. He is as much a prisoner in that embassy as Snowden is within Sheremetyevo airport.

I do not know what is going on, not does anybody else here. But I think Assange may be an honest broker who maybe fucked things up by his naïveté of world politics.

Meanwhile, Snowden's in Sheremetyevo Limbo, or Hell, if you wish. (No, the Russians do not have him in a Gulag!)

I suspect that because Assange could only assure Snowden's family if he had the ability to communicate with him. And as soon as that communication was severed, Assange would know.

That invites other questions, but the answers would be speculations and I've done enough of that here.