Whistleblower Snowden Leaves Hong Kong

The whistleblower Edward Snowden, who leaked details about snooping carried out by the US government, has left Hong Kong for Russia.

His departure was revealed on the website of the Hong Kong newspaper the South China Morning Post, which said that Russia was not thought to be his intended final destination.

The 30-year-old fugitive's departure has now been confirmed by the Hong Kong government.

It was thought that the eventual destination could end up being Ecuador or Iceland, but Russia's Itar-Tass news agency says he may be heading to Cuba and then on to Venezuela.

Itar-Tass said there is a flight ticket in his name from Moscow to Cuba and that he will then fly on to Caracas.

A source told Itar-Tass: "A Passenger with this name will fly today to Moscow on flight SU213 from Hong Kong, and tomorrow, June 24, he will fly to Havana on flight SU150,"

"Tomorrow, he will go by local flight from Havana to Caracas."

Russia's police have no plans to arrest him when he arrives at Moscow's Sheremtyevo Airport, Interfax quoted officials as saying, unless he does not have an appropriate visa.

The Morning Post said Snowden's flight left Hong Kong around 11am local time (4am UK time) and he was due to arrive in Moscow around 5.15pm local time (1pm UK time). The flight is believed to be currently in the air.

The twitter feed of the WikiLeaks whistleblowers' website said Snowden is currently over Russian airspace and is being accompanied by its legal advisers.

A source working for Aeroflot was quoted by Russian media as saying Snowden was flying together with Sarah Harrison -- a WikiLeaks employee.

Snowden's route since leaving Hawaii and his possible next destinations

There is speculation he may be eventually heading for Ecuador as he is being helped by WikiLeaks, whose founder Julian Assange has also been granted asylum in the South American country.

Assange is currently in the Ecuador embassy in London as he is unable to leave without being arrested as he is wanted for questioning in Sweden over alleged sexual offences.

Snowden left Hong Kong after The White House asked the autonomous Chinese territory to extradite him. He had earlier been charged in the US with espionage.

WikiLeaks, which has published previous revelations about activities by America's security services, said it had helped Snowden secure political asylum in a "democratic country".

A twitter post said: "WikiLeaks has assisted Mr Snowden's political asylum in a democratic country, travel papers and safe exit from Hong Kong."

The Hong Kong government has said that although the US had sought his extradition, the request did not fully comply with requirements. It said that as a result, he was free to leave.

Snowden was revealed earlier this month to have been the man who leaked to the Guardian and Washington Post newspapers information about monitoring by America's National Security Agency.

Snowden told the Guardian the National Security Agency has been keeping details of millions of phone calls by Americans and monitoring the use by foreigners of internet sites including Google, Facebook and Yahoo.

Russian analyst Andrei Piontkovsky said Snowden's travelling via Russia was a coup for Vladimir Putin.

He said: "Having Mr Snowden on Russian soil and helping him will be a great pleasure for Putin . . . a chance to humiliate America."

The South China Morning Post reported that Snowden's departure was a relief to the Hong Kong government, which had been making all legal preparation to deal with new developments regarding the case.

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