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Edward Snowden being allowed to enter Russia, state news agency says

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The American applied last week for temporary asylum.

National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden was given a document on today that allows him to leave the transit zone of a Moscow airport and enter Russia, a state news agency said.

The American applied last week for temporary asylum in Russia after his attempts to leave the airport and fly out of Russia were thwarted. The United States wants him sent home to face prosecution for espionage.

Snowden, who revealed details of the NSA’s wide-ranging spying activities targeting data and phone communication, is believed to have been staying since June 23 in the transit zone of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, when he arrived on a flight from Hong Kong.

Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency quoted an unidentified security official as saying Snowden was given the document today, allowing him to formally enter Russia.

Anatoly Kucherena, a Russian lawyer advising Snowden, arrived at the airport to meet the NSA leaker, but refused to comment before the meeting.

However, he told  Russia’s Rossiya-24 television that he has brought several books for Snowden to read, including one by  Anton Chekhov and Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel “Crime and Punishment.”

President Vladimir Putin has said that Snowden can be granted asylum in Russia only if he stops leaking NSA secrets.

A spokeswoman for Russia’s Federal Migration Service told The Associated Press today that it had no information about the status of Snowden’s application for asylum.

Snowden’s father, Lonnie, lives in Upper Macungie Township.



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