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Old 30-06-13, 19:57   #12
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Default re: PhOtOs-Snowden Granted Asylum/Offered Job in Russia+NSA Updates

Trapped in transit: Surreal 21 hour adventure of reporter who deliberately got sequestered at Moscow airport in the hope of finding Edward Snowden

  • Associated Press journalist Ian Phillips spent almost at entire day in transit at Moscow Airport in the hope of meeting NSA leaker Snowden
By Daily Mail UK & AP, 29 June 2013



Phillips writes that if Edward Snowden is staying at the Novotel in the transit zone of a Moscow airport, he may already have a taste of what it's like to be in prison


With NSA leaker Edward Snowden believed to have spent the past week holed up in the wing of a Russian airport hotel reserved for travelers in transit, a journalist choose to get himself deliberately sequestered in the hope of finding the elusive fugitive.

Ian Phillips has described his experience as a ‘surreal 21 hour adventure’ which could have come straight from the pen of George Orwell.

Phillips, Eastern Europe News Director for the Associated Press, flew from his home in Prague to Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport with the goal of getting to the bottom of the mystery of fugitive NSA leaker Edward Snowden.
The main Novotel building is located outside the airport and has a plush lobby with a fountain, a trendy bar and luxury shops.

One wing, however, lies within the airport's transit zone and acts as a kind of international limbo that is not officially Russian territory - this is where Snowden is believed to be holed up.

Snowden is believed to be waiting here to hear whether Ecuador, Iceland or another country might grant him asylum. He fled Hong Kong last weekend after being charged with violating American espionage laws.

According to Phillips, the experience of staying at the Novotel for 21 hours has left him feeling that if the NSA leaker is indeed in the transit zone of the airport, he may already have a taste of what it's like to be in prison.



Welcome to Moscow: This photo shows a view of the lobby of the Novotel Hotel in Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport



Ian Phillips, Eastern Europe News Director of the Associated Press, stands in a corridor of the Novotel Hotel in Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, Russia


Here Phillips writes about his surreal experience:

The woman at the transit desk raises an eyebrow and stares at my flight itinerary, which includes a 21-hour layover in Moscow before a connection to Ukraine.

‘Why would ANYONE stay here in transit for so long? There are so many earlier connections you could have taken. This is strange behavior.’

After a nearly two-hour wait inside the terminal, a bus picks me up - only me - from the transit area.

We drive slowly across the tarmac, through a barrier, past electronic gates covered in barbed wire and security cameras.

The main part of the Novotel is out of bounds. My allotted wing feels like a lockup: You are obliged to stay in your room, except for brief walks along the corridor. Three cameras track your movements along the hallway and beam the images back to a multi-screen monitor.

It's comforting to see a sign instructing me that, in case of an emergency, the locks on heavily fortified doors leading to the elevators will open.

When I try to leave my room, the guard outside springs to his feet. I ask him why room service isn't responding and if there's any other way to get food. He growls: ‘Extension 70!’ I rile him by asking about the Wi-Fi, which isn't working: ‘Extension 75!’ he snarls.



Grim surroundings: This photo shows a view of a corridor inside the Novotel Hotel where people in transit must stay until their flight is ready to leave

‘Don't worry, Mr. Phillips,’ the transit desk employee had said. ‘We have all your details and information. We will come and get you from your room at 6 p.m. on Friday, one hour before your connecting flight.’

Now it's midnight, and I'm getting edgy. I feel trapped inside my airless room, whose double windows are tightly sealed. And the room is extortionate: It costs $300 a night, with a surcharge of 50 percent slapped on because I will be staying past noon.

(‘Can't I just wait in the lobby after midday?’ I asked the receptionist at check-in. ‘Of course not,’ she retorted. ‘You have no visa. You will stay until you are picked up.’)

I look out the window. If Snowden is here and has the same view, he can see the approach to the departures terminal at the airport. A large billboard shows a red 4x4 vehicle driving along an ocean road.

A parking lot below is filled with vehicles. A man in green overalls is watering a patch of parched grass. Vehicles whizz in and out of the airport.

A maid has just brought a tea bag. She puts a tick against the room number on the three-page document on her trolley. On it, there are no guest names, only numbers - and departure dates.



Journalist Ian Phillips described his experience in transit at Sheremetyevo airport as a 'surreal 21 hour adventure' which could have come straight from the pen of George Orwell

A quick look suggests there are perhaps a few dozen people staying here. A couple of rooms on my floor have tell-tale signs of occupancy - food trays lying outside from the night before.

But no sign of Snowden.

The guard allows me to stretch my legs in the corridor. The signs on the wall rub things in. Under a pretty picture of the Moscow skyline and Red Square, a message reads:

‘Should you wish to see the full range of facilities offered by our hotel during your next stay, we strongly recommend you to get a visa before flying to Moscow.’

A fleeting glimpse of a possible change of scene: a set of guidelines posted on the wall say I can go out for a smoke!

Rule No. 6:

‘It is possible to go and smoke one time per hour for 5 minutes in the beginning of each hour escorted by security service.’

I don't smoke, but this would be a way to escape this floor. But when I ask him to take me down, the security guard scoffs. ‘No!’ he says flatly.



Snowden is believed to be waiting here to hear whether Ecuador, Iceland or another country might grant him asylum


I call the front desk. ‘You need a visa to go outside and smoke, Mr. Phillips’ the receptionist says.

If he's here, Snowden has access to a few international TV stations. He also has a fair amount of options with room service - the only source of food in this wing.

But after almost a week, he might be getting bored. And he'd need a credit card or a lot of Russian cash. A selection:
  • Buffalo mozzarella and pesto dressing starter? 720 rubles (about $20).
  • Ribeye steak: 1,500 rubles (about $50).
  • Bottle of Brunello di Montalcino red wine: 5,280 rubles ($165).
  • A miniature bottle of Hennessy XO cognac: 2,420 rubles ($80).
I've called all the 37 rooms on my floor in hopes of reaching Snowden. No reply except for when I get my security guard.

The floor above? A similarly futile attempt.

I only reach a handful of tired and irritated Russians who growl ‘Da? Da? Da?’ – ‘Yes? Yes? Yes?’


A passenger walks outside Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow, where fugitive 'whistleblower' Edward Snowden is still believed to be staying in a transit Hotel near the airport


MORE:

'My son is NOT a traitor': Father of runaway spy Edward Snowden negotiating for son’s return to US as he complains of manipulation by Wikileaks

  • Edward Snowden's father Lonnie has not spoken to his son since April
  • Interview released the day after The Guardian was blocked on all Army computers
  • Lonnie sent a letter to the Justice Department telling them what conditions should be met if they want Edward to return to the U.S. on his own
  • Says he should be able to pick where his trial is held, they need to say he will not be detained prior to the trial and no gag order will be issued
  • President Obama already said he will not do any 'wheeling, dealing and trading' to get Snowden back from Russia
  • Snowden thought to be seeking asylum in Ecuador like WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange previously did

Edward Snowden's father has said that he thinks his son will return to the United States so long as the Attorney General agrees not to detain him before his inevitable trial.
A clip of an interview with Lonnie Snowden aired on The Today Show Friday morning, where the NSA leaker's father confirmed that he sent a list of demands to the Department of Justice that he feels will pave the way for his 30-year-old son to return from Russia.
The elder Snowden came up with the list with the help of his lawyer but with no consultation from Edward since the two have not spoken since April, two months before Snowden released classified intelligence documents.



Paternal support: Lonnie Snowden spoke with NBC and confirmed that he sent a letter to the Attorney General's office with a list of conditions he feels will allow Edward to return on his own accord

'At this point I don't believe he's committed treason,' Lonnie Snowden told NBC's Michael Isikoff.
'He has in fact broken U.S. law in the sense that he has released classified information and if folks want to classify him as a traitor- in fact he has betrayed his government but I don't believe he has betrayed the people of the United States.'

In his letter, Mr Snowden reportedly wrote that Edward was likely to come back to the United States on his own so long as the Justice Department agree not to subject him to a gag order, allow him to pick where his trial will take place, and make sure that he is not detained before said trial.

It seems unlikely that the federal government will meet the demands, as they have already filed a number of charges against Edward including several under the Espionage Act.


Obama will not be 'scrambling jets'




Defiant: Speaking on Thursday during his trip to Senegal, President Obama said the U.S will not be 'scrambling jets' to seize Edward Snowden, saying Russia should hand him over through proper legal channels


During a press conference on Thursday in Senegal, President Obama said that he won't engage in any 'wheeling, dealing and trading' to get Edward extradited from Russia to the United States.

'I'm not going to be scrambling jets to get to a 29-year-old hacker,' the president said of the whistleblower.

The younger Snowden, who turned 30 last week, fled to Hong Kong last month ahead of leaking details about an NSA surveillance program. He is now in the transit area of Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow.

The hacker's father has also cast some doubt on the intentions of WikiLeaks, the group who has come to the aide of Edward while he is in hiding.

'I love him. I would like to have the opportunity to communicate with him. I don't want to put him in peril, but I am concerned about those who surround him,' Lonnie Snowden told NBC.

'I think WikiLeaks, if you've looked at past history- their focus isn't necessarily the Constitution of the United States. It's simply to release as much information as possible and that alone is a concern for me.'

Snowden's future remains unclear, as Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that they have no plans to extradite him since there is no existing extradition treaty between the U.S. and Russia.

The former consultant is said to be seeking asylum in Ecuador but the process will take months to complete.

'It took us two months to make a decision in the case of Assange, so do not expect us to make a decision sooner this time,' Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino told reporters.
END


***It has been reported on Al Jazeera News that Russia has offered Edward Snowden; "Let us help you".

They may well work with Edcuador to transfer Snowden from that airport transit hotel to the
Ecuadorean Embassy in Moscow
.

.
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