As of Monday, NSA leaker Edward Snowden was still on the lam. He has managed to evade U.S. officials, who are reportedly furious with China for letting him escape to Moscow after the FBI thought they had him bottled up in Hong Kong. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.
By Ed Flanagan and Alastair Jamieson, NBC News
HONG KONG -- Russia angrily denied it was involved in Edward Snowden's attempts to evade U.S prosecutors Tuesday, saying the fugitive had not crossed its borders as Washington became mired in a diplomatic spat with Moscow and Beijing.
The former defense contractor, who fled Hong Kong on Sunday, is believed to be in transit in Moscow awaiting approval for his safe passage to Ecuador - the latest move in a global manhunt that has humiliated U.S. authorities.
Russia rejected pressure from Secretary of State John Kerry, who on Monday called on it to ?do the right thing? and prevent Snowden from leaving Moscow.
"He has not crossed the Russian border," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a joint news conference with Algeria's foreign minister. We consider the attempts to put blame on the Russian side ... absolutely groundless and unacceptable."
China also expressed anger at Washington?s accusation that it had not acted on an extradition request.
"The U.S. side has no reason to call into question the Hong Kong government's handling of affairs according to law," China foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular briefing, according to Reuters. "The United States' criticism of China's central government is baseless. China absolutely cannot accept it."
However, a local lawyer involved in Snowden?s stay in Hong Kong appeared to back up U.S. concerns, suggesting in an interview that officials allowed the leaker to escape to Moscow.
Albert Ho said that he met Hong Kong officials last week on Snowden?s behalf to discuss the fugitive?s options.
He said Beijing, faced with a U.S. extradition request that also revoked Snowden's passport, wanted to "resolve the matter pragmatically."
Ho said Snowden departed Hong Kong normally and "smoothly", using his U.S. passport.
"The matter was handled in such as way that Snowden was either advised to leave or he was allowed to leave," Ho said. "That was the middle course, I would say, seeking to avoid direct confrontation between the American government and the Chinese government."
On Monday,?White House spokesman Jay Carney said the Beijing government must have been involved in the decision to allow Snowden to depart.
"We are just not buying that this was a technical decision by a Hong Kong immigration official," Carney told reporters.?
"This was a deliberate choice by the government to release a fugitive despite a valid arrest warrant, and that decision unquestionably has a negative impact on the U.S.-China relationship."
Ecuador, which is already harboring WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at its London embassy, said Monday it was reviewing Snowden's asylum request and would make a decision based on human rights considerations, its foreign minister Ricardo Patino told reporters while on a trip to Vietnam.
Patino said Ecuador was in "respectful" contact with Russia over the issue, adding that the U.S. surveillance programs exposed by Snowden were a rights abuse against the rest of the world.
Only Russia could say where Snowden was currently, Patino added.
Underlining the probability that Snowden would head to Ecuador, Assange told reporters on a conference call Monday that he had been in touch with the American, who he said was healthy and safe.
Aeroflot officials told reports in Moscow that Snowden had "registered" for Monday's flight to the Cuban capital, Havana, but the flight later departed with no sign of the American on board.?
An Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Havana departed at about 2pm local time on Tuesday afternoon. No one had bought a ticket under Snowden?s name for the flight, employees of the airline said earlier.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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This story was originally published on Tue Jun 25, 2013 7:28 AM EDT
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