Bolivia, Venezuela and Nicaragua have offered asylum to Edward Snowden, the US whistleblower who is believed to have spent the past two weeks at a Moscow airport evading US attempts to extradite him. 
 
 The Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, and his Nicaraguan counterpart, Daniel Ortega, made the asylum offers on Friday, shortly after they and other Latin American leaders met to denounce the diversion of a plane carrying the Bolivian president, Evo Morales, due to suspicions that Snowden might have been on board. 
 
 Shortly after, Morales also said Bolivia would grant asylum to Snowden, if asked. On Saturday, Venezuela's offer was given a warm reception by an influential member of the Russian parliament. 
 
 In a tweet, Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the Duma foreign affairs committee, said: "Asylum for Snowden in Venezuela would be the best solution." 
 
 The invitations from South America came as Snowden sent out new requests for asylum to six countries, in addition to the 20 he has already contacted, according to WikiLeaks, which claims to be in regular contact with the former National Security Agency contractor. 
 
 Most of the countries have refused or given technical reasons why an application is not valid, but several Latin American leaders have rallied together with expressions of solidarity and welcome. 
 
 "As head of state of the Bolivarian republic of Venezuela, I have decided to offer humanitarian asylum to the young Snowden … to protect this young man from persecution by the empire," said Maduro who, along with his predecessor Hugo Chávez, often refers to the US as "the empire". 
 
 The previous day, Maduro told the Telesur TV channel that Venezuela had received an extradition request from the US, which he had already rejected. 
 
 A copy of the request, seen by the Guardian, notes that Snowden "unlawfully released classified information and documents to international media outlets" and names the Guardian and the Washington Post. Dated 3 July and sent in English and Spanish, it says: "The United States seeks Snowden's provisional arrest should Snowden seek to travel to or transit through Venezuela. Snowden is a flight risk because of the substantial charges he is facing and his current and active attempts to remain a fugitive." 
 
 It adds that he is charged with unauthorised disclosure of national defence information, unauthorised disclosure of classified communication intelligence and theft of government property. Each of these three charges carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. 
 
 Describing Snowden as "a fugitive who is currently in Russia", it urges Venezuela to keep him in custody if arrested and to seize all items in his possession for later delivery to the US. It provides a photograph and two alternative passport numbers – one revoked, and one reported lost or stolen. 
 
 Maduro said he did not accept the grounds for the charges. 
 
 "He has told the truth, in the spirit of rebellion, about the US spying on the whole world," Maduro said in his latest speech. "Who is the guilty one? A young man … who denounces war plans, or the US government which launches bombs and arms the terrorist Syrian opposition against the people and legitimate president, Bashar al-Assad?" 
 
 The Bolivian government, which has said it would listen sympathetically to an aslyum request from Snowden, said it too had turned down a pre-emptive US extradition request. 
 
 Ortega said Nicaragua had received an asylum request from Snowden and the president gave a guarded acceptance. 
 
 "We are an open country, respectful of the right of asylum, and it's clear that if circumstances permit, we would gladly receive Snowden and give him asylum in Nicaragua," Ortega told a gathering in Managua. 
 
 So far, the countries that have been most vocal in offering support are close allies of Venezuela. Ecuador has also expressed support for Snowden, though the government there has yet to decide whether it would grant aslyum. It is already providing refuge for the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been in the Ecuadorean embassy in London for about a year. 
 
 Many in Latin America were furious when the Bolivian president's flight from Russia was denied airspace by European countries, forcing it to land in Vienna, where Morales had to spend more than half a day waiting to get clearance to continue his journey. 
 
 Morales said the Spanish ambassador to Austria arrived at the airport with two embassy personnel and asked to search the plane. He said he refused. 
 
 The Spanish foreign minister, José Manuel García-Margallo, acknowledged on Friday that the decision to block Morales plane was based on a tip that Snowden was on board. 
 
 "They told us that the information was clear, that he was inside," he told Spanish TV, without clarifying who the tip was from. 
 
 It is assumed the US was behind the diversion, though US officials have said only that they were in contact with the countries on the plane's route. 
 
 France has apologised to Bolivia. 
 
 Morales said when he finally arrived in La Paz: "It is an open provocation to the continent, not only to the president; they use the agent of North American imperialism to scare us and intimidate us." 
 
 At a hastily called meeting of the Unasur regional bloc, many governments condemned the action against Morales plane. 
 
 "We are not colonies any more," Uruguay's president, José Mujica, said. "We deserve respect, and when one of our governments is insulted we feel the insult throughout Latin America." 
 
 The Argentinean president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, was also present, along with a senior representative of President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil. 
 
 Regional support may make it easier for the country offering asylum to resist US pressure for extradition. But whether Snowden can make it to South America remains uncertain, as are his current circumstances. He has not been seen or heard in public since he flew to Russia from Hong Kong. WikiLeaks says it is in touch with him and that he has widened his search for aslyum by adding six new countries. 
 
 In a tweet, the group said it would not reveal the names of the nations "due to attempted US interference". ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The presidents of Venezuela and Nicaragua explain their offers 
 
 The presidents of Nicaragua, Venezuela and Bolivia have indicated their countries could offer political asylum to US fugitive Edward Snowden. 
 
 Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro said it would give asylum to the intelligence leaker, who is believed to be holed up in a transit area of Moscow airport. 
 
 Meanwhile Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said his country would do so "if circumstances permit". 
 
 Bolivia's Evo Morales said Mr Snowden could get asylum there if he sought it. 
 
 Mr Snowden has sent requests for political asylum to at least 21 countries, most of which have turned down his request. Earlier, Wikileaks said he had applied to six additional countries on Friday. 
 
 The whistleblowing website said it would not name the countries "due to attempted US interference". 
 
 But even if a country accepted the American's application, getting there could prove difficult, the BBC's Steven Rosenberg, in Moscow, reports. 
 
 European airspace could be closed to any aircraft suspected of carrying the fugitive, our correspondent says. 
 
 Earlier this week, several European countries reportedly refused to allow the Bolivian president's jet to cross their airspace on its way back from Moscow - apparently because of suspicions that Edward Snowden was on board. 
 
 Mr Morales described Mr Snowden's actions as "a fair way of protesting" and described him as "persecuted by his fellow countrymen". 
 
 "We are not scared [of reprisals]," he added. 
 
 Speculation 
 
 President Maduro made his announcement in a speech on Venezuela's Independence Day. 
 
 "As head of state and government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela I have decided to offer humanitarian asylum to the young US citizen Edward Snowden so he can come to the fatherland of Bolivar and Chavez to live away from the imperial North American persecution," President Maduro said. 
 
 The US wants to prosecute Mr Snowden over the leaking of thousands of classified intelligence documents. 
 
 Earlier Mr Ortega said Nicaragua had received an application at its embassy in Moscow. 
 
 "We are open, respectful of the right to asylum, and it is clear that if circumstances permit it, we would receive Snowden with pleasure and give him asylum here in Nicaragua," AFP news agency quoted the Nicaraguan president as saying. 
 
 Image caption President Ortega said the asylum application was received in Moscow 
 
 Daniel Ortega was a fierce opponent of the US during his first period as Nicaragua's president in the 1980s, after the left-wing Sandinista movement came to power. 
 
 Bolivia, which had also suggested it could offer Mr Snowden asylum, saw its presidential plane barred from European airspace on Tuesday. 
 
 There was speculation the 30-year-old was on the plane carrying President Evo Morales back from Russia to La Paz earlier this week. 
 
 "Edward Snowden has applied to another six countries for asylum," tweeted Wikileaks, which has been helping the former CIA contractor. 
 
 "They will not be named at this time due to attempted US interference." 
 
 The US has been blamed for being behind the decision by France, Portugal, Italy and Spain to close its airspace to Bolivia's president, whose plane was grounded in Austria for 13 hours as a result. 
 
 Earlier on Friday, Spain's Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo admitted he and other European officials had been told that Mr Snowden was on board - but refused to say who gave out the information. 
 
 He denied Spain had closed its airspace to the presidential plane, explaining that the delay in Austria meant the flight permit had expired and needed to be renewed. 
 
 His comment is the first official recognition by the European states that the incident with Mr Morales' plane was connected with the Snowden affair. 
 
 It has been widely condemned by President Morales and several other South American nations, who were critical of the US. 
 
 Mr Snowden arrived in the Moscow airport from Hong Kong last month. 
 
 He revealed himself to be responsible for the leaking of classified US intelligence documents that revealed a vast surveillance programme of phone and web data. 
 
 The documents have also led to allegations that both the UK and French intelligence agencies run similarly vast data collection operations, and the US has been eavesdropping on official EU communications. ||||| NSA leaker Edward Snowden's attempts to seek refuge outside the United States hit hurdles Tuesday, after Russian media reported he canceled his asylum bid in Russia and several European countries said such applications wouldn't be considered if they were made from abroad. 
 
 FILE - This June 23, 2013 file photo shows a TV screen shows a news report of Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee who leaked top-secret documents about sweeping U.S. surveillance programs, at a shopping... (Associated Press) 
 
 This screenshot made of the Wikileaks website shows a letter identified as being from NSA leaker Edward Snowden on Monday, July 1, 2013. The letter could not be independently authenticated as being from... (Associated Press) 
 
 Russian news agencies Tuesday quoted President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that Snowden withdrew his request when he learnt about the terms Moscow has set out. Putin said on Monday that Russia is ready to shelter Snowden as long as he stops leaking U.S. secrets. 
 
 At the same time, Putin said he had no plans to turn over Snowden to the United States. 
 
 Meanwhile several of the other countries where the WikiLeaks says Snowden has applied for asylum have said he cannot apply from abroad. Officials in Germany, Norway, Austria, Poland, Finland and Switzerland all said he must make his request on their soil. 
 
 WikiLeaks said requests have also been made to Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Ecuador, France, Iceland, India, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Spain and Venezuela. 
 
 The asylum requests reported by WikiLeaks and the Snowden statement could not be independently authenticated. 
 
 WikiLeaks also posted a statement attributed to Snowden on its website late Monday, in which he slams President Barack Obama for "using citizenship as a weapon." 
 
 "Although I am convicted of nothing, (the United States) has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person," Snowden says in the statement. "Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum. 
 
 "Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me." 
 
 Snowden, who has been on the run since releasing sensitive NSA documents, is believed to have been in Moscow airport's transit zone since his arrival from Hong Kong on June 23. 
 
 WikiLeaks legal adviser Sarah Harrison delivered the requests for asylum to an official at the Russian consulate at the Moscow airport on Sunday, according to the group that has adopted Snowden and his cause. 
 
 The U.S. has annulled Snowden's passport, and Ecuador, where he had initially hoped to get asylum, has been giving mixed signals about offering him shelter. 
 
 The expanded requests for asylum come as the Obama administration contends with European allies angry about the release of documents that alleged U.S. eavesdropping on European Union diplomats. 
 
 Obama said Monday that the U.S. would provide allies with information about new reports that the NSA had bugged EU offices in Washington, New York and Brussels. But he also suggested such activity by governments would hardly be unusual. ||||| Russia's Foreign Ministry building, back, looms over one of the Kremlin's towers in central Moscow. (Photo: Alexander Nemenov, AFP/Getty) Story Highlights National Security Agency leaker Snowden has been in Russia since Sunday 
 
 He could be seeking political asylum in Ecuador 
 
 U.S. wants Russia to extradite him 
 
 MOSCOW — NSA leaker Edward Snowden remained in hiding Wednesday though a hint of his escape plans emerged when the Ecuadorean Embassy asked the United States why it should not grant him political asylum. 
 
 Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport was full of media looking for Snowden, the subject of an extradition request by the United States on a charge of espionage. 
 
 Russian President Vladimir Putin said Snowden has been in the airport since his arrival from Hong Kong on Sunday. He said Snowden is in a transit area of the airport that is not technically Russian soil, so Russia cannot honor the U.S. extradition request. 
 
 The government of Ecuador said Wednesday it is considering granting asylum to Snowden and has asked the United States to submit any objections in writing. 
 
 Snowden's request will be "reviewed responsibly," said Efrain Baus, the deputy chief of mission at Ecuador's Embassy in Washington. "The government of Ecuador has requested that the U.S. submit its position regarding this applicant in writing so that it can be taken into consideration as part of our thorough review process." 
 
 Edward Snowden: Extradition depends on politics 
 
 Before leaving Hong Kong, Snowden was given "a refugee document of passage" by Ecuadorean diplomats, according to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is coordinating assistance for Snowden from the Ecuadorean Embassy in London. Assange himself is hiding in the embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden for questioning on rape accusations against him. 
 
 In a statement posted to the embassy website, Baus said Ecuador receives many asylum requests each year and the legal basis for each request "must be rigorously established" in accordance with the Ecuadorean constitution, the international legal framework and human rights. 
 
 RIA Novosti, a Russian news agency, reported that Snowden had booked two tickets for flights from Moscow to Havana on June 24 and 25 but did not board either flight. If he has not been able to extend his transit visa — assuming he has one and that it is valid for three days — it may be about to expire. 
 
 It is not clear what his legal travel status would be if his three-day transit visa granted by Russia expired. The United States has revoked his passport and wants Russia to honor an extradition request. 
 
 Former ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said Putin's claim that Snowden did not technically cross into Russia is preposterous. Bolton, who served under President George W. Bush, said Snowden entered Russia as soon as his plane crossed Russian airspace. 
 
 "Russia could've pulled him off the plane when he arrived," Bolton told Fox News. 
 
 He said the only reason Russia is allowing him to remain is so it can gain full access to the computer records Snowden says he stole from his former contractor job for the National Security Agency, records he says detail secret NSA surveillance programs and their targets. Snowden claims he stole the records because the programs are illegal and improper. 
 
 The White House says the programs scoured phone calls and websites searching for patterns that would lead to communication among terrorists. It says that the programs are legal and overseen by the courts and Congress and that they have successfully disrupted terrorist plots. 
 
 "Cancelling Snowden's passport and bullying intermediary countries may keep Snowden permanently in Russia. Not the brightest bunch at State," WikiLeaks said on its Twitter feed late Tuesday. 
 
 Contributing: Kim Hjelmgaard in London. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/12jp1bi ||||| Ecuador is not considering Edward Snowden's asylum request and never intended to facilitate his flight from Hong Kong, president Rafael Correa said, as the whistleblower made a personal plea to Quito for his case to be heard. 
 
 Snowden was Russia's responsibility and would have to reach Ecuadorean territory before the country would consider any asylum request, the president said in an interview with the Guardian on Monday. 
 
 "Are we responsible for getting him to Ecuador? It's not logical. The country that has to give him a safe conduct document is Russia." 
 
 The president, speaking at the presidential palace in Quito, said his government did not intentionally help Snowden travel from Hong Kong to Moscow with a temporary travel pass. The Ecuadorean consul in London acted without authority from Quito, he said. 
 
 Asked if he thought the former NSA contractor would ever make it to 
 
 Quito, he replied: "Mr Snowden's situation is very complicated, but in 
 
 this moment he is in Russian territory and these are decisions for the 
 
 Russian authorities." 
 
 On whether Correa would like to meet him, the president said: "Not 
 
 particularly. It's a complicated situation. Strictly speaking, Mr 
 
 Snowden spied for some time." 
 
 The comments contrasted with expressions of gratitude the 30-year-old fugitive issued hours later, before Correa's views had been published. 
 
 "I must express my deep respect for your principles and sincere thanks for your government's action in considering my request for political asylum," Snowden said, according to a letter written in Spanish and obtained by the Press Association news agency, based in London. 
 
 "There are few world leaders who would risk standing for the human rights of an individual against the most powerful government on earth, and the bravery of Ecuador and its people is an example to the world." 
 
 Snowden compared the silence of governments afraid of US retaliation with Ecuador's help in his flight to Moscow on 22 June. A temporary Ecuadorean travel document substituted for his cancelled US passport. 
 
 "The decisive action of your consul in London, Fidel Narvaez, guaranteed my rights would be protected upon departing Hong Kong – I could never have risked travel without that. Now, as a result, and through the continued support of your government, I remain free and able to publish information that serves the public interest." 
 
 The letter will boost Ecuador's reputation with Snowden's supporters but sat awkwardly with the president's attempt to distance Quito from the saga. Correa said Quito respected the right of asylum and appreciated Snowden exposing the extent of US spying, but would not consider an asylum request unless he made it to an Ecuadorean embassy or the country itself – a remote possibility while he remains reportedly marooned in Sheremetyevo airport's transit lounge. "He must be on Ecuadorean territory," the president said. 
 
 Earlier on Monday, Moscow confirmed that Snowden had applied for asylum in Russia. The Los Angeles Times said he had made similar applications to a total of 15 countries. In another statement, issued through by the campaigning website Wikileaks, Snowden attacked President Obama for putting pressure behind the scenes on countries to which he had petitioned for asylum. 
 
 In his Guardian interview, Correa said his government had not, and would not, give Snowden an authorised travel document to extract himself from Moscow airport. "The right of asylum request is one thing but helping someone travel from one country to another — Ecuador has never done this. " 
 
 He said the temporary travel document issued by his London consul on 22 June – and publicly disowned five days later – was issued without official authorisation. "There is a mistake … Look, this crisis hit us in a very vulnerable moment. Our foreign minister was on a 15-day tour. He was in Vietnam. Our deputy foreign minister was in the Czech Republic. Our US ambassador was in Italy." 
 
 Narvaez and the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has sheltered at Ecuador's London embassy for the past year to escape extradition, took matters into their own hands because they feared Snowden risked capture, Correa said. 
 
 "The consul, in his desperation, probably he couldn't reach the foreign minister … and he issued a safe conduct document without validity, without authorisation, without us even knowing." 
 
 Correa said the consul was a "cultured" man who cited the example of Ecuadorean diplomats in Czechoslovakia giving Jews visas in defiance of their foreign ministry during the second world war. 
 
 "Look, he [Assange] is in the embassy, he's a friend of the consul, and he calls him at four in the morning to say they are going to capture Snowden. The [consul] is desperate – 'how are we going to save the life of this man?' – and does it. 
 
 "So I told him: OK, if you think you did the right thing, I respect your decision, but you could not give, without authorisation, that safe conduct pass. It was completely invalid, and he will have to accept the consequences." 
 
 Narvaez would be "sanctioned", the president said, without elaborating. 
 
 Some Ecuadorean diplomats have complained that Assange appeared to usurp Quito but the president said there was no rupture. "Mr Assange continues to enjoy our total respect and is under the protection of the Ecuadorean state." 
 
 Correa, a standard bearer for the left in Latin America, has joined European and other Latin Americans leaders in denouncing US espionage. 
 
 However, he softened his tone over the weekend and praised the US vice-president, Joe Biden, for a gracious phone call, saying he would consider Washington's request to refuse any asylum claim from Snowden while retaining Ecuador's sovereignty. 
 
 • The headline on this article was changed on 3 July 2013 to give a more accurate reflection of the substance of the interview with President Correa. After a review of the original Spanish transcript on 4 July 2013, a quote in which president Correa described the "mistake" surrounding the issuing of Snowden's travel document in Hong Kong was translated more precisely and a reference to Snowden as a complicated person was changed to refer to his circumstances.
– Can Edward Snowden afford to be choosy? Authorities in Russia say the NSA leaker has reportedly canceled a request for asylum after balking at the conditions imposed by Vladimir Putin, including no longer leaking information damaging to the US, the AP reports. Snowden has applied for asylum in no fewer than 21 countries, according to WikiLeaks, but the rejections are starting to pile up: Germany, Norway, Austria, Poland, Finland, and Switzerland all say he needs to be on their soil to request asylum. And India this morning "concluded that we see no reason to accede to that request." Norway has confirmed that its Moscow embassy has received a fax that is "probably from him," while Poland's foreign minister says he has received an asylum request from Snowden that he will not recommend granting, the BBC reports. Requests have also been made to Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Ecuador, France, Iceland, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Spain, and Venezuela, WikiLeaks says. Ecuador's president now says helping Snowden leave Hong Kong was "a mistake," the Guardian reports, but Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro—who is currently visiting Moscow—says his country has yet to receive an asylum request from Snowden, but the leaker has "done something very important for humanity" and "deserved the world's protection."