Desmond Boylan / Reuters
Reporters surround a crew member of Aeroflot's Moscow-Havana flight Thursday after rumors Edward Snowden had been on board.
By Jim Maceda and Alastair Jamieson, NBC News
MOSCOW -- Fugitive Edward Snowden accused U.S. officials of ?threatening behavior? and waging ?an unlawful campaign? against his attempts to seek asylum on Friday.
The self-declared leaker of classified NSA documents made the comments in an open letter given to human rights groups in Moscow, where he is believed to be holed up in the transit zone of Sheremetyevo Airport.
Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who broke the NSA surveillance story, says Venezuela is likely Edward Snowden's choice for asylum, but Snowden will not have an easy time traveling without a passport and with the possibility of being caught by U.S. police or Interpol. NBC's Jim Maceda reports.
One of the groups, Amnesty International, confirmed it had received an invitation to meet Snowden privately later Friday.
Snowden, wanted by Washington on espionage charges, flew to Moscow from Hong Kong on June 23, and is not believed to have left the airport transit area despite offers of asylum from three countries.
?I have been extremely fortunate to enjoy and accept many offers of support and asylum from brave countries around the world,? Snowden wrote in the letter. ?These nations have my gratitude, and I hope to travel to each of them to extend my personal thanks to their people and leaders.
?By refusing to compromise their principles in the face of intimidation, they have earned the respect of the world. Unfortunately, in recent weeks we have witnessed an unlawful campaign by officials in the U.S. government to deny my right to seek and enjoy this asylum under Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Edward Snowden has been offered asylum in three countries, but he might have trouble getting there now that the U.S. has denied key airspace. The panel and the Guardian's Spencer Ackerman discuss the details with NOW host Alex Wagner.
?The scale of threatening behavior is without precedent: never before in history have states conspired to force to the ground a sovereign president's plane to effect a search for a political refugee," he added, referring to the grounding of Bolivian President Evo Morales' jet in Austria last week amid suspicions that the leaker was on board.
?This dangerous escalation represents a threat not just to the dignity of Latin America or my own personal security, but to the basic right shared by every living person to live free from persecution,? Snowden said.
Russia news agency Interfax reported that Human Rights Watch and Transparency International were also invited by Snowden to Friday?s meeting. It was not immediately clear how the groups would meet Snowden inside the transit zone.
Amnesty International last week called on the U.S. not to "persecute" Snowden by pressuring other countries into handing him over to authorities.
It's believed NSA leaker Edward Snowden is holed up inside this hotel at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport. NBC's Jim Maceda reports.
"Yes, I have received a brief email. It said that he would like to meet with a representative of a human rights organization - there was not much information there. I'm planning to go," Sergei Nikitin, the head of Amnesty International Russia, told Reuters.
Russia has already indicated it would like Snowden to accept one of the asylum offers and leave the airport as soon as possible. Experts say it is possible Snowden could refuse all the offers and formally enter Russia, creating a potential diplomatic headache for Putin who would have to choose whether to hand the leaker over to U.S. prosecutors.
A crowd of reporters in Cuba greeted an Aeroflot flight from Moscow Thursday after its flight path appeared to avoid U.S. airspace, prompting speculation Snowden was on board, en route to Venezuela.
However, airline officials confirmed Snowden had not been on the flight, according to the Voice of Russia.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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This story was originally published on Fri Jul 12, 2013 4:53 AM EDT
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