July 11, 2013 -- Updated 0941 GMT (1741 HKT)
Despite speculation that Snowden may flee to Venezuela, it's unclear
whether NSA leaker Edward Snowden has accepted anyone's offer of asylum.
FULL STORY
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FUTURE UP IN AIR
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INTERACTIVE: HIS OPTIONS
July 11, 2013 -- Updated 1048 GMT (1848 HKT)
Edward Snowden on the move?
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Washington analysis: Nicolas Maduro is pushing for political points in Venezuela
- WikiLeaks fuels speculation about Edward Snowden's next move
- It's unclear whether Snowden has accepted any offer of asylum
- The trick will be avoiding the airspace of the U.S. and its allies
But so far, WikiLeaks has not lived up to the Twitter promise to provide more details. And the questions are piling up.
Is the future of the U.S. intelligence leaker, grounded at Moscow's airport for more than two weeks, no longer up in the air?
Not so fast.
It's unclear whether Snowden has accepted anyone's offer of asylum. And if he has, how does he intend to get there?
Speculation centers on
Venezuela, which was the first to offer asylum. With both sides
expressing interest, it only appeared to be a matter of time before it
is confirmed.
Venezuela extended the
asylum offer to Snowden last week, and on Monday President Nicolas
Maduro received a formal asylum request from Snowden.
How would Snowden get to Venezuela?
Two countries offer Snowden asylum
Reports: Venezuela offers to take leaker
Edward Snowden joins 'The Terminal' club
There were flurries of
information Tuesday after a tweet by a Russia lawmaker announced that
Snowden had accepted Venezuela's offer of asylum.
But the lawmaker who
sent the tweet, Russian parliamentary spokesman Alexei Pushkov, deleted
the message. WikiLeaks, which has been assisting Snowden in his asylum
bid, denied the report in a Twitter post.
"The states concerned
will make the announcement if and when the appropriate time comes,"
WikiLeaks said. "The announcement will then be confirmed by us."
If Snowden does accept,
it resolves one issue in the saga, but sets the stage for the next
chapter: How will he get from Moscow to Caracas?
Creative maneuvering
The trick would seem to be avoiding U.S. airspace or the airspace of nations friendly to the United States.
Snowden, a former
National Security Agency contractor who faces espionage charges, would
be wise to take a chartered jet on a route that goes over water the
entire time, former CIA analyst Allen Thomson told Foreign Policy.
"Leave Moscow," he told
the Foreign Policy. "Fly north to the Barents Sea, thence over to and
through the Denmark Strait. Continue south, steering clear of
Newfoundland until getting to the east of the Windward Islands. Fly
through some convenient gap between islands and continue on to Caracas."
Kirk Koenig, president
of Expert Aviation Consulting, told CNN that such a route would probably
work, as it avoids the airspace of any countries that may try to ground
the plane.
"That would probably be his only choice," he said.
Such a flight would not come cheap -- about $200,000 -- Koenig said.
"Where it gets more
interesting is if they try to put him on an Aeroflot Russian Airlines
flight nonstop to Havana, Cuba," he said. "The smart move would be to
put him there as a passenger and hope nobody notices."
Would other countries
make a commercial passenger jet land if they believe Snowden is on
board? Given what happened to Bolivian President Evo Morales, it's
possible, Koenig said.
No place to fly
Last week, several
European countries wouldn't let Morales' plane fly through their
airspace, allegedly because of rumors that Snowden was aboard. The
presidential aircraft instead made an unscheduled stop in Vienna,
Austria, which became a sore spot for Morales and sparked outrage
throughout Latin America.
On Tuesday, members of
the Organization of American States passed a resolution condemning the
incident, calling for France, Italy, Portugal and Spain to formally
apologize. The United States, Canada and Haiti dissented.
As speculation swirled
about Snowden's next move, Maduro took the United States to task in a
speech to military academy graduates, accusing Washington of persecuting
Morales and threatening his life.
"Under those
circumstances, several Latin American countries have decided for dignity
and as a clear message to the empire, that we're not afraid of it, that
the children of Bolivar do not fear the empire," Maduro said in a
speech broadcast Tuesday on Telesur, a TV network based in Caracas.
Obama administration keeps close watch
Officials in national
security agencies and on Capitol Hill were watching closely Wednesday
for any signs that Snowden was preparing to leave Moscow for asylum in
Venezuela.
Some are questioning
Maduro's motivation, according to two U.S. officials who declined to be
identified because of the sensitive nature of the information involved.
U.S. officials believe
Maduro's decision to offer asylum to Snowden is aimed more at boosting
the Venezuelan president's standing at home rather than engaging in any
direct anti-American effort, according to an assessment by the Obama
administration that the officials described to CNN.
CNN's Barbara Starr, Rafael Romo, Mariano Castillo, Mayra Cuevas and Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report.
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