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Edward Snowden received one-year asylum in Russia and left Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow, putting President Vladimir Putin on a collision course with the US a month before President Barack Obama's planned visit.
Snowden slipped out of the airport where he has been holed up since arriving from Hong Kong on June 23 and headed in a taxi for a "safe location" that won't be disclosed, Anatoly Kucherena, his Moscow-based lawyer and a member of the FSB state security service's public advisory council, said in an interview by phone on Thursday.
By ending the fugitive whistle-blower's month-long confinement in the transit zone, Russia left answered demands for his return from US officials including Attorney General Eric Holder.
Snowden's presence in Russia has raised tensions with its former Cold War foe a month before Obama is scheduled to make his first visit to Russia since Putin was re-elected to a third Kremlin term in March 2012. The two leaders are due to hold a summit in Moscow in early September before a meeting of Group of 20 nations.
"He's the most wanted man on planet Earth and he's wanted by an enormous country," Kucherena said. While Russia's state agencies won't be charged with safeguarding Snowden, all necessary security precautions will be taken, he said.
Obama's demands
The Obama administration has repeatedly urged Russia to expel Snowden to the US. In a bid to persuade Russia to turn down his asylum request, Holder offered assurances that he won't be tortured or face the death penalty if he is returned to the US, according to a letter dated July 23.
Holder said that Snowden isn't charged with a capital crime and pledged not to seek a death sentence against him even if he is charged with additional violations that could carry the death penalty.
"This action is a setback to US-Russia relations," Senator Robert Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat who is chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement. "Snowden will potentially do great damage to US national security interests and the information he is leaking could aid terrorists and others around the world who want to do real harm to our country. Russia must return Snowden to face trial at home."
Putin's conditions
Snowden hasn't transferred any confidential documents since his arrival in Russia, according to Kucherena. Putin has demanded that the 30-year-old cease activities that would harm US-Russian relations.
The American, who withdrew his request for refuge in Russia early last month after Putin initially set the conditions for granting him sanctuary, has agreed to Russia's demand that he stop anti-US activity, Kucherena has said.
Snowden left Sheremetyevo "under the care" of WikiLeaks's legal adviser Sarah Harrison, the anti-secrecy group said on its Twitter Inc account. WikiLeaks said Snowden's welfare has been "continuously monitored" by its staff since he arrived in Hong Kong, according to the statement.
The former US contractor, whose efforts to reach a haven in Latin America have been blocked by the US and its European allies, applied for 12-month renewable refugee status in Russia on July 16. The document issued by the Federal Migration Service on Wednesday allows him to travel freely in Russia without leaving the country.
Snowden's disclosures
Snowden, who exposed classified US programmes that collect telephone and internet data, has been seeking asylum around the world as American authorities pressed for his return to face prosecution.
Snowden revealed that the US government was secretly collecting bulk data on phone and Internet use to monitor online activity of foreigners believed to be plotting terrorist attacks.
While Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia have indicated they'd be willing to accept him, Putin has accused the US of stranding Snowden in Moscow by putting pressure on other countries to deny him refuge and prevent his travel through their airspace.
Obama administration officials have repeatedly refused to confirm that the President will keep a commitment to meet with Putin for one-on-one talks in Moscow before heading to a Group of 20 nations summit September 5-6 in St Petersburg.
The Russian leader's foreign-policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, said that Russia has received no signs that Obama's trip may be cancelled. The situation around Snowden has an "insignificant" effect on US-Russia political relations, he told reporters on Thursday near Moscow.
