Snowden complying with order to stop leaks

[Punch]

Edward Snowden is fully complying with President Vladimir Putin's demand that he stops leaking US intelligence secrets as a condition for staying in Russia, a newsman who first reported the US whistleblower's revelations said on Tuesday.

"Mister Snowden is now bent on fulfilling the conditions set by the Russian government so that he can stay in Russia," Glenn Greenwald told the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper.

Snowden has been at the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport for almost a month. He applied for asylum in Russia last week, and his lawyer Anatoly Kucherena had said that he accepted Putin's condition not to cause further harm to US interests.

Kucherena said last week that Snowden could leave the airport soon if he is issued a certificate that his asylum request is being considered.

The US is seeking his extradition.

Greenwald defended Snowden's decision to seek asylum in Russia, which he said was "among a handful of countries that do not capitulate in the face of US demands''.

German rights activists said on Tuesday that they granted Snowden an award for exposing the scope of US surveillance of communications around the globe.

The US fugitive will receive the Whistleblower Prize, issued every two years, Transparency International Germany said.

The award is co-sponsored by the Federation of German Scientists and the German section of the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms.

The Punch