Ecuador tells U.S. to send its position on Snowden in writing

        
Ecuador on Wednesday said the United States must "submit its position" regarding Edward Snowden to the Ecuadorian government in writing as it considers the former U.S. spy agency contractor's request for asylum.         

Ecuador, in a statement from its embassy in the United States, also said it would review Snowden's request "responsibly" and weigh "human rights obligations." 
                 
This as the current whereabouts of Edward Snowden, the former US National Security Agency contractor wanted by the US for revealing highly classified surveillance programs, remained unclear.        

For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Snowden is in the transit zone of a Moscow airport and has not passed through Russian immigration, meaning he is not technically in Russia.         

Snowden was believed to have landed in Russia on Sunday after being allowed to leave Hong Kong.       

He was on an Aeroflot flight from Hong Kong that arrived in Moscow shortly after 5 p.m. (1300gmt) Sunday and was booked on a flight to fly to Cuba on Monday, the Russian news agencies ITAR-Tass and Interfax reported, citing unnamed airline officials.        

Snowden did not leave Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport with the other passengers and was not seen by a crowd of journalists waiting in the arrivals lounge.          

Interfax reported that he was spending the night in the transit zone of the airport because he did not have a visa to enter Russia and had rented a room in a capsule hotel.
          
But some Russians weren't convinced that Snowden was still in Russia, despite Russian President Vladimir Putin's claim that he was in the transit zone of Sheremetyevo airport.           

On Tuesday, Putin rejected US pleas to turn him over, saying Snowden was in the transit zone of Sheremetyevo Airport and hadn't passed through Russian immigration, meaning he technically wasn't in Russia.               


AP/REUTERS