Snowden may be on transit flight via Moscow

MOSCOW - Former U.S. CIA agent Edward Snowden may be travelling on a transit flight via Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

"According to some reports, Snowden may be traveling via Moscow as a transit passenger," the ministry's information department said, adding it was verifying the information.

Local media reported that the 29-year-old Snowden was on a flight from China's Hong Kong to Moscow for a third country.

Snowden fled to Hong Kong on May 20 after exposing two classified U.S. National Security Agency surveillance programs, one collecting U.S. phone records and the other mining Internet data.

Police at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport said it has no plan to detain Snowden if he holds valid visa when arriving in Moscow.

"We have not received any instructions concerning this person. However, in order to enter Russian territory he should have a valid visa," Interfax news agency quoted a policeman in the airport as saying.

Aeroflot told local media that Snowden will arrive at Sheremetyevo airport at about 17:15 Moscow time (1315 GMT) by flight SU213 as a transit passenger. Some unverified reports said he could fly via Moscow and Havana to Caracas, Venezuela later. Other possible destinations include Iceland and Ecuador.

A Russian presidential spokesperson told Interfax Sunday that he made no comments about Snowden's travel route and was unaware of the former agent's travel plans.

Earlier Sunday, the government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of China confirmed that the U.S. whistleblower Snowden had left the region for a third country.

"Snowden has left Hong Kong through legal and normal means for a third country," the HKSAR government said in a statement.

"The government has informed the U.S. government of Snowden's departure from Hong Kong," the statement said.