Italy and France formally declined National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden’s request for asylum on Thursday, according to the Wall Street Journal. Snowden has requested asylum from 21 countries, all of which have either declined, said he would need to be on their territory to have a request processed, or not responded.
Last month, in an interview with the Guardian, the newspaper that first published stories based on his leaked documents, Snowden indicated he believed Iceland was his best hope for finding asylum. Iceland has not officially responded to his request, but a group of lawmakers in the Icelandic Parliament have proposed a bill that would grant him citizenship and bypass the issue of whether he is within the country’s borders to make an asylum request. However, on Thursday, that bill received the support of just six of the Parliament’s 63 members.
Snowden is currently believed to be in the transit area of the Moscow airport. On Wednesday, a spokesman for Wikileaks, which has said it is advising Snowden, suggested he might be able to get asylum from one of the 21 countries if he is able to travel to them.
