Edward Snowden, the self-proclaimed source of recently leaked top secret National Security Agency documents, has explained why he went to Hong Kong instead of straight to Iceland, the country where he has said he would like to seek asylum.
“Leaving the US was an incredible risk, as NSA employees must declare their foreign travel 30 days in advance and are monitored,” Snowden wrote during a live chat on The Guardian’s website. “There was a distinct possibility I would be interdicted en route, so I had to travel with no advance booking to a country with the cultural and legal framework to allow me to work without being immediately detained. Hong Kong provided that. Iceland could be pushed harder, quicker, before the public could have a chance to make their feelings known, and I would not put that past the current US administration.”
