Edward Snowden ready to testify for Germans in Russia

Moscow: US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden is ready to talk with German prosecutors in Russia, his lawyer said on Friday, after the fugitive met a German lawmaker over his evidence that Washington spied on Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, who was also due on Friday to begin work at an undisclosed Russian Internet firm, was granted asylum in Russia in August to the fury of the United States, where he faces trial.

“Snowden will not go to Germany. This is not possible because he has no right to cross Russian borders,” lawyer Anatoly Kucherena told the popular Echo Moscow radio.

“If he does that, he can lose temporary asylum.”

But the Kremlin-friendly lawyer added: “Within the framework of international agreements Snowden can give testimony in Russia but this should be decided by the German authorities.”

On Thursday, Snowden met with Green party lawmaker Hans-Christian Stroebele for three hours over reports that the US spied on the German government.

Kucherena said Snowden’s meeting with Stroebele was “not bad,” adding that the German lawmaker had asked the American whether he could be a “witness in the case”.

A picture of Snowden and a beaming Stroebele meeting at an undisclosed location in Moscow was posted on the website of the German lawmaker on Friday.

The fugitive handed the German lawmaker a letter addressed to the German government, the Bundestag lower house of parliament and the Federal Public Prosecutor, Stroebele’s office said.

Reports based on leaks from Snowden that the NSA listened in on the communications of dozens of foreign leaders, including Merkel, have provoked outrage in Germany and across Europe.

Indonesia summoned the Australian ambassador in Jakarta on Friday over a report his embassy was spied on, even as the spying row that has soured US-Europe relations spread in Asia.

As Secretary of State John Kerry admitted US spying had sometimes gone too far, concern was growing in Asia, with China among countries demanding answers from Washington over reports of clandestine surveillance.

The row erupted in the region after the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, amplifying an earlier story by German magazine Der Spiegel, this week reported a top-secret map leaked by fugitive intelligence analyst Edward Snowden showed 90 US surveillance facilities at diplomatic missions worldwide.

Its reports focused on secret US intelligence facilities in Asia and also said Australian diplomatic posts were being used to monitor phone calls and collect data as part of the American surveillance network.

Widespread reports of NSA spying based on leaks from Snowden, including that the agency was monitoring German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone, had already sparked a major trans-Atlantic rift.

But the latest reports have brought the scandal to Asia, a region where Washington has been seeking to improve ties in recent years to counter growing Chinese dominance.

Indonesia has so far been the most vocal nation in Asia over the reported spying, earlier this week summoning the top US diplomat in the country over reports of clandestine surveillance from its embassy in Jakarta.

On Friday, Australian ambassador Greg Moriarty was summoned to the foreign ministry in Jakarta after the Sydney Morning Herald reported his embassy was being used in the US spying operation.

After a 20-minute meeting in the ministry, Moriarty told a scrum of reporters: “I just spoke to the secretary general, and from my perspective, it was a good meeting and now I have to go and report directly to my government.”

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa described the reported spying activities as “just not cricket”.

Natalegawa, speaking on Friday after talks with his Australian counterpart Julie Bishop in Perth, said his government was “obviously deeply concerned”.

“Most of all, it’s about trust,” he said, adding: “I’m not sure what’s the right term in Australian terminology, I guess it’s not cricket to do this kind of thing.”