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| Obama: Edward Snowden extradition a legal matter | Obama: Edward Snowden extradition a legal matter |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| President Barack Obama says efforts to arrest US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden will be dealt with through routine legal channels. | President Barack Obama says efforts to arrest US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden will be dealt with through routine legal channels. |
| "I am not going to be scrambling jets to get a 29-year-old hacker," said Mr Obama, speaking on a visit to the West African nation of Senegal. | "I am not going to be scrambling jets to get a 29-year-old hacker," said Mr Obama, speaking on a visit to the West African nation of Senegal. |
| He also said he had not called China and Russia's presidents about the case. | He also said he had not called China and Russia's presidents about the case. |
| Mr Snowden, who faces US espionage charges, flew to Moscow at the weekend and requested asylum in Ecuador. | |
| Mr Obama said the case highlighted significant vulnerabilities at the National Security Agency, the US electronic spying agency where Mr Snowden worked as a contractor until last month. | Mr Obama said the case highlighted significant vulnerabilities at the National Security Agency, the US electronic spying agency where Mr Snowden worked as a contractor until last month. |
| Meanwhile, Ecuador's government said on Thursday that it had not processed Mr Snowden's asylum request because he had not reached any of its diplomatic premises. | |
| 'Hypocritical behaviour' | |
| Mr Snowden is wanted for leaking to the media that the US is systematically seizing vast amounts of phone and web data under a surveillance programme known as Prism. | |
| He fled to Hong Kong on 20 May before flying to Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport on Sunday. | |
| Mr Snowden's case has caused a diplomatic spat, with the US accusing Russia and China of assisting the fugitive. Both nations deny the charges. | |
| On Thursday, Beijing accused the US of "double standards" and hypocrisy on cyber security. | |
| China's defence ministry said the Prism programme "has revealed the concerned country's true face and hypocritical behaviour". | |
| Although Russia has no extradition treaty with the US, Washington says it wants Moscow to extradite Mr Snowden without delay. | |
| But Russia said the American, who turned 30 last week, was technically not yet under its jurisdiction because he had not passed through immigration. | |
| Russia has denied reports that its secret police have questioned Mr Snowden, who has had his US passport revoked. | |
| Venezuela has also said it would consider an asylum application from him. | |
| He is charged with theft of government property, unauthorised communication of national defence information and wilful communication of classified communications intelligence. | |
| US officials have defended the practice of gathering telephone and internet data from private users around the world. | |
| They say Prism cannot be used to target intentionally any Americans or anyone in the US, and stress that it is supervised by judges. |