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Russia rejects US demand for Snowden’s extradition



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MOSCOW: Russia’s foreign minister has rejected U.S. demands to extradite National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, who has apparently stopped in Moscow while trying to evade U.S. justice.

Sergey Lavrov said that Snowden hasn’t crossed the Russian border and insisted that Russia has nothing to do with him, his relations with U.S. justice or his travel plans.

Speaking at a news conference Tuesday, he angrily lashed out at the U.S. demands for the extradition and warnings of negative consequences if Moscow fails to comply.

Lavrov said that accusing Russia of “violation of U.S. laws and even some sort of conspiracy” with regard to Snowden is “absolutely ungrounded and unacceptable.”

He wouldn’t specify the location of Snowden, who booked a Havana-bound flight from Moscow Monday but didn’t show up on the plane.

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