Edward Snowden due to quit Moscow in Ecuador asylum bid

Fugitive former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden is due to fly out of Russia in the next few hours in a bid to seek asylum in Ecuador.

Reports suggest he will be on an early afternoon flight out of Moscow, heading first to the Cuban capital Havana.
Washington says it expects the Russian government to "look at all options available" to expel him back to the US.
It has charged him with espionage over leaked secret documents revealing US internet and phone surveillance.
The US state department says it is urging countries in the "Western Hemisphere" not to let Mr Snowden enter their territory.
In a series of rapidly moving developments on Sunday, Mr Snowden flew to Moscow from Hong Kong where he had been holed up since fleeing the US.
Once at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, it is thought he was met by Ecuador's ambassador to Moscow whose car was seen arriving by reporters.

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Who is Edward Snowden?

• Age 30, grew up in North Carolina
• Joined army reserves in 2004, discharged four months later, says the Guardian
• First job at National Security Agency was as security guard
• Worked on IT security at the CIA
• Left CIA in 2009 for contract work at NSA for various firms including Booz Allen
• Called himself Verax, Latin for "speaking the truth", in exchanges with the Washington Post

• Profile: Edward Snowden

On Sunday night it was unclear exactly where Mr Snowden was, but he was believed to be still at the airport.

"We expect the Russian government to look at all options available to expel Mr Snowden back to the US to face justice for the crimes with which he is charged," Caitlin Hayden, US National Security Council spokeswoman, said on Monday.
She highlighted "intensified co-operation" between the US and Russia after the Boston Marathon bombings in April and her country's "history of working with Russia on law enforcement matters".
BBC Moscow correspondent Daniel Sandford says it is being reported that Mr Snowden will fly first to Cuba and then to Venezuela before heading to Ecuador. The first plane scheduled to fly to Havana was due to leave Sheremetyevo at 14:05 Moscow time (10:05 GMT).
He will be trying to avoid any country that might arrest him on behalf of the US, our correspondent adds.
The US had been trying to extradite Mr Snowden from Hong Kong, but authorities there said the US request was incomplete and there was no legal basis to stop him from departing.
The US justice department said it was "disappointed" that Hong Kong did not arrest Mr Snowden and that it "disagrees" with its reasons for not doing so.
"We find their decision to be particularly troubling," an official said.
As Washington scrambled to stop the former analyst moving beyond its reach, an official said the US had contacted "Western Hemisphere" nations that Mr Snowden might travel to, or through.
"The US is advising these governments that Snowden is wanted on felony charges, and as such should not be allowed to proceed in any further international travel, other than is necessary to return him to the United States," the state department official said.
The US justice department also says it will seek co-operation from whichever country Mr Snowden arrives in.
'Escorted by diplomats' Our correspondent says there seems to have been a concerted effort by China, Russia and Ecuador to help him escape the net that was closing around him in Hong Kong.