PRISM whistleblower Edward Snowden looks to WikiLeaks as he exits Hong Kong for Ecuador [Updated]

Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who exposed PRISM, has left Hong Kong for Moscow and is now receiving aid from WikiLeaks. Update: Snowden is en-route to Ecuador. See more at foot of post.

In a statement released by the WikiLeaks team, Snowden “is bound for a democratic nation via a safe route for the purposes of asylum, and is being escorted by diplomats and legal advisors from WikiLeaks.” Russian news provider Interfax reports that Snowden has already landed in Moscow.

Overwhelmingly, reports say Snowden is not looking to remain in Moscow. Instead, it appears he is slated to fly to Cuba, and then Caracas, Venezuela.

The news follows the US government’s decision to charge Snowden with espionage. As reported by The Washington Post, US officials asked Hong Kong to detain him on a provisional arrest warrant. Hong Kong, clearly, did not follow through with this request.

At the moment, Snowden’s final destination is not confirmed. We’ll update this post as the story progresses.

Update 11:59AM ET: Snowden could be heading to Ecuador and not Venezuela, according to the BBC.

The Ecuadorean Ambassador is still here at Moscow airport. It looks like Ecuador is Edward Snowden’s destination pic.twitter.com/ZUfwND94nJ

— Daniel Sandford (@BBCDanielS) June 23, 2013

Update 12:48 PM ET: Snowden has requested asylum in Ecuador, according to AFP and Ecuador’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Twitter account.

Update 12:54 PM ET: WikiLeaks has confirmed that Snowden is heading to Ecuador.

Featured image credit: Thinkstock