Snowden set to meet rights activists in Moscow

MOSCOW: Fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden was Friday set to meet with leading Russian rights activists and lawyers at the airport in Moscow where he has been stuck in transit for nearly three weeks.

Several campaigners told AFP they will attend the afternoon meeting after receiving an emailed invitation apparently from Snowden, in what is set to be the former government contractor's first public encounter since he arrived on a flight from Hong Kong last month.

According to the invitation which was posted on social media by one activist, the fugitive wants to discuss his "next steps" as he seeks to escape US authorities after leaking details of massive American intelligence surveillance.

In his message he thanked Latin American states for considering an application for asylum but denounced "an unlawful campaign by officials in the US Government to deny my right to seek and enjoy this asylum."

Those invited to attend the meeting at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport at 1300 GMT include representatives of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Transparency International as well as several prominent lawyers working in Moscow. (AFP)