Moscow:
The father of National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden said on Russian television that he is grateful to the Kremlin for protecting his son.
Speaking to the state-owned Rossiya 24 channel in footage broadcast, Lon Snowden of Allentown, Pennsylvania, thanked President Vladimir Putin and his government for the "courage" they have shown in keeping his son safe.
Addressing his son, Lon Snowden said that "your family is well and we love you." He added that "I hope to see you soon, but most of all I want you to be safe."
The younger Snowden has been stuck in the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport since arriving from Hong Kong on June 23. Russia is considering his request for temporary asylum, which he submitted on July 16.
Putin has warned that Snowden could be granted asylum on condition he agrees not to hurt US interests implying that the American would have to stop leaking material on Washington's spying efforts.
Snowden's Russian lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, has said the fugitive told him he could meet that demand.
Snowden, who revealed details of a US intelligence program to monitor Internet activity, has received offers of asylum from Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia. However, the logistics of reaching any of those countries are complicated because his US passport has been revoked.
The elder Snowden said that, considering those issues, his son's best option may be to stay in Russia.
"If it were me, I would stay in Russia and that's what I hope my son will do," he said, adding that he hopes to be able to visit him in Moscow.
Kucherena told the Vesti-FM radio station today that he is arranging for Snowden's father to visit Russia. Kucherena said that he would send Lon Snowden a letter of invitation to Russia.
Kucherena said that Snowden asked him to get in touch with his father because "he needs moral support."
The elder Snowden told Russian television that he feels proud of his son. "My son is a principled young man, he is a man of courage and what he saw he couldn't live with," he said. "I know that I have raised him to do the right thing.
Sometimes the right thing means personal sacrifice, and that's what he did."
