U.S. leaker Edward Snowden has formally applied “to several countries, including Brazil” with a request for asylum, the leaker said during a television interview.
"If Brazil offers me asylum, then I'll gladly accept it. I would like to live in Brazil," Agence France-Presse quoted Snowden as saying in an interview with Brazilian television channel Globo.
The Brazilian Foreign Ministry, however, has denied receiving a formal application from the former security agent, newspaper Gazeta.ru reported.
Snowden, who fled the U.S. after leaking thousands of highly classified documents, has been living in Russia since the country offered him asylum last August, a deal that is set to expire this summer and has sparked speculation as to Snowden's next destination.
In a lengthy open letter published in the Brazilian press in December, he praised the Brazilian government for its stance against spying practices and volunteered to help the country in its investigation of NSA spying tactics if he were granted asylum.
At that time, the Brazilian foreign ministry also declined to comment on the reported asylum request or Snowden's letter.
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