Brazil refuses to consider Snowden asylum bid

Brazil confirmed on Tuesday that it received an asylum request from U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden, but said it had no plans to respond, state news agency reported. The Brazilian government "has no intention" of responding to the letter requesting asylum from the former National Security Agency contractor accused of espionage by the United States, the report said, citing Foreign Ministry spokesman Tovar da Silva Nunes. Snowden has sent a similar letter to 21 countries, including Russia, Iceland, Ecuador, Cuba, Venezuela, India, Germany and France, anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks revealed. Several of the petitions were made by Sarah Harrison, a British WikiLeaks activist, who accompanied Snowden on his June 23 trip from Hong Kong to Moscow. He is now reportedly at the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremtyevo airport awaiting words on his asylum. Snowden made other petition requests sent to countries, such as Austria, Bolivia, Finland, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Spain and Switzerland. The 30-year-old American blew the lid off the NSA's secret global surveillance program before fleeing U.S. territory, angering Washington and sparking accusations of espionage. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has been asking countries to refuse Snowden's asylum request, as Ecuador's president has recently revealed.