Snowden in transit area, drops Russia asylum request: Kremlin

MOSCOW – Reuters

An employee distributes newspapers, with a photograph (R) of former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden seen on a page, at an underground walkway in central Moscow July 2, 2013. REUTERS Photo

Former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden has withdrawn a request for political asylum in Russia after President Vladimir Putin said he should stop "harming our American partners", the Kremlin said on Tuesday.
 
Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said Snowden was in the transit area of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport and had not crossed through passport control onto Russian territory.