国际英语新闻:Snowden agrees to asylum in Venezuela: Russian lawmaker

MOSCOW, July 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden has agreed to seek political asylum in Venezuela, a senior Russian lawmaker said on Tuesday.

"As was expected, Snowden agreed to (Venezuelan President Nicolas) Maduro's offer of political asylum," Alexei Pushkov, head of the international affairs committee in the Russian lower house of parliament, said on Twitter.

"Apparently, Snowden found this option the most reliable," he added.

But the tweet was later removed and Pushkov said in a new message that he had learnt of Snowden's decision from a news report on Russian state television channel Vesti 24.

Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia all offered political asylum to Snowden over the weekend.

Venezuelan President Maduro confirmed Monday his country received the asylum request letter. Snowden "will have to decide when he flies, if he finally wants to fly here," said the president.

Snowden, 30, was charged by the U.S. government with three felonies after he disclosed a highly classified surveillance project code-named PRISM, which can intercept e-mails and phone conversations of people around the world.

He arrived at Moscow's Sheremetyevo international airport on June 23 and has since stayed in the transit zone after his U.S. passport was revoked. He has reportedly applied for asylum in 21 countries.