Snowden staying in Moscow airport for now: lawyer

A lawyer advising former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden says his asylum status has not been resolved and that he is going to stay at the Moscow airport for now.

Anatoly Kucherena, who visited the whistle-blower at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport on Wednesday, said that migration officials are still looking at his asylum request and that this process had been drawn out.

Kucherena said that Snowden is staying in the transit zone "for now" and "intends to stay in Russia, study Russian culture."

The lawyer did not immediately comment on a Russian news report that said Snowden had received a document earlier Wednesday allowing him to enter Russia from the airport.

The previous report from Russia's RIA state news agency said Snowden would leave the airport within "hours." 

For its part, the White House says it is seeking clarafication from Russian authorities about the status of Snowden. 

Snowden, a former intelligence contractor who leaked information about the National Security Agency’s spy program, is wanted by the U.S. on espionage charges.

Source:  Al Jazeera and wire services