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| MOSCOW — The world’s most sought-after exposer of secrets — the fugitive former intelligence contractor, Edward J. Snowden — has applied for political asylum in six additional countries, according to his associates at WikiLeaks, the antisecrecy organization. But the names of those six countries are being kept, um, secret, the group said on Friday. | MOSCOW — The world’s most sought-after exposer of secrets — the fugitive former intelligence contractor, Edward J. Snowden — has applied for political asylum in six additional countries, according to his associates at WikiLeaks, the antisecrecy organization. But the names of those six countries are being kept, um, secret, the group said on Friday. |
| In a post on Twitter, WikiLeaks said Mr. Snowden, who is wanted by the United States on charges of revealing classified government information, “has applied to another six countries for asylum,” following up on similar applications to about 20 nations last week. | In a post on Twitter, WikiLeaks said Mr. Snowden, who is wanted by the United States on charges of revealing classified government information, “has applied to another six countries for asylum,” following up on similar applications to about 20 nations last week. |
| The initial round of applications generated a barrage of negative responses. Only Venezuela and Bolivia offered positive signals, and neither offered any assurances. Supporters of Mr. Snowden clearly blame that outcome on pressure from the United States, and, as a result, WikiLeaks said it would not reveal the latest countries in which he is seeking shelter. “They will not be named at this time due to attempted US interference,” the group wrote on Twitter. | |
| Here in Russia, officials have expressed impatience over Mr. Snowden’s continuing sojourn in the transit zone of Sheremetyevo airport. On Thursday, a deputy foreign minister, Sergey A. Ryabkov, told reporters that Mr. Snowden should pick a destination and leave as soon as possible. | |
| Russia was apparently among the original countries to which Mr. Snowden submitted an asylum request, but a spokesman for President Vladimir V. Putin, Dmitri S. Peskov, has said since that the request was withdrawn. | Russia was apparently among the original countries to which Mr. Snowden submitted an asylum request, but a spokesman for President Vladimir V. Putin, Dmitri S. Peskov, has said since that the request was withdrawn. |
| On Thursday, Mr. Putin sent a telegram to President Obama noting the Fourth of July holiday and restating his commitment to holding a summit meeting in Moscow in September, ahead of the G20 conference, which will be in St. Petersburg. American officials have signaled that Mr. Obama is unlikely to visit Moscow if Mr. Snowden is still holed up at Sheremetyevo airport. | |
| Also on Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement sharply criticizing European nations that blocked the airplane of President Evo Morales of Bolivia from entering their airspace while he was returning home from a visit to Moscow — apparently because of concerns that Mr. Snowden was hidden aboard the plane. | Also on Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement sharply criticizing European nations that blocked the airplane of President Evo Morales of Bolivia from entering their airspace while he was returning home from a visit to Moscow — apparently because of concerns that Mr. Snowden was hidden aboard the plane. |
| In continuing fallout from that incident, Mr. Morales on Thursday night threatened to close the American Embassy in La Paz, the Bolivian capital. Mr. Morales’s plane was forced to make an unplanned landing in Vienna. | |
| He and other South American leaders said the United States had been behind the orders to divert the aircraft. | |
| “My hand would not tremble to close the United States Embassy,” Mr. Morales said in public remarks before a meeting of several South American heads of state in Cochabamba, Bolivia. | |
| Mr. Morales has long had a prickly relationship with the United State. In 2008, he expelled the American ambassador and officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration from Bolivia, accusing them of conspiring against his country. This year, he kicked out the United States Agency for International Development. (Russia similarly expelled U.S.A.I.D. last year.) | |
| The meeting of regional leaders in Cochabamba ended with a declaration calling on France, Portugal, Italy and Spain to apologize for barring the Bolivian plane from their airspace. | The meeting of regional leaders in Cochabamba ended with a declaration calling on France, Portugal, Italy and Spain to apologize for barring the Bolivian plane from their airspace. |
William Neuman contributed reporting from Caracas, Venezuela, and Monica Machicao from Cochabamba, Bolivia. | William Neuman contributed reporting from Caracas, Venezuela, and Monica Machicao from Cochabamba, Bolivia. |