Cuba-bound flight departs Moscow - airline rep says fugitive NSA leaker Snowden not seen on board

REUTERS

A plane en route to Cuba taxis in Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport today.There was no sign that NSA leaker Edward Snowden was onboard the flight to Cuba. A flight attendant said Snowden was not on the plane and the seat he had been expected to occupy was taken by another passenger.

MOSCOW — Aeroflot says a Cuba-bound flight for which National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden was registered has departed from Moscow, but he has not been seen on board.

An airline representative told The Associated Press that the Havana-bound flight has left Moscow. The representative, who wouldn't give her name as she wasn't authorized to speak to the media, said Snowden wasn't on the flight.

REUTERS

NSA leak Edward Snowden

AP reporters on the flight couldn't see Snowden in the seat he booked or anywhere else on the plane.

A flight attendant said Snowden was not on the plane, and the seat he had been expected to occupy was taken by another passenger, Reuters reported. A source at Russian carrier Aeroflot, which was operating the flight, said: "He didn't take the flight."

The airline said earlier Snowden registered for the flight using his US passport, which American officials say has been annulled.

Snowden arrived in Moscow on Sunday from Hong Kong, where he had been hiding for several weeks to evade US justice. Ecuador is considering Snowden's asylum application.