Icelandic lawmakers have introduced a proposal in Parliament that would grant immediate citizenship to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden.
Ogmundur Jonasson, whose liberal Left-Green Party is backing the proposal along with the Pirate Party and Brighter Future Party, put the issue before the Judicial Affairs Committee Thursday, but the idea received minimal support.
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But to apply for asylum in Iceland, Snowden would have to reach the island nation's soil.
Granting Snowden immediate citizenship would circumvent that issue. The same tactic helped get eccentric chess master Bobby Fischer to Iceland from Japan in 2005 to escape U.S. prosecution for breaking sanctions imposed on the former Yugoslavia.
Jonasson argued to parliament on Thursday that Snowden "is now being chased and has nowhere to go," according to Icelandic media.
Leaks by Snowden, a former NSA systems analyst, have revealed the NSA's sweeping data collection of U.S. phone records and some Internet traffic, though U.S. intelligence officials have said the programs are aimed at targeting foreigners and terrorist suspects mostly overseas.
The proposal to grant Snowden citizenship received limited support when it was discussed Thursday — the last day before summer recess. Six members of minority parties were in favor out of Parliament's 63 membersRead the full story HERE and view a related video below:
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