India said Tuesday that it had refused an asylum request from fugitive US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden, joining Poland in publically rebuffing him as he seeks an exit from a Moscow airport. "Our embassy in Moscow did receive a communication dated 30 June from Mr Edward Snowden. That communication did contain a request for asylum," foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin told AFP.
"We have carefully examined the request. Following that examination we have concluded that we see no reason to accede to the request," he added. Transparency campaign group Wikileaks said Monday that Snowden had submitted asylum requests to 21 nations including India, Russia, China and Brazil as well as his preferred destinations Ecuador and Iceland. The Kremlin announced Tuesday that he had abandoned his bid to stay in Russia after learning of demands from President Putin that he stop leaking intelligence reports.