National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has been granted asylum in Russia for one year and left the transit zone of Moscow airport, his lawyer says.

Anatoly Kucherena said he handed over the papers to Mr Snowden today and the fugitive then left Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport where he was stuck since his arrival from Hong Kong on June 23.

Mr Snowden's whereabouts will be kept secret for security reasons, he said.

The US has demanded that Russia send him home to face prosecution for espionage, but President Vladimir Putin has dismissed the request.

Mr Putin had said that Mr Snowden could receive asylum in Russia on condition he stops leaking US secrets. Mr Kucherena has said Mr Snowden accepted the condition.

The Guardian newspaper yesterday published a new report on US intelligence-gathering based on information from Mr Snowden, but Mr Kucherena said the material was provided before he promised to stop leaking.

Mr Snowden, who revealed details of a US intelligence programme to monitor internet activity, has received offers of asylum from Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia and said he would like to visit those countries. However, the logistics of reaching any of those countries are complicated because his US passport has been revoked.

The Snowden case has further strained US-Russian ties already tense amid differences over Syria, US criticism of Russia's human rights record and other issues.

Mr Snowden's father has said on Russian television that he would like to visit his son and Mr Kucherena said he is arranging the trip.

The secret-spilling group WikiLeaks said its legal adviser Sarah Harrison is now with Mr Snowden. The group also praised Russia for providing him shelter.

"We would like to thank the Russian people and all those others who have helped to protect Mr. Snowden," WikiLeaks said on Twitter. "We have won the battle - now the war."

Mr Putin's foreign affairs aide, Yuri Ushakov, sought today to downplay the impact the asylum move will have on the US-Russia relations.

"This issue isn't significant enough to have an impact on political relations," he said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies.

He said that the Kremlin hasn't heard any signal from Washington that ,Mr Obama could cancel his visit to Moscow ahead of next month's G-20 summit in St Petersburg.

Mr Snowden later thanked Russia.

"Over the past eight weeks we have seen the Obama administration show no respect for international or domestic law, but in the end the law is winning," he said. "I thank the Russian Federation for granting me asylum in accordance with its laws and international obligations."

In his application for asylum, Mr Snowden said he feared he could face torture or capital punishment if he is returned to the US, though the US has promised Russia that is not the case.

The one-year asylum can be extended indefinitely, and Mr Snowden also has the right to seek Russian citizenship. According to the rules set by the Russian government, a person who has temporary asylum would lose it if he travels abroad.

Mr Kucherena said it would be up to Snowden to decide whether to travel to any foreign destination, but added that "he now has no such plans."

Mr Kucherena said that Mr Snowden spent little time packing. The lawyer said the fugitive had friends in Russia, including some Americans, who could help ensure his security, but wouldn't elaborate.

"He has got friends, including on Russian territory, American friends, who would be able to ensure his safety for the time being," Mr Kucherena said.

He refused to say whether he would stay in Moscow or move to stay elsewhere in Russia, saying the fugitive would discuss the issue with his family.

Senator Robert Menendez, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement that the Russian decision to grant asylum to Mr Snowden would hurt ties.

"Edward Snowden is a fugitive who belongs in a United States courtroom, not a free man deserving of asylum in Russia," the Democratic politician said.

"Regardless of the fact that Russia is granting asylum for one year, this action is a setback to US-Russia relations. Edward Snowden will potentially do great damage to US national security interests and the information he is leaking could aid terrorists and others around the world who want to do real harm to our country."

Lyudmila Alexeyeva, a veteran of Russia's human rights movement and head of the respected Moscow Helsinki Group, welcomed the news on asylum for Mr Snowden, but added that his quest for freedom of information has landed him in a country that has little respect for that and other freedoms.

"Having fought for the freedom and rights,Mr Snowden has ended up in a country that cracks down on them," Ms Alexeyeva said, according to the Interfax news agency.

Rachel Denber of Human Rights Watch sounded a similar note. "He cannot but be aware of the unprecedented crackdown on human rights that the government has unleashed in the past 15 months," she said in an e-mailed comment.

Mr Putin has launched a wide-ranging crackdown on dissent since his inauguration for a third presidential term in May 2012, with the Kremlin-controlled parliament stamping a series of laws that introduced heavy fines for participants in unsanctioned protests, imposed new tough restrictions on non-government organisations.

A law passed in June bans imposes hefty fines for providing information about the gay community to minors or holding gay pride rallies, a move that has prompted gays in the US and elsewhere to call for boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

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