Diplomats,legal advisers escorting him to Ecuador: WikiLeaks

Mr Edward Snowden,the American whistleblower who exposed evidence of a global surveillance regime conducted by US and UK intelligence agencies,has left Hong Kong legally, WikiLeaks said in a statement.

Earlier in the day,the whistleblower website stated,He is bound for a democratic nation via a safe route for the purposes of asylum,and is being escorted by diplomats and legal advisors from WikiLeaks.

Snowden requested that WikiLeaks use its legal expertise and experience to secure his safety,the statement added. WikiLeaks,whose founder Julian Assange has spent a year holed up in Ecuadors London embassy,said Snowdens asylum request will be formally processed once he arrives at his final destination.

The WikiLeaks legal team and I are interested in preserving Mr Snowdens rights and protecting him as a person, said former Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon,legal director of Wikileaks and lawyer for Assange.What is being done to Mr Snowden and to Mr Julian Assange for making or facilitating disclosures in the public interest is an assault against the people.