Britain threatened to fine any airline that tries to fly Edward Snowden to the United Kingdom as the escape routes for the outlaw leaker disappear.
A travel alert issued by the Home Office said the former NSA computer technician would “highly likely” be stopped from entering the country.
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange — who won asylum in the Ecuadorean embassy in London a year ago — said Snowden tried and failed to fly to the British capital.
Attorney General Eric Holder said yesterday he was “confident” that Snowden would be brought to justice for the “extremely damaging” leaks about anti-terror surveillance programs.
Experts said Snowden, still believed to be hiding in Hong Kong after outing himself as the leaker, has few options.
“He’s cornered,” said Magnus Ranstorp, a research director at the Swedish National Defense College. “Even without the UK alert, his name is now part of the intelligence matrix, and his name would be flagged if he tried to travel anywhere in the world.
“He can’t get into mainland China. They have a very sophisticated database, and sneaking in is not easy, and if he tries to fly, he won’t even get out of Hong Kong airport.”
In Washington, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said the Senate Intelligence Committee will consider legislation to avoid a repeat of the Snowden leak by limiting the access of government contractors to sensitive data.