President Barack Obama said Thursday that he had not spoken personally with the leaders of Russia or China about NSA leaker Edward Snowden and was "not going to be scrambling jets to get a 29-year-old hacker." Obama said in Senegal that the Snowden's leaks of documents detailing two top-secret government data-gathering programs were harmful to national security, but the U.S. would not engage with “wheeling and dealing” with Russia or China to have Snowden extradited on espionage charges. Snowden is believed still to be at a Moscow airport awaiting a decision on his request for asylum in Ecuador. Meanwhile, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has threatened to lead an effort to block the renewal of Ecuador’s duty-free access to U.S. markets if it grants Snowden's request.
